What Loyalty does
| Level | Effect | Book cost |
|---|---|---|
| I | the trident flies back at speed 1 | 1 |
| II | the trident flies back at speed 2 | 2 |
| III | the trident flies back at speed 3 | 3 |
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 Loyalty works
A thrown trident normally stays where it lands, and you have to walk over to pick it up. With Loyalty it flies back to you after it hits a mob or a block. Each level makes the return faster, so level III comes back almost at once.
That turns the trident into a reusable ranged weapon. A thrown trident deals 8 damage in Java, close to its 9 damage in melee, and with Loyalty you can throw it again and again.
Loyalty with Channeling and Impaling
Loyalty works together with Channeling. In a thunderstorm you can throw, call down lightning and catch the trident on the way back. Impaling adds damage to every throw as well. So the classic throwing trident is Loyalty III, Channeling, Impaling V, Unbreaking III and Mending.
Loyalty or Riptide?
They exclude each other. Loyalty is for throwing. Riptide is for travel: it launches you instead of the trident, but only in water or rain, and a Riptide trident can't be thrown at all. Many players keep one trident of each. See Loyalty vs Riptide and Loyalty and Riptide on a trident.
Tips for throwing
- Throws arc downward, so aim a little above distant targets.
- Tridents fly well underwater, unlike arrows, so Loyalty is great for ocean fights.
- Every throw costs durability, so Mending keeps a Loyalty trident going for good.
Getting a trident first
Tridents only come from drowned, which can spawn holding one and sometimes drop it. You can't craft one. So enchant your first trident carefully: Loyalty keeps you from losing it in deep water or over a cliff.
Loyalty by level
Level I brings the trident back slowly, and the wait can feel long in a fight. Level III returns it fast enough to throw again almost at once. Since the trident has few books, go straight to Loyalty III.
Throwing trident or travel trident?
Most players end up with two tridents. A Loyalty trident handles fights, and a Riptide trident handles travel in water and rain. Drowned are the only source of tridents, so a drowned farm makes it easy to get the second one.
Loyalty and the void
In the End, a thrown trident that falls into the void is easy to lose. Loyalty brings it back once it hits something, so throw at targets on solid ground. Since tridents are hard to replace, aim carefully near the edge of the islands.
Loyalty and durability
Every throw costs durability, and so does every melee hit. Therefore Unbreaking III and Mending matter a lot on a Loyalty trident. Then you can throw it all day without worrying.
Which items take Loyalty
Loyalty goes on 1 kind of gear in the calculator: trident. An enchanting table can roll it on the trident.
It can't share an item with Riptide. If an item already has one of those, the anvil skips the Loyalty book. Java still charges 1 level for it.
Loyalty 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 Loyalty each trident can get from a level 30 enchant with 15 bookshelves.
| Item | Enchantability | Best from the table |
|---|---|---|
| Trident | 1 | 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 Loyalty
Loyalty has an anvil multiplier of 2 from another item and 1 from a book. So a Loyalty III book costs 3 levels on a fresh item, and each lower level costs 1 less. Two fresh Loyalty II books merge into Loyalty III for 3 levels. Building it from scratch takes 4 level I books and 3 merges, 9 levels in all. That is as cheap as books get, so it rarely decides the order.
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
Loyalty is part of the max build for 1 item: best trident enchantments. To put it on in the cheapest order, see the trident enchant order.
Common questions: can you put Loyalty and Riptide on a trident?
More reading: Getting books from librarians, How to enchant in Minecraft, Every max enchantment level. You can make a Loyalty book with the command generator. The librarian price list shows what villagers charge for it.
How to get Loyalty
- 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.
Loyalty is an uncommon roll at the enchanting table, and a level 30 enchant on a trident can reach Loyalty III. Librarians sell it, and trial chamber vaults can give it too.
Enchanting power and librarian prices
| Level | Enchanting power | Librarian price |
|---|---|---|
| I | 12–50 | 5–19 emeralds |
| II | 19–50 | 8–32 emeralds |
| III | 26–50 | 11–45 emeralds |
The power column is the hidden enchanting value each level needs. A level 30 enchant on a trident reaches power 36 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
- It excludes Riptide: Loyalty for throwing, Riptide for travelling.
- Channeling works together with Loyalty, so a thunderstorm trident can strike and come back.
Commands
Give yourself a Loyalty book or enchant the item in your hand. These work in Java 26.3 once cheats are on.
/give @p enchanted_book[stored_enchantments={loyalty:3}]
/enchant @s loyalty 3
/give @p trident[enchantments={loyalty:3}]Versions
Loyalty is in every Java version from 1.21 (when enchantments became data files) up to 26.3.
Its costs, levels and items have not changed in that time.
Also see the update log for every change, and how this data is checked. Bedrock player? See Loyalty on Bedrock.
Questions
Loyalty or Riptide?
Loyalty if you use the trident as a ranged weapon, Riptide if you use it to fly through water and rain.
Does Loyalty work in water?
Yes. A Loyalty trident returns from water just like from land, and tridents fly well underwater.
Can you have Loyalty and Channeling together?
Yes. They do not conflict, so a trident can call lightning and then come back to you.
What is the max level of Loyalty?
Loyalty III. Each level makes the trident return faster.
Can you have Loyalty and Riptide together?
No. They exclude each other. Loyalty is for throwing, and Riptide is for travel.
Does Loyalty work with Riptide?
No. They exclude each other, so pick Loyalty for throwing or Riptide for travel.
Is Loyalty worth it?
Yes on a throwing trident. Without it you have to fetch the trident after every throw, and you can lose it in deep water.