How to Use Enchanted Books in Minecraft

Minecraft is an open-world sandbox game that prides itself in its versatility. Whether you want to explore the vast realms or create a thriving community, Minecraft gives you the tools to succeed in virtually any endeavor. With the enchanting mechanic, though, they’ve taken things to a whole new level.

What would you do with an axe that never breaks or boots that make you quicker underwater? Why play the game as a mere mortal when enchanted items can imbue with traits worthy of a superhero?

Well, maybe not exactly a superhero, but the right enchantment can get you out of some tough situations.

Keep reading to learn more about enchantments, how they work, and what you need to start enchanting your own items.

What Is Enchanting in Minecraft?

Enchanting is a Minecraft game mechanic wherein players can add special abilities to armor and tools. It’s like enchanting mechanics featured in other games, with a few slight differences.

Level and experience do play a large part in what you can enchant and how powerful the enchantment is, but you also need key components like Lapis Lazuli and an enchanting table. You can bypass the special crafting table, though, if you have cheats enabled in creative mode. Simply use the “/enchant” command to add special abilities to your items.

Crafting an Enchanting Table

If you don’t already have an enchanting table, you’ll need the following ingredients to craft one:

• 1 Book
  
• 2 Diamonds
  
• 4 Obsidian
  

Place the book in the upper-middle crafting grid. The middle three squares of the crafting grid are filled with one Diamond, one Obsidian, and one Diamond – in that order. Fill the bottom row of the grid with the remaining Obsidian pieces to complete the table.

Adding Enchantments

Enchantment tables work like standard crafting tables, except you need Lapis Lazuli to start the process. You can find this vibrant blue stone in deep mines and caverns and harvest them with a standard stone pickaxe. Try to gather as many as possible so that you always have this integral resource on hand whenever you want to enchant something.

You’ll also need an item to enchant, like a weapon, armor, or tool. Enchantments may also be applied to books. Book enchantments serve as a “place holder” to save a special ability and use it on an item later.

Once you place the Lapis Lazuli and item into your enchantment table, you’ll see a list of three enchantments to choose from. The enchantment options are random. If you don’t see one you want to use, try dragging a different item from your inventory to the crafting square and switch it out again. Choose your enchantments wisely because once you apply them to an item, you can’t change them.

If you’re unhappy with an item you enchanted, you can disenchant it with a grindstone or use the crafting grid to repair it. Both actions remove any enchantments on an item except for the Curse of Vanishing and the Curse of Binding.

A Word About Bookshelves

You don’t necessarily need bookshelves to start enchanting, but it’s your interest to craft a few a soon as you can and place them around the enchantment table. Bookshelves can raise available enchantment levels and increase the likelihood of getting powerful enchantment options while crafting.

Without nearby bookshelves, the minimum experience level never goes over eight. Consequently, you’ll have a hard time getting enchantments that coincide with your experience at higher levels.

To craft a bookshelf, you just need Planks and a Book. Place up to 15 bookshelves around the enchanting table to maximize your options. Just remember to keep a one-block buffer zone between your shelf borders and the table.

What Can You Enchant in Minecraft?

You can enchant most items like armor, tools, and weapons. Even if you think an item is “unenchantable,” there may be workarounds like:

• Using the anvil and an enchanted book
• Using the anvil to combine two enchanted items
• Entering creative mode and using enchantment commands

The trick is to get the right enchantment combinations on the right items. For example, when you first start enchanting at Rank 1, try using a Mending enchantment on your favorite tool or weapon. The Mending enchantment doesn’t necessarily stop wear and tear to your item, but it does have a cool repair trick that new players may find useful.

Imagine that you’re far from home and your trusty axe breaks while you’re gathering resources. Rather than trekking all the way home to make another one, your axe will repair itself with experience gained while using the item.

The Fortune enchantment is another great option to use on any tool for gathering resources. Each time you strike a block with a Fortune-enchanted tool, you’ll receive more resources per block.

How to Create Enchanted Books?

To create enchanted books, you’ll need three items:

• Enchantment table
  
• Lapis Lazuli
  
• A book
  

You can make a book at your crafting table using:

• 3 Paper
• 1 Leather

Otherwise, keep your eyes peeled when you’re out fishing. Many players obtain books randomly that way as well.

Once you have the basic three items, go to your enchantment table, and place the Lapis Lazuli in the upper-right box, to the left of the enchantment options. Place the Book in the box to the left of the Lapis Lazuli and choose your enchantment.

You can only enchant one item at a time, though, so if you plan on stockpiling enchantments, you’ll need to repeat the process.

How to Use Enchanting Books in Minecraft to Make Enchanted Items?

Now that you have an impressive library of enchanted books, it’s time to make use of them. Enchanting with books is a slightly different process than putting the special ability directly onto an item. Instead of using an enchanting table, you’ll use your trusty anvil.

Once you open the anvil crafting grid, follow the steps below:

1. Place the item you want to enchant in the first slot.
   
2. Put the enchanted book in the slot next to the item.
   
3. Grab your newly enchanted item and place it in your inventory.
   

You can also combine enchanted books to create a single book with multiple or enchantments with higher levels, just like combining tools and weapons. Keep in mind, though, that combining books doesn’t always work in a player’s favor.

If you have two enchanted books of the same level, they may be combined to produce a single volume of a higher level. However, if you combine two books and some spells are not transferrable, the anvil will only transfer the appropriate abilities. Any unusable abilities are lost in the process.

How to Get Better Enchanted Items in Minecraft?

There are two ways to get the highest level of enchantments in Minecraft:

• Increase your character level
• Build bookshelves

There’s no level requirement to start enchanting in the game, but the enchantment level is tied to your character’s XP. The higher your character level, the better your choice of high-ranking enchantments.

Just remember that your character level can impact enchantment levels, but it doesn’t impact your enchantment options. Enchantments are still randomized regardless of your character level.

Another way to get higher-ranking enchantments is to surround your enchanting table with bookshelves. Think of it as a library for all that arcane knowledge you want to imbue on your items. You can’t just place bookshelves all over your home, though, and expect it to have an impact.

Your enchanting table is very particular about where it wants its library, and placement is very important. Shelves should be two blocks away from the enchanting table with nothing in between the bookshelf and table. Also, the shelves need to be at the same height or no more than one block higher than the table.

If you want to maximize your enchanting efforts, aim for a level 30 character with 15 bookshelves (the max) surrounding the table.

Additional FAQs

How Do You Combine Enchanted Books in Minecraft?

You can combine enchanted books on an anvil. Simply open the anvil crafting grid and place both enchanted books in the craft boxes to create one volume. When you’re combining books of the same level, you may get one that’s the next level if a higher level is available.

How to Read Minecraft Enchantment Language?

Minecraft’s enchantment language comes from a 2001 PC game called Commander Keen. It uses the Standard Galactic Alphabet featured in the classic game. Many players may be interested in learning this fictional language, but before you do, you should know that the words and phrases are randomized.

You won’t receive additional insights about the enchantments. The words and phrases you decode may have nothing to do with the game at all, but they may be an amusing way to pass the time. If decoding Minecraft’s enchantment language sounds like a good time to you, Standard Galactic Alphabet charts are available online.

Enchanting Abilities at Your Fingertips

You may not be able to become a son of Krypton with your Minecraft enchanting table, but you’ll come awfully close. Just remember that you don’t necessarily have to make enchantments yourself. They’re all around you. Buy enchanted books from villagers and check out your loot. You never know when you’ll happen across a game-changing enchantment.

What enchantments are your favorites? Tell us about it in the comments section below.