Minecraft sword enchantments

The sword is the basic weapon in Minecraft, and the right enchantments can turn even an iron sword into a weapon of destruction. Choosing your weapon enchantments is one of the most important decisions in the game, because it directly affects how well you fight, both against ordinary mobs and against bosses like the Warden or the Ender Dragon. In this chapter we go through every enchantment you can put on a sword in detail: its levels, its uses and how it works with other enchantments. If you're new to enchanting, read the chapter on the enchanting system first.

Sharpness: the all-round damage enchantment

Sharpness is the most popular sword enchantment, available at levels I to V. It increases the damage you deal to every type of enemy, whether you're fighting a zombie, a skeleton, a spider or another player. In Java Edition, Sharpness adds 0.5 + (0.5 * level) extra damage, which means Sharpness V adds 3 extra damage in total (1.5 hearts). In Bedrock Edition the bonus is a little different: 1.25 damage per level.

Sharpness is considered the best sword enchantment for general use, because it works against every enemy without exception. A diamond sword with Sharpness V deals 10 base damage (5 hearts), plus extra damage from critical hits, which is enough to take down most mobs in 2-3 hits. A netherite sword with Sharpness V goes even further: 11 base damage.

Smite: built for zombies and skeletons

Smite is the alternative to Sharpness, focused purely on fighting undead mobs. It comes in levels I-V, and each level adds a whopping 2.5 extra damage against the undead, far more than Sharpness. Smite V gives a massive +12.5 damage, which lets you one-shot most zombies and skeletons even with an iron sword.

Mobs affected by Smite include zombies (all variants), skeletons, wither skeletons, phantoms, the Wither, drowned, zombie villagers and zombified piglins. That makes it especially useful when you're exploring Nether fortresses (full of wither skeletons) and when you fight the Wither boss. Smite's drawback is that it's useless against every other kind of enemy: creepers, endermen, spiders and players take no extra damage at all.

Bane of Arthropods: a niche pick against spiders

Bane of Arthropods works against spiders, cave spiders, bees, silverfish and endermites. Like Smite, it adds 2.5 damage per level, and it also inflicts Slowness on the target. In practice it's the least used of the three, because spiders are fairly easy opponents even without special enchantments, and the list of mobs it affects is very short.

Fire Aspect: setting enemies on fire

Fire Aspect is one of the most satisfying enchantments, both to watch and to use. It has two levels: Fire Aspect I sets the target on fire for 4 seconds (dealing 3 fire damage), and Fire Aspect II for 8 seconds (7 damage). It also has a couple of uses that many players overlook. First, animals killed with Fire Aspect drop cooked meat right away, which is great for getting food without a furnace. Second, a burning mob is lit up by the flames, so it's easier to track in the dark.

Fire Aspect has some downsides too. Enemies you set on fire with Fire Aspect can set you on fire on contact, which can be a problem when fighting in tight spaces. It's also useless against fire-immune mobs like blazes, magma cubes and many other Nether mobs. That's why it's worth carrying a second sword without Fire Aspect for exploring the Nether.

Looting: more loot from every mob

Looting is an enchantment every player should have on their main sword. It comes in levels I-III and increases the number of items mobs drop when you kill them. Each level of Looting adds 1 to the maximum drop (so Looting III takes a typical 0-2 drop up to 0-5) and noticeably raises the chance of rare drops.

Looting III pays off in a huge number of ways: more gunpowder from creepers (for fireworks and TNT), more bones from skeletons (for bone meal to fertilize plants), more blaze rods from blazes (essential for brewing potions and for finding the stronghold), more emeralds from evokers, more phantom membranes from phantoms and more ender pearls from endermen. If you're planning to build mob farms, Looting III is an absolute must for getting the most out of them.

Knockback: a controversial defensive enchantment

Knockback I-II sends the enemy you hit flying farther than usual. Knockback II pushes a mob several blocks back, which can be useful in specific situations: knocking mobs off cliffs, keeping creepers at a distance before they explode, or pushing back a group of enemies in a narrow corridor. Still, most experienced players avoid this enchantment, because a knocked-back enemy is harder to finish off quickly: you have to chase it, which wastes time and leaves you open to more attacks.

Sweeping Edge: Java Edition only

Sweeping Edge I-III is an enchantment available only in Java Edition. It increases the damage of the sweep attack, a mechanic unique to Java Edition: when you stand still and hit with a sword, you damage not only your main target but every enemy near it as well. Sweeping Edge III raises the damage of that extra hit to 75% of the sword's base damage, which makes it deadly against groups of mobs.

This enchantment is especially handy in mob farms, where enemies gather in one spot, and when zombies besiege a village. Combined with Sharpness V and Looting III, Sweeping Edge III lets you deal with crowds of enemies efficiently.

Unbreaking and Mending: protecting durability

They aren't strictly combat enchantments, but Unbreaking III and Mending are absolute essentials on any sword. Unbreaking III gives a 75% chance that a use won't cost any durability, which effectively makes the weapon last four times as long. Mending repairs the sword with the experience you pick up: each XP point restores 2 durability points. Together, these two enchantments make a well-enchanted sword last practically forever.