Staying true to its name, a major chunk of Minecraft’s gameplay experience is based around mining. You mine in Minecraft to find biomes, to collect resources, and if following the story, to reach the Ender Dragon and win the game. But all of these adventures can become boring quickly if you don’t have the right gear. Yes, finding Netherite in Minecraft to make a pickaxe does makes things better. However, even that can’t defeat the repetitive and long mining hours that are a part of survival gameplay. That’s why, to shake things up a bit, we have covered the best Minecraft pickaxe enchantments that you can apply to make your life easier. From their usage to obtaining them, there’s a lot to explore about the best pickaxe enchantments in Minecraft.
1. Mending
Mending is one of the most common enchantments in the game and also the simplest one. Mending in Minecraft allows you to restore the durability of your item by collecting experience orbs. Even if you don’t use any other enchantments, mending is a must-have for, at least, the rarer types of pickaxes. If you choose not to repair your affected pickaxe on time, it will disappear after continuous usage.
Unlike other positive enchantments, mending is a treasure enchantment. That means you can only find it in the form of an enchanted book, and you have to manually apply it on your pickaxe. You can use our guide to learn how to use enchanted books in Minecraft. As for locating this enchantment, you have to rely on chest loot, fishing, raids, and trading with librarian villagers (a type of villager job in Minecraft).
2. Efficiency – Most Used Pickaxe Enchantment
Irrespective of how long the pickaxe lasts, its effectiveness is decided by how long it takes to mine blocks. And as you might expect, the efficiency enchantment allows you to mine faster. It has 5 levels (Efficiency V), and after a base increase of 25%, each new level adds additional 5% efficiency to the pickaxe.
Do keep in mind that it doesn’t affect the blocks that are not compatible with a particular pickaxe. So, you can’t mine obsidian faster with a stone pickaxe, and so on. Keeping the Minecraft 1.19 ores distribution in mind, a gold pickaxe with efficiency V is the fastest pickaxe in the game. It’s perfect to take over all the best Minecraft prison servers.
3. Unbreaking
If repairing your pickaxe seems exhausting, then the unbreaking enchantment is a better alternative for you. It practically prevents the pickaxe from taking damage and having its durability reduced. Though, it can’t make your pickaxe completely unbreakable. Instead, it only reduces the chances of the pickaxe taking damage. Your pickaxe might still take damage every now and then.
The unbreaking enchantment has three levels (Unbreaking III), and you can get all of them in the form of enchanted books as well as use the enchanting table to apply it. Each level reduces the chance of a decrease in the pickaxe’s durability by 25%. If you are planning to use a pickaxe for a continuous period of time, the unbreakable is easily one of the best Minecraft 1.19 pickaxe enchantments of all time.
4. Fortune
Just like the real world, luck in Minecraft has a big role in your gameplay, and that’s what this enchantment is based on. It increases the amount of regular mined blocks and the chances of rare drops. But it doesn’t affect any experience that the process of mining drops. You can use it to make the process of finding diamonds in Minecraft worth your while.
This enchantment has 3 levels (Fortune III), with chances of multiple drops being 33%, 75%, and 120% higher, respectively. You can obtain it using both the enchanting table and enchanted books. Though, it affects each ore block differently. You can explore the complete dataset of fortune enchantment on the Minecraft Wiki (visit website).
5. Silk Touch – Most Popular Pickaxe Enchantment
Out of all the best Minecraft enchantments, silk touch is easily the most unique one. It allows you to mine entire blocks as themselves instead of them dropping items. The best example of this is in the context of ore blocks. Instead of dropping the ores, a pickaxe with a silk touch will drop the whole ore block. You can even use it to collect delicate blocks like web, glass, and even the new sculk blocks.
Unlike most enchantments, the silk touch only has one level. Moreover, to keep it from becoming overpowered, the game doesn’t let you combine the silk touch with the fortune enchantment. They are mutually exclusive. You can get a silk touch from enchanted books and the enchanting table.
6. Curse of Vanishing
On the best Minecraft PvP servers, the world can get competitive in terms of in-game gear. Some players even go as far as killing you to get your items, including your rare pickaxes. While only the best armor enchantments can protect you from attacks, the curse of vanishing can ensure that no one takes your gear after you die. It makes the pickaxe disappear from the world as soon as you die.
But leaving the competitive scenario aside, the curse of vanishing is not the best Minecraft enchantment to add to your pickaxe. Unless you find it naturally, you should avoid applying it to your pickaxe.
Frequently Asked Questions
What enchantments are best on pickaxe?
In terms of effectiveness, efficiency V and fortune III are the best enchantments to add to a pickaxe.
How many enchants can a pickaxe have?
A pickaxe can have up to 3 enchantments in survival game mode. But you can break this limit using Minecraft commands.
Is Curse of vanishing good?
Unless you are specifically trying to get rid of your pickaxe, it is one of the worst enchantments in the game.
What’s the best combination of enchantments for the pickaxe?
The best combination of enchantments of a pickaxe in Minecraft includes efficiency V, fortune III, and mending.
How do you make the strongest pickaxe in Minecraft?
You can make the strongest pickaxe in Minecraft by adding unbreaking III enchantment on a Netherite pickaxe.
