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Enchanting grid

Enchanting grid. Top: Without item. Bottom: With item and possible enchantments.

Enchanting is a game mechanic that involves using an Enchantment Table to add special bonuses to tools, weapons or armor. To enchant an item, you need the required Experience level for the enchantment and an Enchantment Table. Each spell costs the player experience levels but in turn allows the player to enchant armor, swords and tools with one or several random bonus attributes as well as making the items glow with a brilliant hue.

Enchanting basics

To enchant an item, craft an Enchantment Table, place it on the ground, right-click on it and drag an enchantable item from your inventory onto the square under the book icon. Three randomly chosen enchantments will appear on the menu on the right. The only thing you can know for sure about them is their level, which appears as a number; the foreign text is random. You can take the item off and place it on the table again for a different set of enchantments. Or, you can attempt to replace the item on the table with a stack of two or more of any other item from your inventory.

File:Enchantment histogram.png

A chart showing the relative probabilities of the different enchantment levels in the bottom slot with 30 bookshelves.

Once you choose an enchantment, it will be applied to your item, giving it a glow and one of the special powers detailed below, and you will lose a number of experience levels equal to the level of the enchantment. Enchantments cannot be undone ,and an item can only be enchanted once (although you may receive multiple enchantments during one instance of enchanting, determined randomly).

Whenever you place an eligible item on the table, the enchantment levels available are randomly generated for each slot using the formula below. The enchantment level is dependent upon the number of nearby bookshelves (capped at 30) and a "slot factor" of 0.50 for the topmost enchantment slot, 0.66 for the middle slot, and 1.00 for the bottom slot. (If the number of bookshelves is 0, the second two random integers will always be zero. When placing bookshelves around the Enchanting Table they CANNOT be touching the table or the table will not change from 5.

Enchantment level available = (1..5 + 0..(b/2) + 0..b) × s,

where b is the number of nearby bookshelves (maximum of 30), s is the slot factor for the given enchantment slot, and x..y generates a random integer between x and y inclusive. (Note that however many bookshelves are being used, 1 is still available as the lowest level.)

Bookshelves 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Max Level 5 7 8 10 11 13 14 16 17 19 20 22 23 25 26 28 29 31 32 34 35 37 38 40 41 43 44 46 47 49 50

Bookshelf placement

Nearby bookshelves raise the available enchantment levels. As of Beta 1.9 Pre-release 4, no enchantments costing above five Experience levels are available unless you place bookshelves near but not touching the Enchantment Table. In order to have an effect, a bookshelf must be placed exactly 2 blocks, laterally, of the enchantment table and be on the same level or one block height above the table, and the space between the bookshelf and table must be Air (even a torch will block the effect), where “between” is as shown in the following diagrams (the white spaces are air, and the do not matter):

Like this from the top:
or
and like this from the side:
or

An enchantment table can be surrounded by 30 bookshelves by placing them in a square around the table, with each wall measuring 5 blocks wide and 2 blocks high, with a 2 block high doorway. This arrangement gives the maximum possible boost.[1] (While it is possible to get two more bookshelves in "range", they do not add, as the boost is capped.)


Enchantments

Enchantment names are randomly constructed from a long list of words. Three to five words are chosen from the list and appended to each other, creating the enchantment name. Any name can be chosen for any item. Note that the names are not actually saved with the item, they are only displayed in the Enchantment Table interface, albeit with the Standard Galactic Alphabet.

scrolls klaatu berata niktu xyzzy bless curse light darkness fire air earth water hot dry cold wet elder ignite snuff embiggen twist shorten stretch fiddle destroy imbue galvanize enchant free limited range of towards inside sphere cube self other ball mental physical grow shrink demon elemental spirit animal creature beast humanoid undead fresh stale

Repairing an enchanted weapon/tool will remove the enchantment on it.[2]

When an enchanted weapon deals bonus damage to a mob, circular blue particles fly off of that mob, similar to getting a critical hit.

There are several levels on most enchants, and when you enchant you can get several enchants on each weapon/tool/armor.

Enchantable Items

Items such as swords, shovels, pickaxes, axes, bows, and every part of armor of any material can be enchanted. Hoes, shears, fishing rods and flint and steel are not enchantable.

Enchantment Types

EID is the item's Effect Identification Number in the game code.

EID Enchantable item Name Effect Max. Enchantment Power On level up Notes

Armor Enchantments

0 Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Protection Converts environmental damage to armor damage IV Armor with this enchantment cannot receive any other type of Protection
1 Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Fire Protection Protection against fire IV Armor with this enchantment cannot receive any other type of Protection
2 Enchanting/image Feather Falling
[note 1]
Less fall damage IV +1 to reduction of falling damage (half a heart) This is great for preventing falling damage from ender pearl teleportations.
3 Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Blast Protection Protection against explosions IV Armor with this enchantment cannot receive any other type of Protection
4 Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Projectile Protection Protection against projectile entities (e.g. arrows) IV Armor with this enchantment cannot receive any other type of Protection
5 Enchanting/image Respiration
[note 2]
Decreases the rate of air loss underwater; increases time between damage while suffocating III Underwater breathing time +15 seconds; time between suffocation damage +1 second
6 Enchanting/image Aqua Affinity
[note 2]
Increases underwater mining rate I

Weapon Enchantments

16 Enchanting/image Sharpness Extra damage V Up to 1.5 hearts extra damage per level Extra damage is random for every hit, but will always be at least 0.5 heart. A Sword with this enchantment cannot receive Smite or Bane of Arthropods.
17 Enchanting/image Smite Extra damage to zombies, zombie pigmen and skeletons. V Up to 2 hearts extra damage per level Extra damage is random for every hit, but will always be at least 0.5 heart. A Sword with this enchantment cannot receive Sharpness or Bane of Arthropods.
18 Enchanting/image Bane of Arthropods Extra damage to spiders, cave spiders and silverfish V Up to 2 hearts extra damage per level Extra damage is random for every hit, but will always be at least 0.5 heart. A Sword with this enchantment cannot receive Sharpness or Smite.
19 Enchanting/image Knockback Knocks mobs and players backwards upon hit II Does not stack with knockback caused by attacking while sprinting.
20 Enchanting/image Fire Aspect
[note 3]
Lights mobs on fire II 0.5 heart extra damage per second Will cook meat if mob is killed by the fire damage
21 Enchanting/image Looting Mobs have a chance to drop more loot III +1 to max loot drop per level
48 Enchanting/image Power Extra damage V Extra damage is dealt Multiplies base damage by 1.5 at Power I; additional levels increase the multiplier by .25 each, for a maximum of 2.5 at Power V. A Power V enchantment will one-shot many mobs when fully charged. (11-12.5 hearts damage)
49 Enchanting/image Punch Knockback effect on mobs II Mobs are knocked back further.
50 Enchanting/image Flame Sets arrows and mobs on fire. I Sets arrows on fire when shot, and mobs when hit.
51 Enchanting/image Infinity As long as there is one arrow in your inventory, you will have infinite arrows. I This can be extremely useful against the Ender Dragon when fighting it in The End, since the player can no longer return for more arrows to use. Additionally, arrows fired by a bow with this enchantment cannot be retrieved, similar to the arrows fired by skeletons.

Tool Enchantments

32 Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Efficiency Faster resource gathering while in use V +10% mining speed Most blocks break instantly at levels IV and V.
33 Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Silk Touch
[note 4]
[note 5]
Blocks mined will drop themselves, even if it should drop something else (e.g. stone will drop stone, not cobblestone) I Allows the collection of normally unobtainable blocks such as Ores, Mycelium, Double Slabs and Huge Mushrooms. (Regardless of the tool used as of 1.0)
34 Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Unbreaking At each use, there's a chance the tool's durability will not decrease. III For example, an Unbreaking III item has a chance to use up a use of (100/(3+1))% = (100/4)% = 25%, so Unbreaking III should, on average, make a tool last 4 times as long.
35 Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Enchanting/image Fortune
[note 6]
Can multiply the drop rate of items from blocks III I: 30% * 2 (30% more)

II: 25% * 2, 25% * 3 (75% more)
III: 20% * 2, 20% * 3, 20% * 4 (120% more)

Only applies to item drops such as coal, diamond, redstone, glowstone, lapis lazuli and nether wart. When used on Wheat, only the Seeds' drop rate is affected. When used on a Melon Block, the drop rate of melon slices are increased. Increases the chance for Gravel to drop Flint instead of itself, up to 100% at III. It doesn't affect clay ball drop rates (it is always 4).

How Enchantments Are Attached to an Item

The Enchantments of an item are determined by an extra set of data attached to the item.

The extra data is a "compound" labeled "tag"; Which contains a "list" of data named "ench"; in which is a series of "compound"[s] (one compound for each enchantment); Each of the "compound"[s] contains a pair of "short"[s] named "id" and "lvl";

The "id"

Hacking Enchantments

It is possible to edit enchantments via an external program such as NBTEdit by using a process such as that shown here, or easier by using an enchantment editor like this one.

Standard Galactic Alphabet

The enchantments are written in the Standard Galactic Alphabet which is a simple alphabet substitution code used in the Commander Keen series of computer games (see that page for the code key). However, if you want to decode the names more quickly you can replace alternate.png in .minecraft\bin\minecraft.jar\font (or in ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/bin/minecraft.jar/font for OSX, ~/.minecraft/bin/minecraft.jar/font for linux) with the default.png NOTE: this does not work if you're using a texture pack.

There is something that may help you decode the language:
File:Sga.gif


Note: Decoding the alphabet will allow a player to read the enchantment phrases in his or her native language, although these phrases remain arbitrary, as of client version 1.0.0.

History

Notch first tweeted about the Enchantment Table on September 30th 2011.[3][4] Notch stated that Enchanting will work in three stages and the benefits will be based on the spell you choose, but a random loot element will be included as well.[5][6]

Enchanting was added to the game in 1.9 prerelease 2. However, enchanting was not the same in the 1.9 prerelease 2. Enchanting did NOT require bookshelves to get maximum enchantments. Also, many enchantments were not added back then. Enchantments are labeled in the enchanting table as random words in the Standard Galactic Alphabet.

In 1.1, four bow enchantments (Power, Flame, Punch and Infinity) were added to the game.

Notes

  1. boots only
  2. a b Helmets only.
  3. Fire Aspect enchantment is virtually useless on all nether mobs because all nether mobs are immune to fire and lava.
  4. Silk Touch does not work on monster spawners nor ice (as of Minecraft 1.0.0).
  5. Items able to be obtained legitimately only through use of silk touch:
  6. Fortune does essentially nothing on an axe, and only gives flint for shovels. This is due to it not dropping multiple for things that can be user recreated such as trees, and wood products so a single item isn't infinite.

Gallery

Trivia

  • The Feather Falling enchantment could be from the Dungeons & Dragons wizard spell of the same name.
  • Looting enchantment does not process on Wool, Spider Eye, Raw Chicken and Cooked Chicken.
  • Items that are enchanted will receive a glowing aura around them. Editing glint.png in .minecraft\bin\minecraft.jar\misc can change the glow accordingly. Enchanted items also cause the hotbar to become semi-transparent whilst they are the selected item. The hotbar will revert to its opaque format when you select a new item.
  • Repairing an enchanted item using another item will remove the enchantment it has.
  • On October 1st 2011, Notch tweeted an image of the enchantment screen, with enchantments written in the Standard Galactic Alphabet.[7] The first enchantment translates onto "Well Played Internets You Are Good", the second translated into "These Names Will Be Random And Confusing", and the third translates to "Each Spell Costs Experience Levels". The Standard Galactic Alphabet or SGA was originally created by Tom Hall for use in the Commander Keen series of computer games.[8]
  • Three of the possible words for enchantments are "the elder scrolls," likely a joke at Bethesda, creator of "The Elder Scrolls" series and whose parent company, Zenimax, was suing Mojang.
  • The words "klaatu berata niktu" are a (misspelled) reference to "Klaatu barada nikto", a phrase that originates from the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still and has been since used as a reference in many other movies, cartoons and games, more popularly in Army of Darkness, Star Wars Episode VI, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(1987) and Duck Tales. Similarly, "Xyzzy" is a magic spell in the game "Colossal Cave Adventure" and has been used in several other games as an Easter Egg or cheat code.
  • "Embiggen" is a fictitious word from The Simpsons, from a quote attributed to Springfield's founder, Jebidiah Springfield: "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man".
  • All tools, swords and armor enchanted before 1.9 Prerelease 4 will only have Feather Falling I as their enchantment.
  • The Silk Touch enchantment is possible on all levels of enchantment when enchanting a golden pickaxe, although extremely rare on enchantments below level 20.
  • Enchanted items still pulsate while you have paused the game.

Bugs

  • Using the "Silk Touch" enchantment, it is possible to obtain either Redstone Ore or Glowing Redstone Ore, depending on the block's state when broken. These are different blocks and do not stack, but appear to be identical in the user's inventory.
  • Sometimes, logging off a server with an enchanted tool on you, will remove the enchantments from the item.
  • In multiplayer, players can only see their own enchantment auras, and not those of other players.
  • In multiplayer, rarely can one get a high level enchantment while spending only a small number of levels. [citation needed]

See also

References

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