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Free tool · Minecraft Java

Enchantment order calculator: the cheapest way through the anvil

Pick the item and tick the enchanted books you have. Below you get the order to put them in the anvil for the fewest levels possible, with no step reaching “Too Expensive!”. It tries every way of combining them, not a rough rule of thumb.

Books you have (level of each; 0 = you don't have it)

23 levels in total, in 4 steps; the most expensive, 8. One at a time onto the item it would be 27: you save 4.

  1. Left: Book of Unbreaking IIIRight: Book of Mending2 levels
  2. Left: SwordRight: Book of Looting III6 levels
  3. Left: Sword with Looting IIIRight: Book of Unbreaking III + Mending7 levels
  4. Left: Sword with Looting III + Unbreaking III + MendingRight: Book of Sharpness V8 levels

When you're done, the sword with Sharpness V, Looting III, Unbreaking III, Mending has a prior work penalty of 7: that's what gets added next time you repair it or add something in the anvil.

Up to 10 books at once. Each step has to cost 39 levels or less: at 40, the game says “Too Expensive!”.

How to use it

  1. Do the steps in order. In each one, what it says under “Left” goes in the anvil's first slot and “Right” in the second.
  2. When a step combines two books, the result is another book: keep it, it's used in a later step.
  3. If you're short of levels for a step, wait: the cost doesn't go up with time, only with trips through the anvil.

Why the order matters

Each step the anvil charges the prior work penalty of what's on both sides plus what every enchantment being moved is worth. The penalty doubles with each use (0, 1, 3, 7, 15…), so adding the books one at a time onto the item is the most expensive way: the last one pays the penalty of all the previous ones.

An example: a sword with Sharpness V, Looting III, Sweeping Edge III, Fire Aspect II, Knockback II, Unbreaking III and Mending costs 49 levels in the best order, and one at a time it can't even be done: the last step goes over 39 and you get “Too Expensive!”.

What helps most: combine the books in pairs first and leave the expensive ones (those with a high multiplier, like Mending or Silk Touch) for steps with a low penalty.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the anvil say “Too Expensive!”?

Because that step would cost 40 levels or more, and in survival the anvil won't allow it. It doesn't depend on how many levels you have: even with 100, a 40-level step can't be done. It's almost always the item's prior work penalty, which doubles every time it goes through the anvil.

What is the anvil's prior work penalty?

Every time an item or a book goes through the anvil, it gets marked: next time it costs 1 more level, then 3, 7, 15, 31… That's why it pays to combine the books with each other first, in pairs, and put them on the item in few steps.

Can the penalty be removed?

Not in survival. Repairing in the anvil also raises it (only renaming doesn't). The only way out is starting with a new item, so it's worth getting it right the first time.

Why do books cost less than combining with another item?

Because the game charges each enchantment its level times a multiplier, and the one for books is half (at least 1). Mending, for example, costs 2 per level on a book and 4 if it comes on another sword.

What if my item is already enchanted?

Pick how many times it has already been through the anvil (if you enchanted it at the enchanting table and haven't touched it since, none). The calculator works out the books it's missing.

Does it work for Bedrock?

The maths are Minecraft Java's (1.21 onwards). Bedrock charges some enchantments differently, so the total may vary.

Playing on a server with friends?

At NapNodes you get a free Minecraft server, no card and no end date, to play survival with your friends; how to set it up is in how to run an SMP with friends. If you want it always on and with no queues, the plans have the RAM reserved for you alone and each machine's load is public on the status page. If you're an admin, the /give command generator skips the anvil altogether.

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