Enchantment XP costs & budgeting
Survival math punishes guesses. Memorize—or bookmark—the raw book ladders below, stack your mental model of penalties, then farm XP accordingly so mid-session trips never strand you forty levels shy.
What the HUD number actually totals
The level readout merges enchantment-tier costs (multiply per Roman numeral), left/right penalties from RepairCost/NBT equivalents, rename fees, plus any dormant prior merges. Numbers here cover only enchantment ladders from books onto fresh gear—you still owe penalties afterward. Cross-check nightmares with our anvil planner.
Book-to-tool uses full ladders. Combining two forged tools slashes each migrating enchant by half-ish, yet both sides still spike RepairCost afterward—budget accordingly.
Full enchantment ladder table
| Enchantment | I | II | III | IV | V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharpness | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Smite | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Bane of Arthropods | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Looting | 2 | 4 | 8 | — | — |
| Fire Aspect | 2 | 4 | — | — | — |
| Knockback | 1 | 2 | — | — | — |
| Sweeping Edge | 2 | 4 | 8 | — | — |
| Efficiency | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Fortune | 2 | 4 | 8 | — | — |
| Silk Touch | 8 | — | — | — | — |
| Power | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Punch | 2 | 4 | — | — | — |
| Flame | 4 | — | — | — | — |
| Infinity | 4 | — | — | — | — |
| Multishot | 4 | — | — | — | — |
| Piercing | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | — |
| Quick Charge | 1 | 2 | 4 | — | — |
| Impaling | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Loyalty | 1 | 2 | 4 | — | — |
| Channeling | 8 | — | — | — | — |
| Riptide | 2 | 4 | 8 | — | — |
| Density | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Breach | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | — |
| Wind Burst | 2 | 4 | 8 | — | — |
| Protection | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | — |
| Blast Protection | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | — |
| Fire Protection | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | — |
| Projectile Protection | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | — |
| Aqua Affinity | 4 | — | — | — | — |
| Respiration | 2 | 4 | 8 | — | — |
| Feather Falling | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | — |
| Depth Strider | 2 | 4 | 8 | — | — |
| Frost Walker | 2 | 4 | — | — | — |
| Soul Speed | 2 | 4 | 8 | — | — |
| Swift Sneak | 4 | 8 | 16 | — | — |
| Thorns | 4 | 8 | 16 | — | — |
| Unbreaking | 1 | 2 | 4 | — | — |
| Mending | 4 | — | — | — | — |
| Luck of the Sea | 2 | 4 | 8 | — | — |
| Lure | 2 | 4 | 8 | — | — |
| Curse of Binding | 8 | — | — | — | — |
| Curse of Vanishing | 8 | — | — | — | — |
Green 1–7 · amber 8–15 · red 16+ (usually the villains behind Too Expensive spikes).
XP budget — common endgame rigs
Approximate summed recipe costs assuming greenfield merges and sane ordering—mirror them with calculators when you personalize kits.
| Build | Enchantments | Total-ish |
|---|---|---|
| Java Sword (full melee) | Sharpness V · Loot III · Fire II · Sweep III · Unbreak III · Mend | ~38–42 lvl |
| Bedrock Sword (no Sweep) | Sharp V · Loot III · Fire II · Knockback II · Unbreak III · Mend | ~33–37 lvl |
| Pickaxe (Fortune) | Eff V · Fortune III · Unbreak III · Mend | ~38 lvl |
| Pickaxe (Silk Touch) | Eff V · Silk · Unbreak III · Mend | ~30 lvl |
| Bow | Power V · Punch II · Flame · Infinity · Unbreak III | ~49 lvl |
| Helmet · Chest · Leggings · Boots | Prot IV suites with usual utility extras | ~44–55 lvl each |
| Full armor bundle | All four pieces stacked | ~189 lvl |
| Trident duelist | Loyalty III · Channeling · Impaling V · Unbreak III · Mend | ~63 lvl |
| Mace plunge | Density V · Wind Burst III · Unbreak III · Mend | ~38 lvl |
Expect north of 400 total levels if you max sword, duplicated picks, ranged kit, stacked armor, and tridents back-to-back. Schedule end-farm binge sessions—not five-minute tweaks.
Related hubs
High-yield XP farms (1.21 mindset)
- Void-ring Ender farms: largest throughput once you scaffold safety rails.
- Blazed Nether loops: moderate XP plus rod economy for mundane eyes.
- Mega trading halls: slower pure XP clocks but spit emeralds and books simultaneously.
- Industrial smelt arrays: AFK-able top-offs—not primary grinders.
- Spawner choke holds: early/mid scaffolding before End infrastructure arrives.
Minimize needless spend
- Hug optimal merge order calculators—shuffle steps at your peril.
- Skip anvil-material repairs wherever Mending can sip XP fountains.
- Roll unknown table enchants onto disposable books—not half-finished deity picks.
- Double same-tier books before slapping pricey singletons twice.
- Lock librarian trades for vicious sixteen-point lines (Swift Sneak, Thorns apex, Blast Prot, etc.).
FAQ
Where do ladder numbers come from?▾
They mirror the enchantment ladder JSON bundled with this site—update when Mojang adjusts balance.
Armor looked cheap individually—why 189 summed?▾
Pieces share rules but multiply sessions; pacing matters—pause between smithing template upgrades.
Cheapest enchanting operations?▾
Single-step lines such as Flame, Aqua Affinity, or low-tier Efficiency/Prot Is often skim 1–2 levels before penalties inflate later.
Bedrock?▾
Book ladders mirror Java; exclusions (Sweeping Edge) live in calculators not this grid.