Enchanted Book

How to get them

• Enchant a plain book at an enchanting table (books get one enchantment fewer than gear).
• Buy them from librarian villagers.
• Fish them up, or find them in chests and trial chamber vaults.

How to use them

Put the item in the left anvil slot and the book in the right. Books are cheaper than enchanted items: their multiplier is halved. Two books of the same level merge into the next level. For several books, the calculator gives the cheapest order.

Reading an enchanted book

Hover the book to see its enchantments in grey, and curses in red. Books found as loot can carry several enchantments; when you combine such a book with gear, only the ones the item can take are added. Two different books can be merged into one, which is the trick behind cheap anvil orders.

The most wanted books are Mending, Unbreaking, Protection and Efficiency. See which books each item needs on the best enchantments pages.

What each book costs on the anvil

A book adds its level times the book multiplier to the anvil cost. On a fresh item with no penalty, that is the whole price. This table shows the cost of putting each max-level book on a fresh item.

So Mending is cheap to apply, while Thorns III or Swift Sneak III cost the most. Put the expensive books on early, while penalties are still low. The anvil page explains the full formula.

Books from the enchanting table

A book has an enchantability of just 1, so the table gives it lower levels than gold or iron gear. Even at level 30, a book can't reach the max on these:

• Bane of Arthropods IV (max V)
• Breach III (max IV)
• Density IV (max V)
• Efficiency IV (max V)
• Power IV (max V)
• Quick Charge II (max III)
• Sharpness IV (max V)
• Smite IV (max V)
• Thorns II (max III)

To get the top level, merge two books of the level below. For example, two Sharpness IV books make one Sharpness V book for 5 levels. Books are still the best thing to put in the table, though. Every table enchantment can land on a book, and you choose the item later.

Also, when an option would give several enchantments, a book loses one of them at random. A single clean enchantment is often what you want anyway.

Enchantments only books can add

The table only offers some enchantments on their main items. To put them anywhere else, you need a book and an anvil. Here is what the game data says:

• Bane of Arthropods: the table gives it to the sword and spear only. On the axe and mace it needs a book.
• Fire Aspect: the table gives it to the sword and spear only. On the mace it needs a book.
• Sharpness: the table gives it to the sword and spear only. On the axe it needs a book.
• Smite: the table gives it to the sword and spear only. On the axe and mace it needs a book.
• Thorns: the table gives it to the chestplate only. On the helmet, leggings and boots it needs a book.

The same goes for every item with no enchantability. For example, the elytra, shears, brush, flint and steel, shield, carrot on a stick and warped fungus on a stick can't go in the table, so books are the only way to enchant them. Check the best elytra enchantments or the best shield enchantments for what to put on.

Treasure books and where they come from

Seven enchantments never come from the table. Instead, you get them from villagers, chest loot, vaults, piglin bartering or fishing.

Soul Speed, Swift Sneak and Wind Burst are the rare ones, because no villager sells them and random loot skips them. For the rest, a librarian is the most reliable source. The treasure enchantments guide covers each one.

Librarian prices

A librarian's price depends on the level of the book. Treasure books cost double, and no book costs more than 64 emeralds. Here are the price ranges for some popular books:

On top of that, the price drops when you cure a zombie villager or have Hero of the Village. Find the right librarian with the villager trades tool, and set up a hall with the librarian trading guide.

Combining books the smart way

Books carry an anvil penalty just like items. Each merge gives the result one more use than the busier input. So merge books in pairs, then merge the pairs, and only then put the bundle on your item.

Also, two different books merge into one book with both enchantments. Java skips any enchantment the item can't take. A clashing one, like Protection on boots with Blast Protection, is skipped too but still costs 1 level. So keep book bundles matched to one item type. For example, follow the boots order or the chestplate order rather than mixing sets.

How to apply a book, step by step

• First, place an anvil and open it.
• Put the item in the left slot. With the book on the left and the item on the right, the anvil shows no result.
• Then put the enchanted book in the right slot. The cost appears under the slots.
• If the cost shows in green, you have enough levels. Take the item from the result slot to pay.
• Finally, check the tooltip. If an enchantment is missing, it clashed with one already on the item.

Storing your books

Enchanted books don't stack, so a big collection fills chests fast. A chiseled bookshelf holds 6 books and shows each one on its face, which makes a tidy library. Item frames with a book on top of each chest also help you find the right one quickly.

Keep spares of the books you use most, like Mending, Unbreaking and Protection. Then a new set of netherite gear takes minutes instead of a trading session.

Common mistakes

• Applying books one at a time. The item's penalty doubles each time, so merge the books first.
• Merging books of different levels and expecting an upgrade. Only two of the same level go up.
• Putting a book on an item before checking for clashes, like Protection with Blast Protection; see the enchantment conflicts.
• Grinding a good book for XP. You get only a few points back; the grindstone page has the numbers.
• Using books with curses on good gear. Curses can't come off once applied.