Minecraft Enchantment Calculator
Find the cheapest anvil order for your enchanted books
This Minecraft enchantment calculator works out the cheapest order to combine enchanted books on an anvil, so you spend the fewest levels and never hit "Too Expensive!". Pick an item, choose the enchantments you want, and follow the steps.
1. Choose an item
2. Pick enchantments
Choose an item above to see its enchantments.
3. Best order
Select enchantments and the cheapest combining steps appear here.
How to Use the Enchantment Calculator
- Choose the item you want to enchant, or Book to build a single book with several enchantments.
- Click a level for each enchantment, or use Best enchantments to select every compatible enchantment at its maximum level.
- Choose whether to save the most levels or keep the prior work penalty as low as possible.
- Follow the steps in order on an anvil. Each step shows what to put in the left and right slot and how many levels it costs.
How Anvil Enchanting Costs Work
Every anvil operation has a level cost. When you add an enchanted book, the cost is the level of each enchantment multiplied by its book multiplier (for example Sharpness V costs 5 × 1 = 5 levels, Silk Touch costs 1 × 4 = 4), plus the prior work penalty of both items.
Each time an item or book goes through an anvil its prior work penalty grows: 0, 1, 3, 7, 15, 31 levels. Because the penalty doubles, applying books one by one to the same item gets expensive fast. Combining books in pairs first keeps the number of anvil uses per item low.
In Survival mode an anvil refuses any single operation that costs 40 levels or more and shows "Too Expensive!". The calculator only uses steps of 39 levels or less, and tries every possible combining order to find the cheapest one.
| Anvil uses | Penalty (levels) |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 15 |
| 5 | 31 |
Minecraft Enchantment Reference Table
Maximum level, book multiplier and the items each enchantment applies to (Java Edition 1.21). The book multiplier is what makes an enchantment cheap or expensive to apply.
| Enchantment | Max level | Book multiplier | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protection | 4 | ×1 | Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots, Turtle Shell |
| Aqua Affinity | 1 | ×2 | Helmet, Turtle Shell |
| Bane of Arthropods | 5 | ×1 | Sword, Axe, Mace, Spear |
| Blast Protection | 4 | ×2 | Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots, Turtle Shell |
| Channeling | 1 | ×4 | Trident |
| Depth Strider | 3 | ×2 | Boots |
| Efficiency | 5 | ×1 | Axe, Pickaxe, Shovel, Hoe, Shears |
| Feather Falling | 4 | ×1 | Boots |
| Fire Aspect | 2 | ×2 | Sword, Mace, Spear |
| Fire Protection | 4 | ×1 | Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots, Turtle Shell |
| Flame | 1 | ×2 | Bow |
| Fortune | 3 | ×2 | Axe, Pickaxe, Shovel, Hoe |
| Frost Walker | 2 | ×2 | Boots |
| Impaling | 5 | ×2 | Trident |
| Infinity | 1 | ×4 | Bow |
| Knockback | 2 | ×1 | Sword, Spear |
| Looting | 3 | ×2 | Sword, Spear |
| Loyalty | 3 | ×1 | Trident |
| Luck of the Sea | 3 | ×2 | Fishing Rod |
| Lunge | 3 | ×1 | Spear |
| Lure | 3 | ×2 | Fishing Rod |
| Mending | 1 | ×2 | Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots, Turtle Shell, Elytra, Sword, Axe, Mace, Spear, Trident, Bow, Crossbow, Pickaxe, Shovel, Hoe, Shield, Brush, Fishing Rod, Shears, Flint and Steel, Carrot on a Stick, Warped Fungus on a Stick |
| Multishot | 1 | ×2 | Crossbow |
| Piercing | 4 | ×1 | Crossbow |
| Power | 5 | ×1 | Bow |
| Projectile Protection | 4 | ×1 | Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots, Turtle Shell |
| Punch | 2 | ×2 | Bow |
| Quick Charge | 3 | ×1 | Crossbow |
| Respiration | 3 | ×2 | Helmet, Turtle Shell |
| Riptide | 3 | ×2 | Trident |
| Sharpness | 5 | ×1 | Sword, Axe, Spear |
| Silk Touch | 1 | ×4 | Axe, Pickaxe, Shovel, Hoe |
| Smite | 5 | ×1 | Sword, Axe, Mace, Spear |
| Soul Speed | 3 | ×4 | Boots |
| Sweeping Edge | 3 | ×2 | Sword |
| Swift Sneak | 3 | ×4 | Leggings |
| Thorns | 3 | ×4 | Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots, Turtle Shell |
| Unbreaking | 3 | ×1 | Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots, Turtle Shell, Elytra, Sword, Axe, Mace, Spear, Trident, Bow, Crossbow, Pickaxe, Shovel, Hoe, Shield, Brush, Fishing Rod, Shears, Flint and Steel, Carrot on a Stick, Warped Fungus on a Stick |
| Curse of Binding | 1 | ×4 | Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots, Turtle Shell, Elytra, Pumpkin |
| Curse of Vanishing | 1 | ×4 | Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots, Turtle Shell, Elytra, Sword, Axe, Mace, Spear, Trident, Bow, Crossbow, Pickaxe, Shovel, Hoe, Shield, Brush, Fishing Rod, Shears, Flint and Steel, Carrot on a Stick, Warped Fungus on a Stick, Pumpkin |
| Density | 5 | ×1 | Mace |
| Breach | 4 | ×2 | Mace |
| Wind Burst | 3 | ×2 | Mace |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best order to combine enchantments in Minecraft?
Combine books in pairs before applying them, and put the most expensive enchantment on the item first so it never pays a high prior work penalty. The exact best order depends on your enchantments, which is why this calculator tries every possible order and shows the cheapest.
Why does the anvil say "Too Expensive!"?
In Survival mode an anvil refuses any single operation that costs 40 levels or more. The cost grows with the prior work penalty, which roughly doubles every time an item is used in an anvil. Following a good combining order keeps every step at 39 levels or below.
How many levels does a max-enchanted sword cost?
A sword with Sharpness V, Looting III, Fire Aspect II, Sweeping Edge III, Knockback II, Unbreaking III and Mending costs 49 levels in total with the optimal order. The XP needed is between 785 and 5,062 points, depending on whether you spend levels after each step or save them all up first.
What is the prior work penalty?
It is an extra cost an item gains every time it is used in an anvil: 0, 1, 3, 7, 15, 31 levels (2ⁿ − 1 after n uses). Both the item in the left slot and the book in the right slot add their penalty to the cost of the operation.
Why can't I select some enchantments together?
Some enchantments are mutually exclusive: the four Protection types, Sharpness / Smite / Bane of Arthropods, Fortune / Silk Touch, Infinity / Mending, Riptide / Loyalty and Channeling, Multishot / Piercing, Depth Strider / Frost Walker, and Density / Breach. Picking one replaces the other unless you turn on "Allow incompatible enchantments".
Does the calculator work for Bedrock Edition?
The costs follow Java Edition anvil rules. Bedrock Edition uses similar rules but some multipliers differ, so level costs there can be slightly different.
The calculation is based on the open-source enchant-order by Cal Henderson (MIT License).