Finding or making a favorite item inMinecraftis a bittersweet feeling; while it’s great to have it, it won’t last forever. Just about everything inMinecrafthas durability, evenNetherite Tools. But there are ways to mend beloved items, including the mending enchantment.
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Updated on Jul 18, 2025, by Anastasia Maillot:Mending continues to be one of the most important and powerful enchantments in the game, if not the most powerful. It’s easily the most wanted enchantment book among players, and for good reason. It’s unlikely this balance will shift in future patches unless something better comes along.
However, throughout updates, the way Mending works and how it can be earned has been balanced by Mojang in hopes to keep the game sufficiently challenging. This guide onhow to get Mending in Minecrafthas been updated accordingly with that new information.
How Mending Works In Minecraft
Mending is an enchantment that can be on just about any tool or weapon inMinecraftwith durability.When an item has Mending, any experience collected will go to repair the item at the rate of 2 durability per experience point. When an item is being repaired, it uses up the experience soMinecraftplayers won’t receive the experience that is being used to fix it. Mending only repairs items in a player’s hand, off-hand, or armor slots, and not in the player’s inventory.
If a player has several items that have Mending on them, only one is repaired at a time–the experience goes to a randomly chosen one of these. There isn’t a priority system in place for repairing items first, though that may change infuture updates ofMinecraft.
How To Find Mending Enchantment Books
to put a mending enchantment on an item, players have to first come across a mending book. While mostMinecraftenchantmentscan be created using an enchanting table, Mending, unfortunately, cannot. This means that players have to buy, find, or loot these books instead.
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Making a Librarian Villager
If players can’t find a librarian, they can make one. First,lure aMinecraftvillager without a profession away from everyone else, then give them a lectern. They will take up the job, and then players can trade emeralds for books.
If the captured villager doesn’t have the Mending book trade, players can steal back the lectern, replace it and then return the Librarian professionto the villager. Then players will be able to trade with them again and try for a Mending book.
Mending can be the first trade a Librarian villager has, so there’s no need to level up a villager to unlock Mending from a higher tier trade.
Tips On Fishing For Mending
Ever since fishing was changed inMinecraft’s1.16 update, the mechanics have been altered to balance AFK fish farms.It’s no longer possible to fish for treasure in single water block AFK fish farms. Since Mending enchantment books are considered treasures, this has significantly impacted how often players can hope to fish for a Mending book.
The new requirementsaccording to Minecraft Wikiare as follow: the bobber now needs to be in an open water area, which is at least a 5 by 4 by 5 area. Every block in this area must consist of either air, water, or waterlogged blocks.
How To Use An Enchanted Mending Book
To use the enchantment nook,Minecraftplayers will have to make an anvil.Put the item to be enchanted in the first slot of the anvil, and add the Mending Book to the second.If it does not work, players may not have enough experience to enchant the item they have chosen.
Mending is also incompatible with the Infinityenchantment found on some bows. However, it can be applied mutually on items with Unbreaking, essentially making those items near indestructible.
What Items Should Players Use Mending For?
Mending is a very powerful and expensive enchantment. Because of this, the choice of gear is very important. Generally speaking,any other enchanted piece of gear or weapon that the player wants to keep as long as possible should get Mending on it. Nothing below diamond-tier, however, should ever be enchanted with Mending. Examples of good choices for Mending include:
Finally,elytras are by far the most important item players should save a Mending book for. In fact, the first Mending book a player finds should be specifically reserved for the elytra. Otherwise, repairing it will become tedious and difficult very quickly.
Minecraftis available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
