Enchanting Table

An enchanting table^[a] is a block used to spend experience and lapis lazuli to enchant tools, weapons, armor and books. Enchanting tables draw power from bookshelves placed around them, improving applied enchantments at the expense of level requirement.

Obtaining[]

Breaking[]

In Java Edition, an enchanting table requires a pickaxe to be mined, in which case it drops itself. If mined without a pickaxe, then the mining is slower and it drops nothing. In Bedrock Edition, a pickaxe is not required.

Block	Enchanting Table
Hardness	5
Tool
Breaking time[A]
Default	25
Wooden	3.75
Stone	1.9
Iron	1.25
Diamond	0.95
Netherite	0.85
Golden	0.65

Crafting[]

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Book + Diamond + Obsidian

Usage[]

An item can be enchanted by using an enchanting table and placing the item in the input slots and 1–3 Lapis Lazuli in its dedicated slot. Upon placing the item, three (pseudo)randomized options appear on the right of the GUI. The glyphs here do not affect the enchantment, but hovering over a presented enchantment shows one enchantment to be applied (on mobile devices, the player can tap an enchantment before putting in the Lapis Lazuli or hold the enchantment before release). The only choices available have a level requirement equal to or below the player's current level and a Lapis Lazuli requirement equal to or below the number of lapis lazuli placed in the table. Each option imbues the item with a randomized set of enchantments that are dependent on the number of experience levels required (e.g. a level 10 enchantment can give a pickaxe the "Efficiency II" enchantment); the actual level cost and the number of Lapis Lazuli required have no effect.

Although the player must have at least the level requirement to get an enchantment, the number of levels that the player is charged is the same as the Lapis Lazuli requirement. For example, if the third enchantment listed is a level 30-50 enchantment, the player must have at least 30 levels, while paying only 3 levels and 3 Lapis Lazuli.

The level requirement influences the quantity, type, and level of enchantments instilled in the item, with a higher experience level generally resulting in more and/or higher-level enchantments. Nevertheless, there is a significant random factor, and even a level 30 enchantment (the maximum) doesn't guarantee more than one enchantment, or even that enchantments are "maximum strength" — a level 30 enchantment can still yield Fortune II or Efficiency III alone, for example.

To increase the enchantment level, bookshelves should be placed next to the enchanting table while keeping one block of air between them. Placing any block between the enchantment table and the bookshelves - even a transparent one like a torch - prevents the table from connecting with the shelves. To gain access to the previously mentioned level 30 enchantments, a total of 15 bookshelves need to be placed around the enchanting table. See the enchantment mechanics page for more detailed information on this.

The enchanting table is ³⁄₄ blocks high.

If an enchanting table is placed on ice, the player slides on it as though it is an ice block, just like with slabs.‌^{[Java Edition only][verify]}

Despite comprising largely of obsidian, they are not immune to destruction by the ender dragon.^[1]

Enchanting[]

The enchanting table's main purpose is to enchant items. The table can enchant all tools, armor and gear except‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} shears, flint and steel, carrot on a stick, warped fungus on a stick, shield, carved pumpkin, mob head, lead, compass, recovery compass, and horse armor; all of these (excluding leads and horse armor) can instead be enchanted using an anvil and an appropriate enchanted book.

When a bookshelf is placed next to an enchanting table (with one block of air in between) it increases the maximum enchantment level. There must be 15 bookshelves around the enchanting table in order to obtain the maximum enchantment level of 30. See enchantment mechanics for more specific details.

Light source[]

Enchanting tables emit a light level of 7.

Standard Galactic Alphabet[]

The arcane glyphs that float from bookshelves to the enchanting table and the cryptic runes in the enchanting table's interface are written in the Standard Galactic Alphabet, which is a simple alphabet substitution cipher used in the Commander Keen series of computer games.

The arcane glyphs cannot be seen if "particles" in the video settings is set to "minimal".

The cryptic runes seen in the interface are randomly constructed from the following list of words:

Three to five words are chosen from the list and appended to each other, then displayed in the Standard Galactic Alphabet. Although sometimes the words chosen accidentally refer to mobs like Blazes and Elder Guardians, the words chosen are random and purely cosmetic; they have no relation to the enchantments to be applied to the item and are not saved on the enchanted item (meaning they say nothing about the spell's identity), and they are displayed only in the enchanting table. Only the cost and one of the enchantments are known.

Custom name[]

By default, the GUI of an enchanting table is labeled "Enchant", but this name can be customized by naming the enchanting table in an anvil before placing it or by changing the CustomName tag using the /data command‌^{[Java Edition only]}.

Note Blocks[]

Enchanting tables can be placed under note blocks to produce "bass drum" sounds.

Piston interactivity[]

Enchanting tables cannot be pushed by pistons. They also cannot be pushed nor pulled by sticky pistons.

Sounds[]

Generic[]

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.stone.break	subtitles.block.generic.break	1.0	0.8	16
	Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.stone.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	1.0	0.8	16
	Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.stone.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit	0.25	0.5	16
	None[sound 1]	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.stone.fall	None[sound 1]	0.5	0.75	16
	Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.stone.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.stone	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	When the block is placed	dig.stone	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.stone	0.27 [sound 1]	0.5
	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.stone	0.4	1.0
	Players	Walking on the block	step.stone	0.3	1.0
	Players	Jumping from the block	jump.stone	0.12	1.0
	Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.stone	0.22	1.0

Unique[]

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Enchanting Table used	Blocks	When an enchanting table enchants an item	block.enchantment_table.use[sound 1]	subtitles.block.enchantment_table.use[sound 1]	1.0	0.9-1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	When an enchanting table enchants an item	block.enchanting_table.use	1.0	1.0

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Translation key
Enchanting Table	enchanting_table	Block & Item	block.minecraft.enchanting_table

Name	Identifier
Block entity	enchanting_table

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID[i 1]	Translation key
Enchantment Table	enchanting_table	116	Block & Giveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3]	tile.enchanting_table.name

Name	Savegame ID
Block entity	EnchantTable

Block data[]

An enchanting table has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Block entity format.

Achievements[]

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS4)
PS4	Other
		Enchanter	Construct an Enchantment Table.	Pick up an enchantment table from a crafting table output.	20G	Bronze

Advancements[]

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Resource location
	Enchanter	Enchant an item at an Enchanting Table	Diamonds!	Insert an item in an enchanting table, then apply an enchantment.	story/enchant_item

History[]

Java Edition
September 30, 2011					First mentions of the enchantment table.[2][3]
September 30, 2011					Notch posted first picture of the enchantment table, they were originally made with cobblestone instead of obsidian.
September 30, 2011					Notch posted second picture of the updated enchantment table.
October 1, 2011					The first image of the enchantment screen are revealed, with enchantments written in the Standard Galactic Alphabet. The first enchantment translates into "Well Played Internets You Are Good", the second translated into "These Names Will Be Random And Confusing", and the third translates to "Each Spell Costs Experience Levels". The Standard Galactic Alphabet or SGA was originally created by Tom Hall for use in the Commander Keen series of computer games.
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3			Added enchantment tables.
					Enchantment tables require bookshelves to get maximum enchantments.
					Enchantments are to be labeled in the enchantment table as random words written in the Standard Galactic Alphabet.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4			A bug where all enchantments would show up as Feather Falling I has been fixed.
					Enchanting has been now properly enabled in multiplayer. Previously, if a player attempted to enchant an item, it appeared enchanted for the client, but updated with the un-enchanted status once the player logged out and then back in again.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6			Enchantment tables now take time to mine [more information needed].
1.2.1		12w05a			Enchanting no longer requires experience in Creative mode.
1.3.1		12w15a			⇧ Shift + clicking can now be used to put items in enchantment tables.
		12w22a			The maximum enchantment power has been lowered from 50 to 30.
1.4.6		12w49a			The player can now enchant books to then be used to enchant a tool.
1.7.2		13w36a			The fishing rod can now be enchanted without the use of books.
1.8		14w02a			Enchanting has received a major overhaul where there is now a secondary cost, which is lapis lazuli.
					When enchanting an item, one enchantment now appears in the tooltip when selecting an enchantment (e.g Looting III?...).
					Level 5 enchants (Sharpness, Power, Smite and Bane of Arthropods) can now be applied without the use of an anvil.
		14w18a			Enchantment tables with numerical metadata variants 1 through 15, which are inaccessible through normal gameplay, now have no model rather than appearing identical to enchantment tables.
		14w26a			Block metadata has been completely removed from this snapshot onward with the introduction of block states. As this block never used block metadata at all prior to this version, fifteen unused, inaccessible metadata variants of it have been completely removed from the game: DV Description 0 Enchantment Table 1-15 Inaccessible "boring" variants of enchantment tables
1.10		16w20a			Added a sound for enchanting an item in the enchantment table.
1.11		16w32a			The block entity ID for the enchantment table has been changed from EnchantTable to enchanting_table.
1.13		17w47a			"Enchantment Table" has been renamed to "Enchanting Table".
					Hoes can now be enchanted.
					Prior to The Flattening, the enchanting table's numeral ID was 116.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of enchanting tables has been changed.
		18w44a			The texture of enchanting tables has been changed, as the texture of obsidian has been changed.
		18w46a			Enchanting tables are no longer transparent from the bottom.
		18w50a			The texture of enchanting tables has been changed, as the texture of obsidian has been changed, once again.
					The enchanting table's bottom texture has now been made identical to that of obsidian - previously it had a defined border.[4]
1.18		21w37a			Enchanting tables now provide a light level of 7, to match Bedrock Edition.
		21w41a			The texture of the blank slot for lapis lazuli has been changed.
		Pre-release 5			The texture of the blank slot for lapis lazuli has been changed, once again.
1.20		23w14a			A transparent block between enchanting table and bookshelves no longer invalidates bonuses.
1.20.2		23w31a			Reverted the texture of lapis slot to the texture before 1.18-pre5, to make the consistency with smithing table.[5]
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.12.1		build 1			Added enchantment tables.
					Enchantment tables now emit a light level of 12.
					Enchantment tables can now be crafted in the stonecutter.
					Added enchantment tables to the Creative inventory.
		build 11			Enchanting tables are now craftable in the crafting table, instead of the stonecutter.
Bedrock Edition
?					Hoes can no longer be enchanted in enchanting tables.
1.4.0		beta 1.2.13.11			When Experimental Gameplay is enabled, tridents can now be enchanted.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of enchanting tables has been changed.
1.16.0		beta 1.16.0.57			Hoes can now be enchanted with Efficiency, Fortune and Silk Touch.
1.17.30		beta 1.17.20.20			Enchantment tables now emit a light level of 7, instead of 12.
1.19.30		beta 1.19.30.20			Added a sound for enchanting an item in the enchantment table.
Legacy Console Edition
TU7	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added enchanting tables.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Enchanting now consumes lapis lazuli.
					Enchanting has been re-balanced.
					Enchanted books can now receive multiple enchantments at once.
		1.90			The texture of enchanting tables has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added enchanting tables.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Enchanting Table" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

• The enchanting table actually produces the particles emitted from the bookshelves. These particles originate inside the enchanting table and are relocated to the bookshelf almost immediately, but travel slow enough to be briefly visible. The particle that enters and leaves the bookshelf is always the same "letter", but the ones traveling into the bookshelves are black.
• Enchanting tables are mostly made of obsidian, and thus have a blast resistance of 1,200 and cannot be destroyed by TNT, although they can still be mined by any pickaxes.
• Enchanting tables are midway between slabs and full blocks height-wise, so they could be potentially used as a TNT cannon's range-amplifier instead of slabs or trapdoors.
• The enchanting table always opens its book toward the player, even when the player is invisible.
• On the enchantment screen, captions in the Standard Galactic Alphabet includes several in-jokes:
  • On October 1, 2011, Notch tweeted an image of the enchantment screen, with enchantments.^[6] The first enchantment translates into "Well Played Internets You Are Good", the second translated into "These Names Will Be Random And Confusing", and the third translates to "Each Spell Costs Experience Levels".
  • Three of the possible words for enchantments are "the elder scrolls," likely a joke at Bethesda, creator of "The Elder Scrolls" series and whose parent company, Zenimax, attempted to sue Mojang for the name of their game Scrolls.
  • The words "klaatu berata niktu" are a (misspelled) reference to "Klaatu barada nikto", a phrase that originates from the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still and has been since used as a reference in many other movies, cartoons and games.
  • Similarly, "Xyzzy" is a magic spell in the game "Colossal Cave Adventure" and has been used in several other games as an Easter Egg or cheat code.
  • The word "embiggen" is a fictional word coined by The Simpsons quote: "A Noble Spirit Embiggens the Smallest Man".
  • The words "phnglui mglwnafh cthulhu rlyeh wgahnagl fhtagn" are a quote from H. P. Lovecraft's short story "The Call of Cthulhu." Said quote is a prayer in the Cthulhu mythos. The complete and correct quote is "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn", which translates to "In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."
• Of the list of words that the enchanting table uses, none of the words contain the letters "J" or "Q". Although they are not used in the words, they do have a symbol attached to them, and can be seen moving from the bookshelf and the table.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

• 

  The enchantment table receiving knowledge from nearby bookshelves.

• 

  Color coded texture for the book model.

• 

  Color code legend for book model texture guide.

• 

  The GUI of the enchantment table in Bedrock Edition (top = no item, bottom = with item hovering on the second line).

• 

  A newly enchanted sword.

• 

  The book model, animated.

• 

  An enchanting setup with an enchanting table, bookshelves, a grindstone, and an anvil.

Pixel Art[]

• 

  Efe looking at an enchanting table.

Development images[]

• 

  The first image of an Enchanting Table.

• 

  The second image of an Enchanting Table.

• 

  The first image of an Enchanting Table's interface.

• 

  The first image of Enchanted equipment.

Notes[]

References[]