Looking for the best Minecraft enchantments, but not sure how to use them? Minecraft has plenty of potential item powers to choose from, with different tiers, and a shedload of possible effects that you can apply to your gear—the sheer variety of choice is a little daunting to say the least. But luckily, this guide should help explain what’s involved in the process.
Minecraft enchantments are by no means essential, but they are a great way to create equipment that complements your playstyle, and add a little bit of extra value to your gear. We’re not just talking about attack, either. These enchantments can also help you harvest materials, such as increasing your chance to obtain gilded Blackstone, which normally only has a ten percent drop chance.
Of course, there are other ways to get strong, too. Minecraft Netherite armor is one of the rarest and most valuable pieces of kit out there—if you can find Ancient Debris to make it, that is. That said, let’s get to the bottom of how to use Minecraft enchantments. Be aware beforehand that if you want to make a Minecraft enchanting table, your also going to need a diamond pickaxe to gather the necessary materials.
What is Minecraft enchanting?
Minecraft enchantments are an essential mechanic to set you up for endgame as it grants your items various special effects. You can enchant everything from weapons, tools, and armor, so there’s certainly something in your possession that you can take to the next level. It basically involves imbuing items with special powers to make them stronger.
How to build an enchanting table
How to build an enchanting table
To craft a Minecraft enchanting table, you first need the ingredients. Here’s your shopping list:
- 4 obsidian blocks
- 2 diamonds
- 1 book
To get the obsidian, you need a diamond pickaxe: you can pilfer the diamonds you need for that in the deeper levels of the world, though you may need a bit of luck to stumble across them.
Obsidian, on the other hand, doesn’t require luck to find. What’s more, you can craft it yourself. Obsidian forms when water and lava meet, so grab a bucket and go looking for some of the hot stuff.
You can make books by combining three pieces of paper and some leather, or by destroying book cases. Either way, they’re pretty easy items to get for the Enchanting Table.
Once you have the ingredients, you can combine them using a Crafting Table. Just place the obsidian along the bottom row, then the middle row needs to be: diamond, obsidian, diamond. Finally, put a book in the top-middle space. Then, it’s time to get enchantin’.
How to use an enchanting table
How to use a Minecraft enchanting table
Enchanting items in Minecraft comes in three main flavours, each with different rules. The main way to enchant items is to use an enchanting table, which allows you to exchange experience points and Lapis Lazuli to grant special effects to your items.
There are two other ways of enchanting items. The first of which is to combine an enchanted book with an item that has no enchantments. The other involves combining two enchanted items into one single item that has the enchantments of both.
To enchant items from scratch, you need to place Lapis Lazuli into the table and then the item you want to enchant. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be shown an enchantments list. Each has a level cost no higher than your current level and the number of Lapis Lazuli in the table. The higher your level, the better the enchantments. That said, there’s no real way to guarantee you get the enchantments you want.
How to improve enchants
How to get better enchanting items
If you hover your mouse over the enchantments, you’ll see a suggestion of what the enchantments could include. If you’re lucky, you could get more than one. You can also make these enchantments more powerful if you set up bookcases around the enchanting table. If you put up to fifteen bookcases around the table, the enchantments created will be far more potent.
You can’t change the offered enchantments until you select one. For instance, if you enchant a book, this allows you to save those enchantments for later. Then you can combine it with an item at an anvil to enchant it. This is a great way of making sure you don’t accidentally waste some rubbish enchantments on your Diamond Sword.
Best Minecraft enchantments
The best Minecraft enchantments
There are a wide range of Minecraft enchantments, each with different levels of effectiveness. Here are the ones to look out for:
| Enchantment | Effect | Max level |
| Unbreaking | Increases item durability | 3 |
| Mending | Repairs items with experience | 1 |
| Fortune | Increases block drops | 3 |
| Looting | Increases mob drops | 3 |
| Infinity | Infinite regular arrows | 1 |
| Sharpness | Increases weapon damage | 5 |
| Silk Touch | Collect blocks in their original state | 1 |
| Aqua Affinity | Removes underwater mining penalty | 1 |
| Thorns | Enemies near you take damage | 3 |
| Power | Increases arrow damage | 5 |
All Minecraft enchantments
Every Minecraft enchantment
Here’s a list of every Minecraft enchantment available, as well as what they do and the maximum level for each:
| Enchantment | Effect | Max level |
| Aqua Affinity | Increases underwater mining speed | 1 |
| Bane of Arthopods | Increases damage and applies slowness IV to arthopods | 5 |
| Blast Protection | Reduces explosion damage and knockback | 4 |
| Channeling | Summon lightning with Trident in storms | 1 |
| Cleaving | Increases damage and shield stun | 3 |
| Curse of Binding | Items can’t be removed from armor slots | 1 |
| Curse of Vanishing | Item destroyed on death | 1 |
| Depth Strider | Increases underwater move speed | 3 |
| Efficiency | Increases mining speed | 5 |
| Feather Falling | Reduces falling damage | 4 |
| Fire Aspect | Sets targets on fire | 2 |
| Fire Protection | Reduces fire damage and burn duration | 4 |
| Flame | Arrows set targets on fire | 1 |
| Fortune | Increases block drop rate | 3 |
| Frostwalker | Turns water between feet to ice and prevents standing magma damage | 2 |
| Impaling | Increases Trident damage against ocean enemies | 5 |
| Infinity | Infinite regular arrows | 1 |
| Knockback | Increases knockback | 2 |
| Looting | Increases mob drops | 3 |
| Loyalty | Trident returns after throw | 3 |
| Luck of the Sea | Increases luck while fishing | 3 |
| Lure | Decreases wait time when fishing | 3 |
| Mending | Restores item durability with experience | 1 |
| Multishot | Shoot three arrows for the cost of one | 1 |
| Piercing | Arrows pass through enemies and objects | 4 |
| Power | Increases arrow damage | 5 |
| Projectible Protection | Reduces projectile damage | 4 |
| Protection | Reduces damage | 4 |
| Punch | Increases arrow knockback | 2 |
| Quick Charge | Decreases crossbow reload time | 3 |
| Respiration | Extends underwater breathing | 3 |
| Riptide | Trident launches player when thrown in rain or water | 3 |
| Sharpness | Increases melee damage | 5 |
| Silk Touch | Mined blocks drop themselves | 1 |
| Smite | Increases damage against undead | 5 |
| Soul Speed | Increases walk speed on soul sand or sand soil. Boots take damage | 3 |
| Sweeping Edge | Increases sweeping attack damage | 3 |
| Thorns | Reflects damage taken when hit at cost of durability | 3 |
| Unbreaking | Reduces item break chance | 3 |
That’s it for our Minecraft enchantments guide. Hopefully, you feel wiser, stronger, and ready to face Mojang’s perilous world. Failing that, at least you know a bit more than you did previously. Crafting the perfect items takes a lot of time and a bit of luck, but it’s certainly worth the effort.