Enchantment Order
Select an item.
Support Us
This is our new Minecraft Enchantment Order Calculator.
We've built this tool to help you get the best enchantments for your gear. If you like what we've made, please help us out by sharing this link with your Minecraft friends! Your support means a lot. You can simply copy the link below.
Plan anvil combinations before spending your experience
Finishing a pickaxe with Efficiency, Unbreaking and Mending takes more than collecting the right books. The order in which you combine them affects the anvil cost. Applying every book directly to the same item can increase its prior work repeatedly, making later operations expensive. This calculator compares combinations and looks for a low total level cost within its model.
The result shows the target, the sacrificed input and the resulting item for each step. It is designed around fresh equipment and separate single-enchantment books at the selected levels. The interface does not let you enter existing enchantments, previous repairs or books that already contain several enchantments, so those starting situations are outside its assumptions.
How to calculate an enchantment order
- Select your item. Choose the weapon, tool or piece of armour you want to finish. Its available enchantments appear below.
- Choose the desired levels. Select a level for each enchantment. Plan to supply books that already have those levels.
- Review conflicts. Incompatible options are highlighted. Selecting a competing enchantment can replace an earlier selection, so check the final list.
- Run the calculation. Read the complete sequence before spending experience or consuming a valuable book.
- Follow the slot positions. Put the shown target on the left and the sacrifice on the right. Check the actual cost in Minecraft before confirming each operation.
Why the order changes your anvil costs
Prior work grows with the depth of the combination
A fresh item starts without a prior work penalty. The calculator represents its work depth as n, with a penalty of P(n) = 2ⁿ − 1. That produces 0, 1, 3, 7, 15 and 31 as the depth increases. A combination gives the result the greater input depth plus one.
Both inputs contribute their existing penalties to the next operation. This explains why a balanced combination tree can be cheaper than repeatedly adding books to one tool. However, combining every book into one large book first is not automatically best either: the combined book gains prior work, and transferring its enchantments still costs levels.
Enchantment weights and the sacrifice slot
The model adds weight × enchantment level for enchantments on the sacrificed book, then includes the prior work penalties of both inputs. Books with different enchantments can therefore have different costs depending on which one goes on the right. Do not casually reverse two books just because their combined enchantment list would look similar.
For a practical example, plan a fresh pickaxe with Efficiency V, Unbreaking III and Mending. Add Fortune III if you want extra ore drops, or Silk Touch if you want to collect blocks themselves. Fortune and Silk Touch are competing choices for ordinary Survival equipment, so decide the pickaxe’s purpose before building its book sequence.
Check the Survival limit and interpret XP carefully
An ordinary anvil operation costing 40 or more levels cannot be completed in Survival. The current calculator minimises its total calculated cost but does not enforce that limit on every individual step. Review each operation explicitly: a low overall total does not guarantee that every part of the sequence is possible in Survival.
Experience levels are also different from experience points. Higher levels take more XP, so paying ten levels while highly levelled is not equivalent to earning ten levels from zero. The additional XP display converts each step’s cost as a climb from level zero; it does not track your actual starting level or spending history.
If you have already repaired the item or merged its books, the starting assumptions no longer match. Use the result as a planning reference, compare it with the anvil screen, and keep edition differences, server changes and version-specific enchantment rules in mind before consuming rare books.
Frequently asked questions
Can I enter equipment that has already been worked on?
No. The calculation starts with unenchanted equipment and separate single-enchantment books with no prior work. Existing enchantments and repair history are not input options.
Does the calculator guarantee that no step is too expensive?
No. It does not enforce the Survival limit for every step. An ordinary anvil operation costing 40 or more levels cannot be completed in Survival.
Why do the left and right anvil slots matter?
The left slot holds the target and the right slot holds the consumed sacrifice. Transferring the enchantments on the right affects the cost, so swapping inputs can change it.
Are experience levels the same as experience points?
No. Higher levels require more experience points. The displayed XP converts each step from level zero and does not track your personal starting level.