Minecraft Curses

The two curses

• Curse of Binding: armor can't be taken off until you die or it breaks.
• Curse of Vanishing: the item disappears when you die instead of dropping.

Where curses come from

Curses appear on random enchanted books and gear in chests, from fishing, and librarians can sell them. They are treasure enchantments, so the enchanting table never adds them.

Getting rid of them

A grindstone removes every enchantment except curses, so it does not help. Your options are to let the item break, die (Binding), or simply not use cursed gear. In creative you can take off Binding armor normally.

How to avoid curses

Curses mostly appear on gear and books from chests and fishing. Check the tooltip before you put a found book on your gear: curses show in red. Enchanted gear that drops from mobs can also carry them. If a book has a curse and a good enchantment, it's usually better to keep looking than to curse your gear.

See Curse of Binding and Curse of Vanishing for details.

The curses side by side

Both curses have a single level and both have the highest anvil multiplier. Each costs 4 levels from a book, so a curse even makes your anvil steps more expensive.

Curse of Binding in detail

Once you put on an armor piece with Curse of Binding, you can't take it off in survival. You can't drag it out of the slot or swap it for another piece. The item still works normally, so cursed armor still protects you, and its other enchantments still apply.

It comes off in only three ways. First, the item breaks. Second, you die, and then it drops like any other item. Third, you switch to creative mode. There is a trap here: if the armor also has Mending and Unbreaking, it almost never breaks, so the curse is close to permanent.

Where Binding hurts most

• Elytra: a bound elytra blocks your chestplate slot. You can't swap to a chestplate for a fight.
• Carved pumpkin: it blocks most of your view, and you can't take it off. This is the classic prank.
• Mob heads: you lose your helmet slot for as long as you wear it.
• Weak armor: a bound leather or gold piece can stop you wearing better armor until it breaks.

Curse of Vanishing in detail

An item with Curse of Vanishing is gone for good when you die. It does not drop, so you can't walk back and pick it up. While you are alive, it does nothing at all, and the item works like normal.

So Vanishing is only a problem if you die. With the keepInventory game rule on, you keep the item and the curse never triggers. A totem of undying also helps, because it stops the death that would destroy the item.

In a normal survival world, a vanishing item can still be worth using. For example, a found bow with Power V and Vanishing is great for a fight you expect to win. However, don't put your only Mending book on a vanishing item, and never use vanishing gear in dangerous places like the End void, the deep dark or lava lakes.

How curses sneak onto your gear

The enchanting table never gives curses, so they always come from outside. Watch these sources:

• Found books: random enchanted books in chests and from fishing can carry a curse along with a good enchantment.
• Found gear: enchanted armor, tools and weapons from chests and fishing can have curses too.
• Librarians: a librarian can offer a curse book. Reroll it, because nobody wants that trade.
• Your own anvil: combining a cursed item or book with clean gear moves the curse onto the result.

The anvil shows the result's tooltip before you take it. Curses appear in red text, so read the result every time you use a found book.

Why the grindstone makes things worse

A grindstone strips every enchantment except curses. So if you grind a cursed book or item, you lose the good enchantments and keep the curse. A book with Mending and Curse of Vanishing, for example, turns into a book with only Curse of Vanishing.

There is also no way to split a curse from a good enchantment on the same book. You either use the whole book, curse included, or you don't use it. If the good enchantment is easy to get elsewhere, skip the cursed book. If it is rare, like Swift Sneak, a cursed copy can still be worth it on gear you don't mind losing.

What to do with cursed items

• Bound armor with no Mending: wear it and let it break. Fight a few mobs, and the durability drops quickly.
• Bound armor with Mending: the fastest way out is to die on purpose in a safe spot, after you store your other items in an ender chest. Only do this if you are ready for it.
• Vanishing tools: use them for jobs near your base, where dying is unlikely.
• Cursed books: keep them for maps and pranks, or throw them in lava.
• Map making: Binding locks costumes on players, and Vanishing stops players from looting the gear you give them.

To see what else your gear could carry instead, check the best enchantments for each item and the list of incompatible enchantments.

Curses in commands

In Java commands, the curses use the ids binding_curse and vanishing_curse. So a map maker can give a bound pumpkin with /give @p carved_pumpkin[enchantments={binding_curse:1}]. The command generator writes these for any item.

In Bedrock, the same curses exist but the command ids are shorter, just binding and vanishing. Everything else about how they work is the same.

Checking librarian books for curses

Librarians can offer Curse of Binding or Curse of Vanishing as their book trade. Hover over the book in the trade window to read it, and look for the red name. If you see a curse, don't trade. Break the lectern and reroll instead, because a single trade locks that offer for good.

A curse book from a librarian also costs double, 10–38 emeralds, since curses count as treasure. There is never a reason to buy one unless you are building a map or a prank.

Should you ever keep a cursed item?

Sometimes, yes. Ask two questions. First, can you replace the good enchantments easily? If so, throw the item away. Second, how bad is the curse for this item? Vanishing on a tool you only use at home is a small risk. Binding on an elytra or your only helmet is a big one.

For example, a found diamond chestplate with Protection IV and Curse of Vanishing works well as a daily chestplate if you rarely die. On the other hand, the same chestplate with Curse of Binding locks you out of switching to an elytra. In that case, leave it in a chest.