What Fortune does
| Level | Effect | Book cost |
|---|---|---|
| I | a 33% chance of double ore drops | 2 |
| II | up to 3× ore drops | 4 |
| III | up to 4× ore drops, about 2.2× on average | 6 |
Book cost is the anvil cost of putting that book on a fresh item. However, already-used items add their prior work penalty: work it out in the calculator.
How Fortune works on ores
On most ores, Fortune multiplies the drop. Each break rolls a multiplier, and higher levels unlock bigger rolls:
- Fortune I: one roll in three doubles the drop, about 1.33 times the normal amount on average.
- Fortune II: up to triple drops, about 1.75 times on average.
- Fortune III: up to quadruple drops, about 2.2 times on average.
That works for diamond, emerald, coal, lapis lazuli, nether quartz, raw iron, raw copper, raw gold and nether gold nuggets. So a hundred diamond ores give about 220 diamonds with Fortune III instead of 100.
Redstone works a bit differently: each level adds up to one more dust, on top of the normal 4 or 5. Ancient debris ignores Fortune completely, so netherite scrap never doubles.
Fortune beyond ores
Fortune helps with many other blocks too:
- Crops: wheat seeds, beetroot seeds, carrots and potatoes drop more.
- Melons and glowstone drop more slices and dust, up to a cap.
- Gravel drops flint more often: 10% normally, 14% with Fortune I, 25% with II and every time with Fortune III.
- Leaves drop saplings, sticks and apples more often.
- Nether wart, sea lanterns and amethyst clusters drop more.
The held item counts, not the tool type. So a Fortune hoe works on crops and leaves, and a Fortune axe works on melons.
Fortune or Silk Touch?
They exclude each other, so most players keep two pickaxes. Fortune is for resources: diamonds, coal, lapis, redstone and quartz. Silk Touch is for blocks: glass, ice, grass, bookshelves and the ore blocks themselves. The Fortune vs Silk Touch page compares them, and Fortune and Silk Touch on a pickaxe explains why they can't share a pickaxe.
Silk Touch first, Fortune later
Ore blocks you collect with Silk Touch stack up to 64. So you can mine ores with Silk Touch in a cave, carry them home and break them there with Fortune for the same bonus. That also saves your Fortune pickaxe's durability for the ores that matter.
Fortune or Looting?
Fortune works on blocks, while Looting works on mobs. They go on different tools, so there is no choice to make. See Fortune vs Looting.
The max Fortune pickaxe
The standard Fortune pickaxe is Efficiency V, Fortune III, Unbreaking III and Mending. Fortune is a ×2 book, so Fortune III costs 6 levels on a fresh pickaxe. The best pickaxe enchantments page shows both the Fortune and the Silk Touch builds.
Where to use Fortune III first
Use your Fortune pickaxe on the ores that matter most:
- Diamonds, for gear and enchanting tables.
- Lapis lazuli, which powers every enchant at the table. A lapis ore drops 4 to 9 lapis, so Fortune III gives about 14 per ore on average.
- Redstone, coal and nether quartz for farms and building.
- Emeralds, for villager trading.
Use Silk Touch or a plain pickaxe on everything else. That saves your Fortune pickaxe's durability for the ores that give a bonus.
Fortune on leaves and crops
A Fortune hoe is a good second tool. Hoes break leaves fast, and Fortune raises the sapling and apple drops. On crops, Fortune increases the seeds, carrots and potatoes you get back, which speeds up a new farm.
Fortune by level
Fortune I gives a small bonus, and each level after that adds a bigger one. Fortune III is worth hunting for: it gives about 65% more than Fortune I on diamond ore. Since two Fortune II books merge into III, keep any Fortune books you find.
Fortune on the anvil
Fortune is a ×2 book, so level III costs 6 levels on a fresh pickaxe. Therefore add it before Efficiency and Unbreaking, which are cheap ×1 books.
Fortune on a shovel
A Fortune shovel makes gravel drop flint more often, which helps if you craft arrows or flint and steel. It does not change sand, dirt or clay, so the shovel is only worth it for flint.
Common mistakes
- Mining ancient debris with Fortune and expecting more scrap. It never works there.
- Breaking iron, gold and copper ore with Silk Touch and smelting the ore block. You get one ingot. Break it with Fortune instead for more raw metal.
- Using Fortune on diamond blocks. Fortune only affects natural drops, not storage blocks.
Which items take Fortune
Fortune goes on 4 kinds of gear in the calculator: axe, pickaxe, shovel, hoe. An enchanting table can roll it on the axe, pickaxe, shovel, hoe.
It can't share an item with Silk Touch. If an item already has one of those, the anvil skips the Fortune book. Java still charges 1 level for it.
Fortune from the enchanting table
The level you can roll depends on the item's enchantability. A material with a higher value reaches higher levels from the same level 30 enchant. This table shows the best Fortune each axe can get from a level 30 enchant with 15 bookshelves.
| Item | Enchantability | Best from the table |
|---|---|---|
| Netherite Axe | 15 | III |
| Diamond Axe | 10 | III |
| Iron Axe | 14 | III |
| Golden Axe | 22 | III |
Anything higher has to come from a book instead. Then the enchanting table calculator shows the exact chance for every level.
Anvil cost of Fortune
Fortune has an anvil multiplier of 4 from another item and 2 from a book. So a Fortune III book costs 6 levels on a fresh item, and each lower level costs 2 less. Two fresh Fortune II books merge into Fortune III for 6 levels. Building it from scratch takes 4 level I books and 3 merges, 16 levels in all. That is a middling cost, so the order still matters once you combine several books.
Java charges the full resulting level every time, even when the item already has a lower level of it. Every step also adds the prior work penalty of both items. The enchantment calculator finds the cheapest order for your whole set of books.
Builds, questions and guides
Fortune is part of the max build for 4 items: best axe enchantments, best pickaxe enchantments, best shovel enchantments, best hoe enchantments. To put it on in the cheapest order, see the axe enchant order, pickaxe enchant order, shovel enchant order, hoe enchant order.
Common questions: can you put Fortune and Silk Touch on a pickaxe?
More reading: Getting books from librarians, How to enchant in Minecraft, Every max enchantment level. You can make a Fortune book with the command generator. The librarian price list shows what villagers charge for it.
How to get Fortune
- Enchanting table It can appear when you enchant a supported item at an enchanting table. However, higher levels need more bookshelves and a level 30 enchant.
- Librarian villagers Librarians can sell it as an enchanted book. Level I costs 5–19 emeralds plus a book.
- Trial chamber vaults This loot table names it directly, so it is one of the most reliable places to look.
- Random enchanted books It is also in the pool for the random enchanted books and gear in many chests and in fishing loot.
Fortune is a rare roll at the enchanting table, but a level 30 enchant on a pickaxe can reach Fortune III. Librarians sell it, and trial chamber vaults can give it.
Enchanting power and librarian prices
| Level | Enchanting power | Librarian price |
|---|---|---|
| I | 15–65 | 5–19 emeralds |
| II | 24–74 | 8–32 emeralds |
| III | 33–83 | 11–45 emeralds |
The power column is the hidden enchanting value each level needs. A level 30 enchant on a netherite axe reaches power 43 at most. That already includes the enchantability bonus and the random spread. The price column shows what a librarian can ask for each book. Curing a zombie villager or the Hero of the Village effect lowers it.
Tips
- Fortune and Silk Touch exclude each other. Keep one pickaxe of each.
- Mine ores with Silk Touch, then place and break them with Fortune for the same result.
Commands
Give yourself a Fortune book or enchant the item in your hand. These work in Java 26.3 once cheats are on.
/give @p enchanted_book[stored_enchantments={fortune:3}]
/enchant @s fortune 3
/give @p netherite_axe[enchantments={fortune:3}]Versions
Fortune is in every Java version from 1.21 (when enchantments became data files) up to 26.3.
- 1.21.9: now goes on copper axe, copper pickaxe, copper shovel, copper hoe.
Also see the update log for every change, and how this data is checked. Bedrock player? See Fortune on Bedrock.
Questions
Fortune or Silk Touch?
Fortune for more diamonds, coal, lapis and redstone. Silk Touch for collecting the ore blocks, glass, ice and other blocks that normally drop nothing.
How many diamonds does Fortune III give?
About 2.2 per diamond ore on average, and up to 4 from a single ore.
Does Fortune work on ancient debris?
No. Ancient debris always drops itself, with or without Fortune.
Does Fortune work on crops?
Yes. Fortune increases seed, carrot, potato and beetroot seed drops, and it works on melons and nether wart too.
Does Fortune work on iron ore?
Yes. Iron, copper and gold ores drop raw metal, and Fortune multiplies that drop just like it does for diamonds.
Can you put Fortune on an axe?
Yes. Axes can take Fortune, which helps with melons and other blocks an axe breaks.
Does Fortune work on glowstone?
Yes. Fortune raises the glowstone dust you get from each block, up to a cap of four.