Best Brush Enchantments in Minecraft for Archaeology

Every brush enchantment, ranked

Enchantment	Max	Verdict	Why
Unbreaking	III	Max build	Part of every max brush.
Mending	I	Max build	Part of every max brush.
Curse of Vanishing	I	Avoid	A curse: it only makes the item worse.

What matters on a brush

The brush is the archaeology tool. You use it on suspicious sand and suspicious gravel to dig out pottery sherds, armor trims, sniffer eggs and other finds. It only takes Unbreaking, Mending and Curse of Vanishing, so the best brush is simple: Unbreaking III and Mending.

A brush works slowly, but it costs almost nothing: it is quick to craft from a feather, a copper ingot and a stick, so the real question is whether a Mending book belongs on it at all.

Builds for different playstyles

Speed brushing

No enchantment speeds up brushing, so a stack of books won't make digs faster. On a big site, bring two plain brushes instead of one with every book.

Casual archaeology

Unbreaking III alone. It is cheap, you can get the book from an enchanting table, and a new brush costs almost nothing to craft.

Armadillo scutes

No books needed for the odd scute. But if you brush armadillos often for wolf armor, Unbreaking III keeps the brush going much longer.

Sniffer eggs

Warm ocean ruins can give sniffer eggs, which hatch into sniffers that dig up ancient seeds. A plain brush is enough there; bring a Respiration helmet for the dives.

Sherd and trim hunting

Unbreaking III and Mending. If you clear whole trail ruins, the brush sees a lot of use, and Mending saves you from crafting new ones.

Each enchantment on the brush

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 a fresh brush. 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 a fresh brush. More about Mending.

Where you use a brush

Suspicious sand appears in desert pyramids, desert wells and warm ocean ruins. Suspicious gravel appears in cold ocean ruins and trail ruins, which hold the rarest sherds. Each block gives one item, and breaking it with a tool destroys the find.

You can also brush armadillos for scutes, which you need for wolf armor. So a brush is useful even if you never dig a ruin.

Brushing tips

Look closely before you dig: suspicious blocks look a little different from normal sand and gravel. Clear the blocks around them carefully with a shovel, because one wrong click on a suspicious block destroys its find. Then brush each one until the item pops out.

What you find

Each site has its own loot. Desert pyramids and desert wells give sherds and other desert finds. Warm ocean ruins can give sniffer eggs, while trail ruins hold the most sherds and several armor trims. So brush every suspicious block you find, because you can't tell what is inside until you finish.

How far the books go

A brush has 64 durability, and it loses 1 for each suspicious block you finish. That is 64 finds per brush. Unbreaking III stretches that to about 256 on average.

Mending is trickier. Brushing gives no experience, so the brush only repairs when you pick up XP from something else. Hold it in your offhand while you mine or fight, and Mending repairs it along with your other gear.

Where to get the books

You need 2 books for this build. Mending is a treasure enchantment, so the enchanting table won't give it. Plan to trade or loot for it first. Here is where each one comes from:

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.

The enchanting table won't take a brush at all, so every enchantment on it comes from books on an anvil. You can still enchant plain books at the table and apply them here.

Which books to get first

Add Unbreaking III first, since it is the easy book. Mending comes later, and only once your armor, pickaxe and weapons have it. A brush is the last thing that needs your rare books.

Mistakes to avoid

Breaking suspicious blocks with a pickaxe or shovel. The find is lost.
Spending your first Mending book on a brush. Your armor and tools gain far more from it.
Expecting the brush to repair while you brush. Archaeology gives no XP, so Mending needs experience from elsewhere.
Leaving a site half done. Every suspicious block holds a find, so brush them all before you leave.
Putting Curse of Vanishing on a brush. It disappears if you die on a dig.

Brush enchantment questions

Every enchantment a brush can take in Java 26.3: Unbreaking, Mending.

Quick answers: can you put Mending on a brush?

Putting the books on

Unbreaking III alone costs 3 levels on a fresh brush. Mending alone costs 2 levels on a fresh brush. Both together cost 6 levels, about 54 experience points if you spend them as you earn them. Unbreaking III first costs 3 + 3 levels. Mending first costs 2 + 4. Merging the two books first, then adding the result, costs 2 + 6. The cheapest route costs 6.

Afterwards the brush has been on the anvil 2 times, so its prior work penalty is 3. Any later anvil repair starts from that cost, which is one more reason to let Mending do the repairs. Check your own item in the enchantment calculator if it already has anvil uses.