Silk Touch is an enchantment that allows many blocks to drop themselves instead of their usual items when mined.
Obtainable blocks
The table below lists blocks that do not normally drop themselves as items:
| Block | Normal drops | Obtainable with Silk Touch? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amethyst Bud | Nothing | Yes (only with pickaxe) | The bud keeps its growth stage. |
| Amethyst Cluster | 4 Amethyst Shard with pickaxe, otherwise | Yes (only with pickaxe) | |
| Bee Nest | Nothing | Yes | When mined with a Silk Touch tool the nest can still contain 1-3 bees. |
| Beehive (occupied) | Beehive (empty) | Yes | When mined with a Silk Touch tool the nest can still contain 1-3 bees. |
| Beetroots | 1 Beetroot Seeds if not fully grown 1 Beetroot and |
No | Beetroot crop cannot be obtained as an item. |
| Blue ice[a] | Nothing | Yes | |
| Bookshelf | 3 Book | Yes | |
| Budding Amethyst | Nothing | No | |
| Cake[a] | Nothing | No | |
| Campfire | 2 Charcoal | Yes | |
| Carrots | 1-5Carrot | No | Carrot crop cannot be obtained as an item. |
| Clay | 4 Clay Ball | Yes | Clay can also be obtained by crafting with the clay balls the block drops, or killing an enderman holding the block. |
| Coal Ore[a] | 1 Coal | Yes (only with pickaxe) | |
| Cocoa | 1-3 Cocoa Beans | No | Cocoa pod cannot be obtained as an item. |
| Copper Ore | 2-3 Raw Copper | Yes (only with stone pickaxe or better) | |
| Coral Blocks[a] | Dead Coral Blocks | Yes (only with pickaxe) | |
| Coral[a] | Nothing | Yes | |
| Deepslate | Cobbled Deepslate | Yes (only with pickaxe) | Can also be smelted from cobbled deepslate. |
| Diamond Ore[a] | 1 Diamond | Yes (only with iron pickaxe or better) | |
| Double Slab | 2 Slab | No | All slabs except wooden drop nothing when mined without a pickaxe. |
| Emerald Ore[a] | 1 Emerald | Yes (only with iron pickaxe or better) | |
| Ender Chest[a] | 8 Obsidian | Yes (only with pickaxe) | |
| Farmland | Dirt | No | |
| Fire[a] | Nothing | No | Fire cannot be obtained as an item. |
| Frosted Ice[a] | Nothing | No | Frosted Ice cannot be obtained as an item. |
| Gilded Blackstone[a] | 90% chance for Gilded Blackstone and
10% chance for 2-5 Gold Nuggets |
Yes (only with pickaxe) | |
| Glass Pane[a] | Nothing | Yes | |
| Glowstone | 2-4 Glowstone Dust | Yes | Can also be crafted with 4 glowstone dust. |
| Gold Ore | 1 Raw Gold | Yes (only with iron pickaxe or better) | |
| Grass Block | Dirt | Yes | Can also be obtained by killing an enderman holding the block. |
| Dirt Path | Dirt | Yes[BE only] | |
| No[JE only] | |||
| Gravel | 90% chance for Gravel and
10% chance for Flint |
Yes | The block always drops itself if it falls into an occupied block space. |
| Ice[a] | Nothing | Yes | |
| Infested Block
(Monster Egg) |
Spawns 1 | Partial | When mined with a Silk Touch tool, it drops the original version of the block, not the infested block, and no silverfish spawn. |
| Inverted Daylight Detector | Daylight Detector | No | |
| Iron Ore | 1 Raw Iron | Yes (only with stone pickaxe or better) | |
| Lapis Lazuli Ore[a] | 4-8 Lapis Lazuli | Yes (only with stone pickaxe or better) | |
| Leaves | 0-1 Saplings |
Yes | Leaf blocks can also be obtained by mining them with shears. |
| Melon | 3-7 Melon Slice | Yes | Can also be crafted with 9 melon slices, or killing an enderman holding the block. |
| Melon Stem | 0-4 Melon Seeds | No | Melon stem cannot be obtained as an item. |
| Spawner[a] | Nothing | No | The spawner drops experience if mined with a pickaxe. |
| Mushroom Blocks | 0-2 Mushrooms | Yes | |
| Mycelium | Dirt | Yes | Can also be obtained by killing an enderman holding the block. |
| Nether Gold Ore[a] | 2-6 Gold Nugget | Yes (only with pickaxe) | |
| Nether Quartz Ore[a] | 1 Nether Quartz | Yes (only with pickaxe) | |
| Nylium[a] | Netherrack | Yes (only with pickaxe) | Can also be obtained by killing an enderman holding the block. |
| Nether Wart | 1-4 Nether Wart | No | Nether wart crop cannot be obtained as an item. |
| Packed Ice[a] | Nothing | Yes | |
| Podzol | Dirt | Yes | Can also be obtained by killing an enderman holding the block, or buying it from a wandering trader. |
| Potatoes | 2-5 Potato, and
2% chance for a Poisonous Potato |
No | Potato crop cannot be obtained as an item. |
| Powder Snow | Nothing | No | Can be collected with a bucket. |
| Pumpkin Stem | 0-4 Pumpkin Seeds | No | Pumpkin stem cannot be obtained as an item. |
| Redstone Ore[a] | 4-5 Redstone Dust | Yes (only with iron pickaxe or better) | |
| Sea Lantern | 2-3 Prismarine Crystals | Yes | |
| Snow[a] | 1 Snowball | Yes (only with shovel) | Can craft 6 using 3 snow blocks. |
| Snow Block[a] | 4 Snowball | Yes (only with shovel) | Can also be crafted with 4 snowballs. |
| Soul Campfire | Soul Soil | Yes | |
| Stone[a] | Cobblestone | Yes (only with pickaxe) | Can also be smelted from cobblestone. |
| Turtle Egg[a] | Nothing | Yes | |
| Twisting Vines | 33% chance for Twisting Vines | Yes | Also drops 100% of the time if broken with Fortune III or shears. |
| Weeping Vines | 33% chance for Weeping Vines | Yes | Also drops 100% of the time if broken with Fortune III or shears. |
| Wheat | 1 Seeds if not fully grown |
No | Wheat crop cannot be obtained as an item. |
Incompatibilities
If commands are used to apply both Silk Touch and Fortune to an item, the Silk Touch enchantment takes precedence over the Fortune enchantment for blocks affected by both enchantments.
Silk touch is also [JE only] technically incompatible with the Looting and Luck of the Sea enchantments. Since Silk Touch cannot normally be applied to swords or fishing rods, this only affects enchanted books and creative mode anvil use.
If commands are used to apply both Silk Touch and Looting or Luck of the Sea to an item, both enchantments function normally.
Advancements
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Total Beelocation | Move a Bee Nest, with 3 Bees inside, using Silk Touch | Husbandry | — | husbandry/silk_touch_nest
|
Achievements
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Total Beelocation | Move and place a Bee Nest, with 3 bees inside, using Silk Touch. | — | 30G | Silver | ||
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
| Silk Touch | silk_touch | enchantment.minecraft.silk_touch |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silk Touch | silk_touch | 16 | enchantment.untouching |
History
| Java Edition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3 | Added Silk Touch. | |||
| Silk Touch currently has no functionality. | |||||
| Silk Touch is currently unobtainable, due to a bug where all enchantments give Feather Falling. | |||||
| Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4 | Silk touch now works. It can acquire these previously non-obtainable blocks: grass block, stone, coal ore, redstone ore, lapis lazuli ore, diamond ore, bookshelves, glass, ice. | ||||
| Mushroom blocks now drop when mined with Silk Touch. | |||||
| Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6 | Silk Touch can no longer pick up ice. | ||||
| 1.2 | 12w07a | Silk Touch can no longer pick up glass. | |||
| 1.2.4 | Glass can be collected with Silk Touch again. | ||||
| 1.3.1 | 12w17a | Ice and glass panes can now be collected with Silk Touch. | |||
| 12w21a | Added emerald ore, which requires Silk Touch to be collected. | ||||
| 12w24a | Ender chests now drop 8 obsidian unless mined with Silk Touch. | ||||
| 1.4.6 | 12w50a | Silk Touch can now be added to shears, allowing cobwebs to be collected. | |||
| 1.5 | 13w01a | Added nether quartz ore, which requires Silk Touch to be collected. | |||
| 1.7.2 | 13w36a | Added packed ice and podzol, which require Silk Touch to be collected. | |||
| 13w41a | Added stained glass and stained glass panes, which require Silk Touch to be collected. | ||||
| 1.8 | 14w25a | Added sea lanterns, which require Silk Touch to be collected. | |||
| Red and brown mushroom blocks now drop themselves when mined with Silk Touch. | |||||
| 1.9 | 15w47b | Silk Touch may no longer be added to shears. | |||
| 15w47c | Silk Touch is no longer required to collect cobwebs. | ||||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Mushroom stems can now be collected as themselves with Silk Touch. | |||
| 18w07a | Added turtle eggs, which require Silk Touch to be collected. | ||||
| 18w15a | Added blue ice, which requires Silk Touch to be collected. | ||||
| 18w16a | Coral blocks now require Silk Touch to be collected. | ||||
| pre10 | Coral, coral fans, and dead coral fans can now be collected using Silk Touch. | ||||
| 1.13.1 | 18w32a | Added dead coral, which requires Silk Touch to be collected. | |||
| 1.14 | 19w02a | Added campfires, which drop charcoal unless mined with Silk Touch. | |||
| 1.15 | 19w34a | Added bee nests, which require Silk Touch to be collected. | |||
| Bees remain in bee nests and beehives mined with Silk Touch. | |||||
| 19w46a | Moving a bee nest with 3 bees inside using Silk Touch, now gives the player the Total Beelocation advancement. | ||||
| 1.16 | 20w10a | Hoes can now be enchanted with Silk Touch. | |||
| 20w12a | Nether gold ore now drops gold nuggets unless mined with Silk Touch, in which case it drops itself. | ||||
| 20w15a | Added soul campfires, which drop soul soil unless mined with Silk Touch. | ||||
| Added gilded blackstone, which always drops itself when mined with Silk Touch. | |||||
| 20w18a | Twisting vines and weeping vines now only drop 33% of the time, unless mined with Silk Touch, Fortune III or shears, it which case it always drops. | ||||
| 20w22a | Nylium now drops itself only when broken with a Silk Touch pickaxe. | ||||
| 1.17 | 20w45a | Added amethyst clusters, which require a Silk Touch pickaxe to be collected. | |||
| 20w46a | Amethyst buds can now also be collected with a Silk Touch pickaxe. | ||||
| 21w08a | Deepslate can now only be mined with Silk Touch, otherwise it drops cobbled deepslate. | ||||
| 21w14a | Iron ore, gold ore and copper ore now drop their respective raw metal, and can only be obtained with Silk Touch. | ||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.12.1 | build 1 | Added Silk Touch. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.16.0 | beta 1.16.0.57 | Hoes can now be enchanted with Silk Touch. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU7 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added Silk Touch. |
Issues
Issues relating to "Silk Touch" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
