Best Boots Enchantments

Every boots enchantment, ranked

Enchantment	Max	Verdict	Why
Frost Walker	II	Alternative	Walk across water instead. Excludes Depth Strider, so you pick one.
Protection	IV	Max build	Reduces almost all damage.
Blast Protection	IV	Alternative	Excludes Protection, so you pick one.
Fire Protection	IV	Alternative	Excludes Protection, so you pick one.
Projectile Protection	IV	Alternative	Excludes Protection, so you pick one.
Feather Falling	IV	Max build	Cuts fall damage hard; stacks with Protection.
Soul Speed	III	Max build	Fast on soul sand; only from piglins and bastions.
Depth Strider	III	Max build	Best for oceans, rivers and ocean monuments.
Thorns	III	Max build	Optional damage back.
Unbreaking	III	Max build	Part of every max boots.
Mending	I	Max build	Part of every max boots.
Curse of Binding	I	Avoid	A curse: it only makes the item worse.
Curse of Vanishing	I	Avoid	A curse: it only makes the item worse.

What matters on boots

Boots take more enchantments than any other armor piece: up to seven useful books. Feather Falling IV stands out, because it stacks with Protection against falls. Then Depth Strider or Frost Walker decides how you handle water, and Soul Speed helps in the Nether.

That also makes the boots the most expensive armor piece to max. So plan your books before you start, and check the boots enchant order for the cheapest steps.

Builds for different playstyles

All-round survival

Protection IV, Feather Falling IV, Depth Strider III, Unbreaking III and Mending. This covers falls, water and daily damage. Add Soul Speed and Thorns once you find the books.

Nether boots

Soul Speed III makes soul sand and soul soil fast, so soul sand valleys stop slowing you down. Also wear one piece of gold armor, because piglins attack players who wear none. Gold boots break fast, so most players keep netherite boots and wear a golden helmet.

Ocean and travel

Depth Strider III for swimming, or Frost Walker II for walking across the surface. Frost Walker is fun for crossing oceans, but it does nothing once you are underwater.

Parkour and elytra flights

Feather Falling IV matters most here. With Protection IV on all four pieces, falls reach the 80% cap, so a bad landing hurts far less.

PvP

Protection IV, Feather Falling IV, Depth Strider III, Unbreaking III and Mending. Feather Falling also softens knockback falls. Thorns on boots is optional and rarely decides a fight.

Conflicts and which one to pick

Java 26.3 has 7 conflicts on the boots: Frost Walker with Depth Strider, Protection with Blast Protection, Protection with Fire Protection, Protection with Projectile Protection, Blast Protection with Fire Protection, Blast Protection with Projectile Protection and Fire Protection with Projectile Protection. An anvil refuses a book that clashes with an enchantment already on the item, so decide before you start.

Depth Strider or Frost Walker

Depth Strider for most players. It helps every time you swim, while Frost Walker only freezes the surface. Frost Walker is also a treasure book, so it can't come from the table. See Depth Strider vs Frost Walker.

Protection or Feather Falling?

No need to choose: they don't conflict. Feather Falling stacks with any protection type on the boots.

Each enchantment on the boots

Protection IV

Protection cuts almost every kind of damage: mobs, falls, fire, explosions and projectiles. At level IV that means 4 protection points against all damage, about 16% less damage from this piece. The book costs 4 levels on fresh boots. More about Protection.

Feather Falling IV

Feather Falling reduces fall damage, including the damage from ender pearls. At level IV that means 12 points against falls, about 48% less fall damage. Cuts fall damage hard; stacks with Protection. The book costs 4 levels on fresh boots. More about Feather Falling.

Soul Speed III

Soul Speed makes you much faster on soul sand and soul soil, and removes the slowdown of soul sand. Fast on soul sand; only from piglins and bastions. The book costs 12 levels on fresh boots. More about Soul Speed.

Depth Strider III

Depth Strider makes you move faster in water. At level III that means walking at land speed underwater. Best for oceans, rivers and ocean monuments. The book costs 6 levels on fresh boots. More about Depth Strider.

Thorns III

Thorns damages anything that hits you in melee. At level III that means 45% chance to deal 1–5 damage to the attacker. Optional damage back. The book costs 12 levels on fresh boots. More about Thorns.

Unbreaking III

Unbreaking gives items a chance to not lose durability when used. At level III that means tools skip 75% of durability loss, armor 30%. The book costs 3 levels on fresh boots. More about Unbreaking.

Mending

Mending repairs an item with experience orbs. At level I that means each experience point you pick up repairs 2 durability. The book costs 2 levels on fresh boots. More about Mending.

The numbers behind the build

A netherite boots has 481 durability. On armor, Unbreaking III only skips 30% of durability loss, so the piece lasts about 687 durability's worth of hits instead of 481. Mending repairs 2 durability per experience point, so a full repair from almost broken takes about 241 points. That is roughly the XP needed to go from level 0 to level 12.

Protection IV gives this piece 4 protection points, about 16% less damage on its own. Four pieces add up to 16 points, 64% less damage after armor, and the game caps the total at 20 points (80%). A netherite boots also adds 3 armor and 3 toughness. The armor protection calculator works out any mix.

Where to get the books

You need 7 books for this build. Soul Speed and Mending are treasure enchantments, so the enchanting table won't give them. Plan to trade or loot for them first. Here is where each one comes from:

• Protection IV: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, gear worn by trial chamber mobs, random chest loot and fishing.
• Feather Falling IV: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, trial chamber vaults, random chest loot and fishing.
• Soul Speed III: bastion remnant chests, piglin bartering.
• Depth Strider III: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, random chest loot and fishing.
• Thorns III: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, random chest loot and fishing.
• Unbreaking III: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, random chest loot and fishing.
• Mending: librarian villagers, trial chamber vaults, random chest loot and fishing.

Librarians are the most reliable source for exact books, because you can reroll them until they offer the one you want. The trading hall guide shows how, and the villager trade tool lists the prices. Combine the books in the cheapest anvil order so no step becomes too expensive.

Put boots in the enchanting table and it can roll Protection, Blast Protection, Fire Protection, Projectile Protection, Feather Falling, Depth Strider and Unbreaking. Frost Walker, Soul Speed, Thorns and Mending never show up there on boots, so those come from books only. The enchanting table calculator shows the odds for each slot.

Which books to get first

Protection IV, Feather Falling IV, Depth Strider III and Unbreaking III all come from the enchanting table or librarians. So you can have strong boots early. Mending comes next from a librarian or fishing.

Soul Speed only comes from piglin bartering and bastion chests, so it usually arrives last. Bartering gives Soul Speed books and boots now and then, so a gold farm helps a lot.

Which material to enchant

Put your best books on a netherite boots: it has the most durability (481), so every enchantment lasts longest, and it also survives lava. The golden boots has the highest enchantability (25), so it rolls the best results at an enchanting table, but it wears out fast. Enchantments stay on when you upgrade diamond gear to netherite at a smithing table, so you can enchant diamond first and upgrade later.

Netherite has 481 durability against diamond's 429, about 12% more, plus 3 toughness instead of 2 per piece. Copper is the cheap middle step: 143 durability, against 195 for iron, with enchantability 8. It is fine for a first enchant, but don't spend treasure books on it. Gold rolls the best table enchantments (25 enchantability) yet has only 91 durability, so it suits throwaway gear.

Mistakes to avoid

• Picking Frost Walker for your only pair. You lose fast swimming, and Frost Walker does nothing underwater.
• Adding Soul Speed to boots that have already been through the anvil many times. It is a dear book, and the penalty can make the step Too Expensive.
• Expecting Feather Falling to stop all fall damage. Even at the 80% cap you still take a fifth of the damage.
• Wearing Soul Speed boots without Mending. They lose durability while the speed bonus is active.

Boots enchantment questions

Every enchantment boots can take in Java 26.3: Frost Walker, Protection, Blast Protection, Fire Protection, Projectile Protection, Feather Falling, Soul Speed, Depth Strider, Thorns, Unbreaking, Mending.

Quick answers: can you put Thorns on boots?, can you put Depth Strider and Frost Walker on boots?

See also the full list of incompatible enchantments and the god gear command generator.

Cheapest order

Combining these books in the wrong order can cost twice as many levels or hit Too Expensive! The cheapest order for the max boots costs 66 levels in 7 steps, with no step above 16. So you never need more than 16 levels at once.

Spend the levels step by step as you earn them: that costs about 1250 experience points in total. If you saved up to level 66 first, you would need 11097 points, because each level costs more XP the higher you climb. Afterwards the boots has been on the anvil 4 times, so later repairs start at a penalty of 15.

See every step

Other gear

• Full armor set
• Helmet
• Chestplate
• Leggings
• Elytra
• Sword
• Axe
• Spear
• Mace
• Trident
• Bow
• Crossbow
• Pickaxe
• Shovel
• Hoe
• Fishing Rod
• Shears
• Brush
• Flint and Steel
• Shield
• Carrot on a Stick
• Warped Fungus on a Stick