What you need to make an enchanting table in Minecraft
To make an enchanting table in Minecraft, you need exactly three ingredients: 1 book, 2 diamonds, and 4 obsidian. The book is crafted from 3 paper (made from sugar cane) and 1 leather (dropped by cows, horses, or other mobs), though you can also find books in structures like strongholds or mansions. Diamonds are mined deep underground from diamond ore using an iron pickaxe or better. Obsidian is created when water pours over lava, and you must mine it with a diamond pickaxe. The enchanting table is essential for upgrading gear because enchantments give items special abilities, like increasing efficiency, adding damage, or improving durability, that no other crafting station can provide. If you later get a bad enchantment, you can unenchant in Minecraft using a grindstone to clear it and reclaim some experience.
Crafting recipe: step-by-step grid arrangement
Once you have your materials, open a crafting table to access the 3x3 grid. The exact placement matters, so follow this pattern row by row:
- In the top row, place 1 book in the center box (leave the left and right boxes empty).
- In the middle row, place 1 diamond in the left box, 1 obsidian in the center box, and 1 diamond in the right box.
- In the bottom row, place 3 obsidian blocks across all three boxes.
After arranging the items correctly, the enchanting table will appear in the result box. Drag it into your inventory, and you’re ready to start enchanting.
How to use your enchanting table
Place the enchanting table in a well-lit area with enough room around it. Right-click the table to open its interface. Put the item you want to enchant, a tool, weapon, armor, or book, in the left input slot, and place 1 to 3 Lapis Lazuli in the dedicated middle slot. Three randomized enchantment options will appear on the right side of the GUI. Each option requires a certain amount of experience levels and Lapis Lazuli; you must have at least the required experience level to select it, but the number of levels charged is the same as the Lapis Lazuli requirement (1-3 levels). The glyphs (random words in the Standard Galactic Alphabet) displayed do not reveal the actual enchantments you will receive, but hovering over an option reveals one of the enchantments to be applied. Select an enchantment, and the item will be enchanted, consuming both experience levels and Lapis Lazuli.
Bookshelf setup for level-30 enchantments
To unlock enchantments up to level 30, you need bookshelves placed around the enchanting table. A total of 15 bookshelves are required for the maximum enchantment level of 30. Place the bookshelves one block away from the enchanting table, with a single block of air in between them, this is the one-block air gap rule. Do not place any other block, even a transparent one like a torch, between the enchanting table and the bookshelves, because that breaks the connection and prevents the table from recognizing the shelves. The bookshelves should be on the same level as the enchanting table or one block higher, and you do not need to stack them more than one block high. More than 15 bookshelves around an enchanting table have no additional effect on the enchantment levels, so don’t waste resources building extra.
Mining and moving your enchanting table
If you need to relocate your enchanting table, the mining requirements depend on your game edition. In Java Edition, an enchanting table requires a pickaxe to be mined, and it will drop itself; if mined without a pickaxe, it drops nothing. In Bedrock Edition, a pickaxe is not required to mine an enchanting table. The table is 3/4 blocks high, so it takes up less vertical space than a full block. It also has a blast resistance of 1,200 and cannot be destroyed by TNT, making it a sturdy addition to any base.
