Enchanting Table Setup
To access the best enchantments, you need a properly set up enchanting table:
- Enchanting table: Crafted with 4 obsidian, 2 diamonds, and 1 book
- 15 bookshelves: Placed in a ring around the table, 1 block away, with nothing blocking the path between shelves and table
- Lapis lazuli: Required for every enchantment (1–3 per enchant)
- XP levels: Level 30 required for the best enchantments
Layout tip: The standard layout is a 5×5 ring of bookshelves around the table, 2 shelves high, with an opening for the door. This gives you exactly 15 shelves visible to the table.
Best Enchantments by Item
Pickaxe
- Efficiency V — mines blocks significantly faster
- Fortune III — multiplies ore drops (essential for diamonds, lapis, emeralds)
- Unbreaking III — dramatically increases durability
- Mending — repairs the pickaxe using XP orbs
Make a second pickaxe with Silk Touch instead of Fortune for collecting ore blocks, glass, and spawners.
Sword
- Sharpness V — increases damage against all mobs
- Sweeping Edge III — increases sweep attack damage (Java only)
- Looting III — increases mob drops (more ender pearls, wither skulls, etc.)
- Unbreaking III + Mending
- Fire Aspect II — sets mobs on fire, auto-cooks meat drops
Armour (Full Set)
- Protection IV — best general damage reduction on all 4 pieces
- Unbreaking III + Mending — on all pieces
- Feather Falling IV — boots only, reduces fall damage massively
- Depth Strider III — boots, faster underwater movement
- Thorns III — optional, damages attackers but reduces armour durability faster
Bow
- Power V — significantly increases arrow damage
- Infinity — never runs out of arrows (requires 1 arrow in inventory)
- Flame — sets targets on fire
- Unbreaking III
Note: Infinity and Mending are mutually exclusive on bows. Most players choose Infinity to avoid carrying arrows, then craft a new bow when it breaks.
How to Get Mending
Mending is the most important enchantment in the game, but it cannot appear on the enchanting table. You get it from:
- Villager librarian trades — the most reliable method. Cycle a librarian’s trades until Mending appears, then lock the trade.
- Fishing — with Luck of the Sea III, enchanted books (including Mending) can be fished up.
- Loot chests — found in dungeons, mineshafts, temples, and End cities.
XP Farming
You need XP to enchant. The fastest XP farms:
- Enderman farm — built in The End, fastest XP in the game
- Blaze farm — Nether fortress, excellent XP and blaze rods
- Guardian farm — ocean monument, good XP and prismarine
- Mob spawner farm — find a dungeon spawner, build a kill chamber around it
Frequently Asked Questions
Mending. It repairs your gear using XP orbs, making items last forever. It is the single most valuable enchantment in the game.
15 bookshelves placed around the enchanting table with 1 block of air between them. This unlocks level 30 enchantments.
No. Fortune and Silk Touch are mutually exclusive. You need separate pickaxes for each.
Mending cannot appear on the enchanting table. Get it from villager librarian trades, fishing, or loot chests in structures.
Conclusion
A fully enchanted gear set makes you nearly untouchable in Minecraft. Prioritise Mending from villager trades, build an XP farm, and enchant every piece of gear you use. The investment pays for itself within a single play session.
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