Mending
What is Mending?
Mending is widely considered the most valuable enchantment in Minecraft. It works on a simple principle: when you pick up experience orbs, the game uses that XP to repair an item with Mending that you're holding or wearing, instead of adding it to your experience bar. Every point of XP repairs 2 durability points.
In practice, an item with Mending never wears out, as long as you pick up XP regularly. You can use a Mending pickaxe forever: just kill a few mobs or mine some quartz in the Nether now and then to repair it fully. That makes Mending essential on every valuable item: weapons, tools and armor.
Mending is a treasure enchantment, which means you can't get it at the enchanting table. You get it from enchanted books: by trading with a librarian, from loot chests or by fishing. That restriction makes it one of the most sought-after enchantments in the game.
How exactly does Mending work?
Here's how Mending works:
| Mechanic | Description |
|---|---|
| Repairing with XP | Every point of XP repairs 2 durability points of the item |
| Priority | XP goes to repairs first, and any surplus goes to the experience bar |
| Which item gets repaired | If several items have Mending, the game picks one of the damaged ones at random |
| Requirement | The item must be held in a hand (main or off) or worn (armor) |
| Full durability | If the item is at full durability, XP goes to the experience bar as usual |
An example with numbers
A netherite pickaxe has 2,031 durability points. After you use up 500 of them, you need 250 XP (500 / 2 = 250 XP) to repair it fully. Killing the Ender Dragon for the first time gives 12,000 XP, more than enough to fully repair any item. Even a small zombie spawner farm gives enough XP to keep your whole set of tools and armor in perfect shape.
Multiple items with Mending
When you carry several items with Mending (for example a full set of armor plus a sword and a pickaxe), the game picks one damaged item at random for each XP orb. That's why repairs can take longer when many items are damaged.
Mending and gaining experience
One thing to keep in mind: Mending uses up experience that would normally go to your XP bar. If you're wearing several damaged items with Mending, you'll gain levels more slowly. That's why it's worth repairing your gear before an enchanting session at the enchanting table, where you need level 30.
How to get Mending
Mending is a treasure enchantment and doesn't show up at the enchanting table. Here are the ways to get it:
Trading with a librarian (BEST)
The most reliable method: place a lectern next to an unemployed villager and they'll become a librarian. Check their trades. If Mending isn't there, break the lectern and place it again. Repeat until Mending shows up for emeralds. It's worth keeping a few Mending librarians as backup.
Chests in structures
Enchanted books with Mending can turn up in the chests of Ancient Cities, dungeons and mineshafts. The odds are low, but it's worth checking.
Fishing
A fishing rod with Luck of the Sea III gives you a better chance of fishing up an enchanted book with Mending. It's rare, but possible if you're patient.
Mending vs Infinity
On a bow, Mending and Infinity are mutually exclusive. You have to choose, and the choice changes how you play with a ranged weapon:
Mending
- The bow never breaks
- You have to carry arrows in your inventory
- Arrows are easy to make
- Works with tipped arrows too (Poison, Slowness)
- Recommended for most players
Infinity
- Doesn't use up arrows (you need 1 in your inventory)
- The bow wears out and has to be repaired
- Repairing on an anvil gets more and more expensive
- Doesn't work with tipped arrows
- Good early in the game, before you have an arrow farm
Recommendation: Mending is clearly the better choice for bows in the long run. Arrows are cheap to make (stick + flint + feather), and a bow with Mending lasts forever. A bow with Infinity wears out over time and has to be repaired or replaced. Combined with Power V and Flame, a Mending bow becomes a powerful, reliable weapon for your character's entire life.
Best ways to use Mending
The complete Mending set
The goal for most survival players is a complete netherite set with Mending: helmet, chestplate, leggings, boots, sword, a Fortune pickaxe, a Silk Touch pickaxe, an axe and a shovel, plus a bow and a trident. That's 11 items in total, each with Mending and Unbreaking III. A set like that is practically eternal and removes the need to craft new tools. You'll find the recipes for all the tools in our guides to crafting weapons and tools.
XP farms for Mending
The best XP sources for keeping your Mending items repaired:
- Enderman farm: one of the fastest sources of XP in the game. Built in the End. Perfect for quickly repairing your whole set.
- Zombie/skeleton spawner farm: an early XP source, enough to keep a full set in shape. Easy to build early in the game.
- Guardian farm: an ocean monument produces huge amounts of XP and resources at the same time.
- Villager trading: every trade gives XP. With heavy trading, it repairs your items automatically.
- Mining quartz in the Nether: every Nether Quartz Ore gives 2-5 XP, which repairs your tools while you dig.
You'll find more on building experience farms in our XP farm guide.
The offhand trick
You can hold the item you want to repair in your offhand (swap hands with the F key) while you collect XP. For example, keep a Sharpness sword in your main hand for fighting and a pickaxe in your offhand, and the XP from the mobs you kill repairs the pickaxe. It lets you repair a specific item without interrupting what you're doing, as long as it's the only damaged Mending item you're holding or wearing.
Mending on armor
Armor with Mending repairs itself automatically while you wear it and pick up XP. You don't have to hold it in your hand, it just has to be equipped. That's why a full set of Mending armor is so powerful: you never have to take it off or repair it by hand. Combined with Protection IV and Unbreaking III, Mending armor lasts practically forever.
Building the perfect item with Mending and several other enchantments? Use the enchantment calculator to work out the best order for combining books on the anvil and avoid the "Too Expensive!" message. You'll find complete combining instructions in the enchanting guide.