Enchanting is one of the core mechanics of Minecraft. There are currently 40 enchantments that allow you to make your equipment even better. And the best part is, once you get the hang of it, you will get the best enchantments in no time.
So keep on reading to find out everything that you need to know.
How to enchant items and armor in Minecraft?
You need a Minecraft Enchanting Table to enchant your items and armor. If you are on Bedrock, then it will be called "enchantment table."
The crafting recipe looks as follows:

To enchant armor, you need lapis lazuli and the item you want to enchant. This must be done at an enchanting table. Place the enchanting table and open the User Interface. You will then see two slots to fill.

If you want to get the best possible enchantments, you will have to upgrade your enchanting table to level 30. You can do this by adding 15 bookshelves around it. Make sure to keep a one-block space between the table and the bookshelves. This is the perfect enchanting table Minecraft setup:

If you go for the level 30 enchantment, three experience levels will be taken from you. You can see the amount of levels that you will lose on the left side.

Do not worry if you do not get the enchantment that you want. Choose the least expensive enchantment and go with that one. The list of enchantments for you to choose from will then reset.
You can then use a grindstone to remove the enchantment and regain some of the levels.

You can also use torches or blocks and place them in the gap between a bookshelf and the enchanter. This way, you will lower the level of the enchanting table and give different enchantments to pick from.
You may wonder what the "…?" text means. All this means is that you may end up getting more than just that enchantment.

You can also enchant a book to save the enchantment and then apply it to items in an anvil.
What can you enchant in an Enchanting Table?
- You can currently enchant the following armor in an enchanting table:
- Turtle Shell
- Helmet
- Legging
- Chestplate
- Boot
And these are the tools and weapons you can enchant currently:
- Sword
- Trident
- Bow
- Crossbow
- Rod
- Pickaxe
- Axe
- Shovel
- Hoe
And you can, of course, also enchant books.
The perfect amount of Bookshelves
We have previously mentioned that 15 bookshelves will allow you to get all enchantments, which is true. But there is another Minecraft mechanic that you should keep in mind.
Some enchantments are more likely to appear with a certain amount of bookshelves. You can find a list of the best enchantments and their optimal amount of bookshelves right below:
Enchantment | Bookshelves |
Aqua Affinity 1 | 0 |
Bane of Arthropods 5 | 22 |
Blast Protection 4 | 17 |
Channeling 1 | 14 |
Depth Strider 3 | 17 |
Efficiency 5 | 24 |
Feather Falling 4 | 13 |
Fire Aspect 2 | 17 |
Flame 1 | 12 |
Fortune 3 | 19 |
Frost Walker 2 | 12 |
Impaling 5 | 19 |
Infinity 1 | 12 |
Knockback 2 | 14 |
Looting 3 | 19 |
Loyalty 3 | 16 |
Luck of the Sea 3 | 19 |
Lure 3 | 19 |
Multishot 1 | 0 |
Piercing 4 | 32 |
Power 5 | 24 |
Projectile Protection 4 | 12 |
Protection 4 | 20 |
Punch 2 | 19 |
Quick Charge 3 | 19 |
Respiration 3 | 17 |
Riptide 3 | 22 |
Sharpness 5 | 26 |
Silk Touch 1 | 9 |
Smite 5 | 22 |
Sweeping Edge 3 | 13 |
Thorns 3 | 29 |
Unbreaking 3 | 12 |
If you want the best probabilities to get that particular enchantment, then make sure to have the according amount of bookshelves.
Applying Enchantments in an Anvil
There are a few items that you can apply enchantments to. However, you have to do this through the anvil, which you can craft like this:

You can put in any of the following items and a fitting enchantment book to add the enchantment:
- Elytra
- Shield
- Shear
- Carrot on a Stick
- Warped Fungus on a Stick
- Carved Pumpkin
- Mob Head
Another trick to know is that the anvil can be used to combine enchantments and get the best possible equipment. If you were to combine an Unbreaking 2 book with another, then you would get an Unbreaking 3 book.
You can also use the anvil to repair your items. For this, you have to use the base material. As an example, if you want to fix your diamond pickaxe, then you would have to use a diamond.

The first time you apply an enchantment to your item will be considerably cheap. Though, once you try to do it for a second time, you will notice that the price went up. You should also keep in mind that you cannot constantly repair your item through the Anvil. At some point, you will be greeted with the "Too Expensive" message.
If you have Mending on your equipment, then you will not have to repair it either way. And if you want to spend as few levels as possible on getting the perfect equipment, we can recommend
this tool.
There is also one more thing to keep in mind. Your anvil has limited durability. So after some time, it will break, and you will have to replace it.

And you can also use the anvil to rename whatever item you want. You can even enchant blocks, such as dirt or gravel.

Start enchanting
What are you waiting for? Gather the resources to craft an enchanting table and start improving your armor! And if you are not too sure what the best enchantments in Minecraft are, then check out our other articles: