Looting

What is Looting?

Looting is a sword enchantment that increases the number of items dropped by the mobs you kill. It works on most drops, from basic materials (meat, leather, bones) to rare items (ender pearls, wither skeleton skulls, tridents). It is the equivalent of Fortune for weapons.

Looting III is a must-have for mob farms and rare drop hunting. Without it you leave a huge amount of potential resources behind with every kill. Every player should have at least one sword with Looting III for collecting drops, especially paired with Sharpness V for killing targets faster.

An important mechanic: Looting boosts drops only when the final blow is dealt by a player holding a sword with Looting. If a mob dies from fire or a fall, or another player lands the last hit, Looting won't apply. Keep the Looting sword in your hand when finishing mobs off on farms. Looting has a low enchantment weight (2), which makes it relatively rare on the enchanting table, so trading with a librarian is often the more reliable source.

Exact chances for extra drops

Looting works in two ways depending on the type of drop:

Common drops (meat, leather, bones and so on)

It raises the maximum drop amount by +1 per level. For example:

Rare drops (higher chance)

For rare drops Looting raises the percentage chance by +1% per level. This is key when you farm for rare items:

The most important case is the wither skeleton skull. The base chance is 2.5%, and with Looting III it rises to 5.5%, more than double. When you farm the 3 skulls needed to summon a Wither, that difference is huge.

How to get Looting

Looting has a low enchantment weight (2), which means it is relatively rare on the enchanting table.

Best strategies and uses

Wither skeleton farm

Looting III is key when farming skulls from wither skeletons in a Nether fortress. The skull chance rises from 2.5% to 5.5%, more than double. Since you need to collect 3 skulls, Looting III cuts the average number of skeletons you have to kill from about 120 to about 55. A sword with Sharpness V and Looting III is the standard gear for going after the Wither.

Enderman farm

Endermen with Looting III drop ender pearls much more often, from a base chance of 50% to nearly every Enderman dropping a pearl. That is ideal for stocking up on pearls for teleporting and eyes of ender. An Enderman farm in the End is also one of the best sources of XP and pearls, a double payoff.

Livestock farm

When you breed animals (cows, sheep, pigs), Looting III significantly increases the amount of meat and leather from every animal you kill. Instead of 1-3 raw beef you get 1-6, nearly twice as much from each cow. This makes breeding far more efficient and reduces the number of animals you need to keep your food supplies up.

Farming sword vs combat sword

Many advanced players carry two swords: one with Looting III for farming drops, and one without Looting (but with Knockback II or other enchantments) for PvP and combat. In PvP Looting gives no advantage, so it is better to have Knockback or another tactical enchantment. Both swords should have Sharpness V, Unbreaking III and Mending. You will find the sword recipe in the weapon crafting guide.

Looting + Fire Aspect: a warning

Fire Aspect cooks meat automatically, which is convenient. But if a mob dies from fire (not from a sword hit), Looting won't apply to its drops. So make sure you finish mobs off with a sword hit and don't let them die from the fire alone, especially on farms where every drop counts.

Looting in the Nether

In the Nether, Looting III is extremely valuable. Blazes drop more rods (essential for brewing potions), zombified piglins drop more gold, and wither skeletons, as mentioned, have a much better chance of dropping a skull. A sword with Looting III, Sharpness V and Mending is the ideal weapon for exploring the Nether. The fastest way to get XP for enchanting is XP farms.