What is the Minecraft Enchantment Calculator?

A free planner for the anvil. Tell it which item you want to enchant and which books or sacrificed gear you have, and it returns the order that costs the fewest XP levels without hitting the 'Too Expensive!' cap.

Why does Minecraft say 'Too Expensive!' on my anvil?

Survival anvils refuse any combine whose total cost reaches 40 levels. Cost includes the per-level enchantment cost plus a prior-work penalty of 2^n - 1, where n is the number of previous anvil uses on either input. Re-order combines or use a fresh item to stay under 40.

Does the calculator support 1.21 Mace enchantments?

Yes - Density, Breach, and Wind Burst are included. Density and Breach are mutually exclusive; the calculator refuses combines that would put both on the same mace.

Does it know about the August 2023 anvil rebalance?

Yes. The 'Version' toggle flips between 1.20+ and Legacy. The cap stays at 40 in both, but the relative cost of multi-book combines changed; pick the version your world is on.

How does the calculator pick the optimal order?

It runs an exhaustive search over every legal merge tree when you have eight or fewer books (Catalan-bounded), and falls back to greedy cheapest-pair-first for nine or more. For 'Least prior-work' mode it picks the plan whose final item has the lowest 2^n penalty for future repairs.

What about Curse of Binding and Curse of Vanishing?

Both transfer like normal enchantments on the anvil but can never be removed - so the calculator treats them as one-way ingredients. Once added they stay through every subsequent combine.

Can I share a plan with a friend?

Yes - after you press Calculate, hit 'Copy share link'. Your item + books + version + mode are base64-encoded into the URL hash, so the recipient sees exactly your setup when they open it.

Why don't I see the icon I expect on a book?

We use a fan-made pixel icon set; we do not extract textures from Minecraft's official resource pack. Names match the in-game labels but icons are stylized.

Is this affiliated with Mojang?

No. MinecraftCalc is a fan project and is not approved by or associated with Mojang or Microsoft. See the footer disclaimer on every page.

Yes. The calculator is 100% client-side; no account, no payment, no API call. We pay for hosting through ads at the top and bottom of the page.

FREE ANVIL OPTIMIZER · NO LOGIN · NO TRACKING

Minecraft Enchantment Calculator

Stop seeing “Too Expensive!”. Plan the optimal anvil order and save 30+ XP levels per piece of gear. Java + Bedrock, 1.20+ and Legacy mechanics, all 24 enchantable items and 42 enchantments (including Mace + Trial Chamber additions).

Anvil Calculator

Optimal order · XP cost · Too-Expensive guard

Item to enchantCurrent prior-work cost

0 = brand new. Every anvil use raises this by 1.

Pick the gear you want to enchant. Books you add below will be merged onto it in the cheapest order we can find.

Books / sacrifices (0)

Add an enchanted book or a sacrificed item to compute the optimal anvil order.

Version

Optimize for

Least XP levelsCheapest total costLeast prior-workBest for future repairs / further enchanting

How the optimal anvil order works

Every Minecraft anvil combine costs experience levels based on a simple formula: a base enchantment cost (the enchantment's per-level book multiplier times the resulting level) plus a prior-work penalty of 2^n - 1 for each input. Hit 40 total levels and survival mode refuses the combine - the dreaded Too Expensive! message.

The cheapest order is rarely obvious. Combining Sharpness V, Looting III, Unbreaking III and Mending onto a sword can cost anywhere from 18 to 42 levels depending on which book you bring to the anvil first. Our calculator searches every legal merge tree to find the order that totals the fewest levels, while keeping every step below the cap.

Need to repair a tool while preserving room for future enchantments? Switch the mode to Least prior-work and we'll prefer the plan whose final item has the lowest 2^n penalty - usually saving 8 to 32 levels on the next anvil use.

Use the buttons above to plan combos for popular weapons - Sword, Pickaxe, Bow, Axe, Trident, Mace, Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots, Elytra, Shield - or jump to a specific enchantment such as Sharpness, Protection, Efficiency, Fortune, Unbreaking, Mending, Looting, Power, Infinity, Feather Falling, Smite, Silk Touch .

Headline enchantments

FAQ

What is the Minecraft Enchantment Calculator?: A free planner for the anvil. Tell it which item you want to enchant and which books or sacrificed gear you have, and it returns the order that costs the fewest XP levels without hitting the 'Too Expensive!' cap.
Why does Minecraft say 'Too Expensive!' on my anvil?: Survival anvils refuse any combine whose total cost reaches 40 levels. Cost includes the per-level enchantment cost plus a prior-work penalty of 2^n - 1, where n is the number of previous anvil uses on either input. Re-order combines or use a fresh item to stay under 40.
Does the calculator support 1.21 Mace enchantments?: Yes - Density, Breach, and Wind Burst are included. Density and Breach are mutually exclusive; the calculator refuses combines that would put both on the same mace.
Does it know about the August 2023 anvil rebalance?: Yes. The 'Version' toggle flips between 1.20+ and Legacy. The cap stays at 40 in both, but the relative cost of multi-book combines changed; pick the version your world is on.
How does the calculator pick the optimal order?: It runs an exhaustive search over every legal merge tree when you have eight or fewer books (Catalan-bounded), and falls back to greedy cheapest-pair-first for nine or more. For 'Least prior-work' mode it picks the plan whose final item has the lowest 2^n penalty for future repairs.
What about Curse of Binding and Curse of Vanishing?: Both transfer like normal enchantments on the anvil but can never be removed - so the calculator treats them as one-way ingredients. Once added they stay through every subsequent combine.
Can I share a plan with a friend?: Yes - after you press Calculate, hit 'Copy share link'. Your item + books + version + mode are base64-encoded into the URL hash, so the recipient sees exactly your setup when they open it.
Why don't I see the icon I expect on a book?: We use a fan-made pixel icon set; we do not extract textures from Minecraft's official resource pack. Names match the in-game labels but icons are stylized.
Is this affiliated with Mojang?: No. MinecraftCalc is a fan project and is not approved by or associated with Mojang or Microsoft. See the footer disclaimer on every page.
Is everything free?: Yes. The calculator is 100% client-side; no account, no payment, no API call. We pay for hosting through ads at the top and bottom of the page.

Minecraft Enchantment Calculator

How the optimal anvil order works

Popular items

Headline enchantments

FAQ