Enchantment calculator for Minecraft

Version

Pick an item and its books, and get an anvil order with the levels for each step. Costs follow the Minecraft Wiki's rules and have not been tested in the game.

Unofficial. Not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft.

1Item

2Enchantments, as books

Tap a name, then its level. Clashing ones lock and say why.

3Your item now

Times it has been on an anvil

Plan for

4Saved loadouts

Loadout name

Saved in this browser only. No sign-up.

0levels
0 steps

Demo loadout

Levels per anvil step:BooksPenalty

Expected cost, not tested in the game. From the Minecraft Wiki's rules, read 2026-11-01.

Do this in order

0 levels

Where these rules come from

What	Source	Status
Which enchantments fit which item, max levels, clashes and cost values (showing )	Game data files for each listed version, through the misode/mcmeta mirror. Each version confirmed on Mojang's version list. Read 2026-11-01	Read from game data, through a third-party mirror
Anvil maths: work penalty, book multiplier, the 39-level limit	Minecraft Wiki, Anvil mechanics, edited 2026-09-29 (still the latest edit when checked 2026-11-03). Mojang's release notes for 1.21.2 to 26.3, searched 2026-11-01, and its patch-note feed, searched again 2026-11-03, state no change to it, and they don't publish the formula	Unverified: community-documented. No Mojang source for the formula was found, and it is not tested in the game. For 1.21.1 and 1.21.4 we assume the wiki's current rules still apply
Cost values, wiki against game data	All 43 enchantments compared for Java 26.3	Agree on max level and book cost. The wiki gives Loyalty an item cost of 1 and game data gives 2, which doesn't change book costs here
Versions in the picker	Version names and release dates match Mojang's own version list, read 2026-11-03 (26.3 is the latest release; 26.4 is snapshots only). Enchantment files for every release from 1.21 to 26.3 compared, 2026-11-01. Where an entry says "also", those releases have the same levels, costs and references	Read from game data, through a third-party mirror. Item lists were expanded only for the six named versions
Bedrock Edition	The wiki documents a different way of charging there	Not offered

A worked check

The wiki works through boots with seven books: Soul Speed III, Thorns III, Feather Falling IV, Depth Strider III, Protection IV, Unbreaking III and Mending. We recalculated its two orders by hand and with a separate test script, and they match. Our plan comes to the same total as the wiki's better order, and a separate search through every order found nothing lower under these rules.

Order	Levels
One book at a time (step 7 is refused as too expensive)	163
Wiki, pairing books evenly	68
Wiki, avoiding some pairs	66
This calculator	66

Common loadouts, worked out

Six loadouts run through this calculator on 3 November 2026, Java 26.3, books never used on an anvil, Fewest levels. "One book at a time" is the same books added straight onto the item, heaviest first.

Item and books	This plan	One book at a time
Sword: Sharpness V, Looting III, Fire Aspect II, Sweeping Edge III, Knockback II, Unbreaking III, Mending	49 levels, 7 steps	148 levels; step 7 is refused as too expensive
Pickaxe: Efficiency V, Fortune III, Unbreaking III, Mending	23 levels, 4 steps	27 levels
The same pickaxe, already on an anvil twice	33 levels, 4 steps	72 levels
Bow: Power V, Punch II, Flame, Infinity, Unbreaking III	29 levels, 5 steps	44 levels
Chestplate: Protection IV, Thorns III, Unbreaking III, Mending	28 levels, 4 steps	32 levels
Trident: Loyalty III, Impaling V, Channeling, Unbreaking III, Mending	33 levels, 5 steps	48 levels

The more books, the more the order matters: four books saved 4 levels here, seven books saved 99. An item that has already been on an anvil costs more for the same books, because its work penalty is charged on every step it takes part in.

Book cost per level

A book's cost on the anvil is its level times its book multiplier. The multipliers below are half the item multiplier, but never less than 1 (Protection, Sharpness, Efficiency, Power, Loyalty and Piercing are 1 on both), as the Minecraft Wiki lists them (Anvil mechanics, read 2026-11-03), and they match the game data for Java 26.3 for all 43 enchantments.

Per level	Enchantments
1	Bane of Arthropods, Density, Efficiency, Feather Falling, Fire Protection, Knockback, Loyalty, Lunge, Piercing, Power, Projectile Protection, Protection, Quick Charge, Sharpness, Smite, Unbreaking
2	Aqua Affinity, Blast Protection, Breach, Depth Strider, Fire Aspect, Flame, Fortune, Frost Walker, Impaling, Looting, Luck of the Sea, Lure, Mending, Multishot, Punch, Respiration, Riptide, Sweeping Edge, Wind Burst
4	Channeling, Curse of Binding, Curse of Vanishing, Infinity, Silk Touch, Soul Speed, Swift Sneak, Thorns

So Sharpness V costs 5 levels as a book and Thorns III costs 12.

Work penalty by anvil uses

Times on an anvil	Penalty added to each step
0	0
1	1
2	3
3	7
4	15
5	31

Each value is 2 to the power of the uses, minus 1 (Minecraft Wiki, read 2026-11-03). After five uses the penalty alone is 31 of the 39 levels a single step may cost, which is why heavily worked items hit "Too Expensive".

Java and Bedrock

This calculator is Java only. The wiki describes Bedrock charging differently: Bedrock adds the level gained (final level minus the level already there) times the multiplier, where Java adds the final level, and Impaling's multiplier is lower on Bedrock. We haven't built or checked the Bedrock rules, so the plan above doesn't apply there.

Why does order matter?

Each anvil use raises an item's work penalty, and the penalty is charged again on every later use. Merging books first keeps that penalty low. This plan assumes books at the level you picked, never used on an anvil, and an item at full durability with no enchantments yet.

Planning a round enchanting room as well? The circle generator gives the block plan.

Updated 3 November 2026: added worked loadouts, book costs, the work penalty table and Java vs Bedrock.

Questions

How is the anvil cost worked out?

By the wiki's rules, each step costs the value of the right-hand item plus the work penalty of both items. A book's value adds up level times book cost for each enchantment. The penalty is 0, 1, 3, 7, 15, then 31 as the anvil count rises.

Which book goes on the left?

The right-hand item is the one you pay for. The wiki's example: Soul Speed III on the left and Mending on the right costs 2 levels, and the other way round costs 12. Each step in the plan says which goes where.

What does Too Expensive mean?

In Survival and Adventure the anvil refuses any step above 39 levels, however many levels you have. The plan keeps every step at 39 or less, and says so if no order can.

Are these costs exact?

We can't promise that. They follow a community-written page and have not been tested in the game. Use the anvil's own number as the final word, and treat this as the expected cost.

Does it work for Bedrock?

Not yet. The wiki says Bedrock charges differently, and we have not built or checked those rules, so only Java versions are listed.

Can I use an item that already has enchantments?

Not yet. You can set how many times the item has been on an anvil, but the plan assumes it has no enchantments so far.

Is this calculator official?

No. BlockJig is an independent site, as the statement at the foot of each page says.