How to Make an Enchantment Table in Minecraft

Co-authored by Zac Churchill

Last Updated: January 5, 2023 References

An enchantment table allows you to imbue items with special abilities, from infinite durability to knockback attacks. Crafting the table requires some rare ingredients, so prepare yourself for an expedition.

Recipe

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Gathering Materials

1
Mine for diamonds. Diamond is one of the rarest ores, only found deep underground. Search for this light blue ore on layers 5–12 for best results.^{[1]
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Research source} Dig down until you find bedrock (an unbreakable grey block), then count 5-12 blocks above it. Mine the diamonds with an iron, diamond, or netherite pickaxe.
- Remember, never dig straight down. A "staircase" mine keeps you safe from pits and lava.
- You'll need two diamonds to make an enchantment table.^{[2]
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  Research source} You'll also need a diamond pickaxe to mine obsidian (of which you need 4 for an enchantment table), which requires three more diamonds.
- Stick to layers 11 and 12 to avoid most of the lava.
2
Create obsidian. Obsidian is a dark black block that only appears when flowing water hits lava. You can make this happen yourself by making buckets out of three iron ingots. Scoop up lava with one bucket and pour it into a four-block pit. Pour the water from a higher structure so it flows down onto the lava. The lava should become obsidian.

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3
Mine four obsidian with a diamond pickaxe. Obsidian blocks will only drop crafting materials if you use a diamond or netherite pickaxe.^{[3]
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Research source}
4
Find or craft a book. You can break apart bookshelves in village or stronghold libraries to get ready-made books. Alternatively, craft them yourself:
- Kill cows or horses until you get at least one leather.
- Cut down three sugar cane reeds.
- Craft three sugar cane into paper. (Place the three reeds in one row.) Since sugarcane is hard to find, start a sugarcane farm.
- Combine one leather and three paper to make a book. (Place them anywhere in the crafting area, with the paper in separate squares.)

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Crafting and Placing the Enchantment Table

1
Craft an enchantment table. Select the enchantment table recipe, or combine the items as follows on the PC advanced crafting system:
- Top row: empty, book, empty
- Middle row: diamond, obsidian, diamond
- Bottom row: obsidian, obsidian, obsidian
2
Place the enchantment table. Place the enchantment table somewhere with at least two blocks of space on three sides, in a room at least two blocks high. This gives you the space to improve it with bookshelves, as described below.
3
Craft bookshelves (optional). Nearby bookshelves unlock more powerful enchantments from your enchantment table. To make a bookshelf, place three books in the center row, then fill the rest of the grid with planks.
- These more powerful enchantments will also cost more experience. You may want to skip this step if you're low level.
4
Place the bookshelves. To get the best enchantments, you'll need fifteen bookshelves. Each one must be placed as follows:
- On the same level as the table, or exactly one block above it.
- Keep exactly one empty block between the table and the shelf. Even torches or snow will stop the effect.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Enchanting Objects

1
Place the item to enchant in your enchantment table. Use the enchantment table to open the enchantment interface. You can place armor, swords, bows, books, or most tools in the enchantment table. This goes in the left slot in PC edition, and the top slot in Pocket Edition.
- Books store enchantments for later use with an anvil. Enchanting tools directly is more efficient.
- Some enchantments can only be applied to an item through enchanted books and not through enchantment tables.^{[4]
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- You can acquire enchanted books by trading with librarian villagers.^{[5]
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  Research source}
- These villagers often offer rare enchantments.
2
Place lapis lazuli in the other slot. In the latest versions of Minecraft, each enchantment consumes 1, 2, or 3 lapis lazuli. Place the gem in the empty slot in your table.
3
Select one of the three enchantments. Hovering over an option will tell you the name of the enchantment. There is also a chance to add additional, randomly selected enchantments.
- You cannot reset the available selection without enchanting something. Blocking the path to a bookshelf will reveal new, usually lower-level options.^{[6]
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- Different types of items have different available enchantments.
4
Understand the cost. There are always three options on the enchantment table. The top one is the weakest, and costs one lapis lazuli and one experience level. The middle one costs two lapis lazuli and two levels. The bottom one costs three of each.
- The number next to each option is the level of the enchantment. You must be at least this level to choose that option. It does not change the amount of experience it costs.

Community Q&A

Question

How long does it take to mine obsidian?

WikiHowUser20170728202545

Community Answer

That depends on the enchantments you have on your pickaxe. An unenchanted diamond pickaxe will take 9.4s, an Efficiency I pick will take 7.25s, Efficiency II takes 5.55s, Efficiency III 4.3, Efficiency IV will take 3.3s and with an Efficiency V pickaxe, it will only take 2.3 seconds to mine an obsidian block. Furthermore, the Haste I and Haste II effects (coming from a beacon) will further decrease the mining time to 2.14s and 1.875s per block, respectively.
Question

What is the best enchantment for my pickaxe?

Community Answer

Unbricking II is good, because your pickaxe never breaks. Efficiency V is also good.
Question

How do I mine obsidian?

Nerdzap

Community Answer

You need to use a diamond pickaxe to do so, and be careful that your character does not fall into the lava. It usually takes a long time to mine obsidian.