Ultimate Minecraft Enchantments Guide 2023 (Updated for patch 1.20)

If you want to power up your gear with new abilities and bonuses, enchantments in Minecraft are your best friends. There are five different types of enchantments that can completely change your gameplay experience and make Minecraft a lot more enjoyable. If you don’t know where to start, here is our comprehensive guide on how to enchant in Minecraft right from making your first enchantment table to getting level 255 enchantments.

How to make an enchanting table in Minecraft

If you want to craft an enchanting table in Minecraft you need one book, two diamonds, and four obsidian and then you can craft them in your crafting table.

1. Open your crafting menu and make sure you have the 3x3 crafting grid that looks like the image above.

2. Add the following items to the grid: 

• 1X Book

• 2X Diamond

• 4X Obsidian

3. Make sure you arrange the crafting materials in the same layout we showcased above.

4. Retrieve the enchanting table to your inventory after you are done crafting.

How to enchant books in Minecraft

You need one book and three lapis lazuli to enchant books. Open the enchantment table to start enchanting your books.

Once you place your books and lapis lazuli in the enchantment menu you will notice that there are three enchantment options that show up. The number on the right highlights the experience level you need to be to unlock and view the enchantment so make sure you are geared up.

If you are not leveled, simply grind out some XP by farming mobs and you should be okay. Once you reveal the enchantments and hover over the revealed enchantments you will be able to choose one of them. It will also show you the cost to obtain the enchantment which will be lapis lazuli and experience points. Choose the enchantment you want to get and apply it to the book. You can now use the enchanted book to power up your gear. 

When you want to enchant a gear it will show you the enchantment cost. If the number is red, you will need to farm more XP to enchant your gear. Some types of enchantments only work on specific items so you need to be aware of all the enchantments there are in the game.

How to use an enchantment book

To enchant items you need to make an anvil using three Iron Blocks and four Iron Ingots. Once you have an anvil, interact with it to open the menu and add a gear item and the enchantment book that you want to use. You can also combine enchanted books in Minecraft to craft stronger enchantments.

How many enchantments are there in Minecraft?

There are currently a total of 40 enchantments in Minecraft and they can be broken down into a handful of major categories. Here is a rundown of all the enchantments in Minecraft:

All Purpose Enchantments in Minecraft

These enchantments can be applied to any armor/tool/weapon. 

1. Mending - Repairs the item when gaining XP orbs. (Maximum enchantment level - 1) 

2. Unbreaking - Increases item durability. (Maximum enchantment level - 3) 

3. Curse of Vanishing - Item destroyed upon death. (Maximum enchantment level - 1) 

Tool Enchantments in Minecraft

1. Efficiency - Increases mining speed. (Maximum enchantment level - 5) 

2. Fortune - Increases certain item drop chances from blocks. (Maximum enchantment level - 3) 

3. Luck of the Sea - Increases rate of fishing rare loot (enchanting books, etc.) (Maximum enchantment level - 3) 

4. Lure - Decreases wait time until fish/junk/loot “bites” (Maximum enchantment level- 3) 

Melee Weapon Enchantments in Minecraft

If you are looking for the best sword enchantments in Minecraft you can take your pick from some of these melee weapon enchantments. Fire Aspect is our personal favorite pick for the best sword enchantment in Minecraft but we recommend trying out other options as well. 

1. Bane of Arthropods - Increases damage and applies Slowness IV to arthropod mobs (spiders, cave spiders, silverfish, endermites and bees). (Maximum enchantment level - 5) 

2. Efficiency - When applied to an axe it increases the chance that the axe may stun a shield, with the base chance being 25% and a 5% increase for each level of efficiency. (Maximum enchantment level - 5) 

3. Fire Aspect - Sets target on fire. (Maximum enchantment level - 2) 

4. Looting - Increases amount of loot earned from mobs. (Maximum enchantment level - 3) 

5. Impaling - Trident deals additional damage to mobs that spawn naturally in the ocean. (Maximum enchantment level - 5) 

6. Knockback - Knocks back mobs away from you when hit. (Maximum enchantment level- 2) 

7. Sharpness - Increases weapon damage. (Maximum enchantment level - 5) 

8. Smite - Smite is a melee enchantment and is regarded by many as the best enchantment in Minecraft thanks to how common undead enemies are. If you are wondering what the smite enchantment does in Minecraft, it increases damage to undead mobs. (Maximum enchantment level - 5) 

9. Sweeping Edge - Increases sweeping attack damage. Available only in Java Edition (Maximum enchantment level - 3) 

Ranged Weapon Enchantments in Minecraft

1. Channeling - Trident channels a bolt of lightning toward a hit entity. Functions only during thunderstorms and if the target is unobstructed by opaque blocks. (Maximum enchantment level - 1) 

2. Flame - Arrows set targets on fire. (Maximum enchantment level - 1) 

3. Impaling - Trident deals additional damage to mobs that spawn naturally in the ocean. (Maximum enchantment level - 5) 

4. Infinity - Shooting with projectiles does not consume arrows. (Maximum enchantment level - 1) 

5. Loyalty - Trident returns after being thrown. Higher levels reduce the return time. (Maximum enchantment level - 3) 

6. Riptide - Trident launches the player with itself when thrown. Functions only in water or rain. (Maximum enchantment level - 3) 

7. Multishot - Shoot 3 arrows at the cost of one; only one arrow can be recovered. (Maximum enchantment level - 1) 

8. Piercing - Arrows pass through multiple entities (Maximum enchantment level - 4) 

9. Power - Increases arrow damage. (Maximum enchantment level - 5) 

10. Punch - Increases arrow knockback. (Maximum enchantment level - 2) 

11. Quick Charge - Decreases crossbow charging time. (Maximum enchantment level - 3)

12. Silk Touch - Mined blocks will drop as blocks instead of breaking into other items/blocks. (Maximum enchantment level - 1) 

Armor Enchantments in Minecraft

1. Aqua Affinity - Increase the rate of underwater mining speed. (Maximum enchantment level - 1) 

2. Blast Protection - Reduces explosion damage and knockback. (Maximum enchantment level - 4) 

3. Curse of Binding - Items cannot be removed from armor slots unless the cause is death or breaking. (Maximum enchantment level - 1) 

4. Depth Strider - Increases underwater movement speed. (Maximum enchantment level - 3) 

5. Feather Falling - Reduces fall damage. (Maximum enchantment level - 4) 

6. Fire Protection - Reduces fire damage and burn time. (Maximum enchantment level - 4) 

7. Frost Walker - Changes the water source blocks beneath the player into frosted ice and prevents the damage the player would take from standing on magma blocks. (Maximum enchantment level - 2) 

8. Projectile Protection - Reduces projectile damage. (Maximum enchantment level - 4) 

9. Protection - Reduces most types of damage by 4% for each level. (Maximum enchantment level - 4) 

10. Respiration - Extends underwater breathing time. (Maximum enchantment level - 3) 

11. Soul Speed - Increases walking speed on soul sand and soul soil. ((Maximum enchantment level - 3) 

12. Thorns - Reflects some of the damage taken when hit, at the cost of reducing durability. (Maximum enchantment level - 3)

What is the best enchantment in Minecraft?

With so many enchantments to choose from you might be wondering what is the best enchantment in Minecraft. While there are quite a few unique options, it all depends on the build you are trying to go for. Enchantments that are more valuable for exploration might be more useful to you than raw damage and the weapons you use also dictate which enchantments you should be using. 

Once you get used to the gameplay loop of Minecraft, farming for enchantments doesn’t take too long and you should be able to experiment and find out which enchantments suit your playstyle the best.

How to get level 255 enchantments in Minecraft

In the Java Edition of Minecraft you can do the following to get level 255 enchanted weapons: 

1. Open your chat window.

2. Enter the command to obtain the enchanted item. The standard format for a level 255 item is

• /give @p <item>{Enchantments:[{id:<enchantment>,lvl:255}]} 

• where <item> is the desired item to be enchanted and <enchantment> is the ID of the enchantment you wish to place on it. 

• For example, for a sword with 255 sharpness, you should type out /give @p minecraft:diamond_sword{Enchantments:[{id:sharpness,lvl:255}]} before pressing the Enter key.

3. The item needs to be placed in Minecraft’s hotbar or in your inventory if you do not have hotbar space

That’s everything you need to know about enchantments in Minecraft in 2023. The guide has been updated for version 1.20 based on the preview builds of Minecraft. If any changes to enchantments are made or if new enchantments are added to the game, the guide will be updated to reflect the changes.