Efficiency is an enchantment that increases the player's mining speed.
Obtaining
Pickaxes, shovels, axes, and hoes can receive up to Efficiency through the enchanting table. Up to level V can be obtained this way but stone and diamond tools do not have a high enough enchantability to be able to receive level V through this method and instead caps out at level IV for these materials. However, both can be given Efficiency V by combining 2 items with Efficiency IV in an anvil, be it by using an enchanted book with Efficiency IV on it or by combining 2 tools with Efficiency IV. Diamond tools with Efficiency V can also be rarely found in end city and bastion remnant chests.
Enchanted books that spawn in certain generated structures may spawn with a random level of Efficiency applied to it.
Efficiency can also be obtained on shears in Survival mode, but unlike other tools, shears cannot be directly enchanted on an enchanting table and must instead receive the enchantment from an anvil.
Usage
Efficiency increases the mining speed of any tools the enchantment is applied to. This speed bonus is only applied when breaking blocks with the correct tool (e.g. a pickaxe can't use Efficiency to mine dirt faster).
The formula that the Efficiency enchantment uses to increase mining speed is (level)^2 + 1, which is then added to the tool's base speed multiplier. For example, if a stone tool (which by default can mine blocks 4x faster than by hand) is enchanted with Efficiency II, then it's speed multiplier becomes 4x + 5x = 9x, making it slightly faster than an diamond pickaxe without Efficiency (default 8x mining speed multiplier).
| Level | Speed Bonus |
|---|---|
| I | +1x |
| II | +5x |
| III | +10x |
| IV | +17x |
| V | +26x |
In addition to increasing mining speed, Efficiency can also be used in PvP combat. When put on an axe, Efficiency will also increase the chance that the player stuns a shield by 5% per level. This only matters when the player is not sprinting, as sprint attacks already guarantee that a shield will break regardless of Efficiency.[Java Edition only]
| Level | Percentage increase |
|---|---|
| 0 | 25% |
| I | 30% |
| II | 35% |
| III | 40% |
| IV | 45% |
| V | 50% |
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
| Efficiency | efficiency | enchantment.minecraft.efficiency |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Efficiency | efficiency | 15 | enchantment.digging |
History
| Java Edition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3 | Added Efficiency. | |||
| 1.4.5 | pre | Efficiency no longer increases mining speed when using tools on the wrong block types.[1][is this the correct version?] | |||
| 1.4.6 | 12w50a | Efficiency has been nerfed slightly, so that enchanted tools that do not match the block the player is breaking no longer work as quickly as before (e.g., Efficiency V pickaxes no longer instantly break dirt or logs). | |||
| 1.16 | 20w10a | Hoes can now be enchanted with Efficiency. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.12.1 | build 1 | Added Efficiency. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.16.0 | beta 1.16.0.57 | Hoes can now be enchanted with Efficiency. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU7 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added Efficiency. |
Issues
Issues relating to "Efficiency" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
See also
- Instant mining for combining Efficiency with Haste to mine specific blocks instantly.