Table of Contents
What is the Mending Enchantment?
The Mending enchantment is a treasure enchantment that allows players to repair tools, weapons, and armor using experience orbs.
- It restores 2 durability points per 1 experience orb absorbed
- It can be applied to tools, weapons, armor, elytra, shields, turtle shells, tridents, fishing rods, shears, flint and steel, and carrot on a sticks
- It cannot be obtained from an enchanting table and must be found or traded for
Why is Mending Useful?
The Mending enchantment is highly sought after because:
- It allows players to repair items without needing an anvil and extra materials
- It extends the lifespan of valuable high-level gear like diamond and netherite
- It saves a lot of resources that would otherwise be spent constantly replacing gear
- It allows players to keep using their favorite enchanted items indefinitely
How to Get the Mending Enchantment
There are a few main methods to obtain the Mending enchantment:
1. Trading with Villagers
- Librarian villagers have a chance to sell Mending books as part of their tiered trade offers
- Cure zombie villagers to reduce trade prices to 1 emerald per book
- Check multiple librarians by placing and breaking lecterns to reroll trades
2. Fishing
- Mending books have a chance to be caught as part of the “treasure” loot from fishing
- Make an AFK fish farm to automatically fish for you
3. Finding in Structures
- Mending books can rarely spawn in chests in structures like:
- Dungeons
- Desert temples
- Jungle temples
- Underwater ruins
- Woodland mansions
- End cities
- Explore and loot chests in structures to try to find Mending books
4. Enchanting Table
- Mending books have a 1% chance of being offered on the enchanting table at any level
- Enchant items repeatedly to try to get the rare offer
How to Apply the Mending Enchantment
Once you have a Mending book, you need to apply it to an item using an anvil:
- Place the item you want to enchant in the first slot
- Place the Mending book in the second slot
- The enchanted item will combine in the output slot
- Remove the enchanted item and apply prior work penalty will apply
Using Items with Mending
To benefit from the Mending effect, you need to:
- Actively use or wear items enchanted with Mending
- Earn experience orbs while holding/wearing Mending gear
- Absorbed orbs will randomly repair equipped Mending items
The item must be:
- In your main hand, off hand, armor slot, or shield slot
- Damaged – it will not work on undamaged items
- Selected randomly if multiple eligible Mending items are equipped
Tips for Using Mending Effectively
- Carry a mending item while mining or fighting mobs to collect repairing xp
- Unequip mended items once fully repaired to allow other gear to benefit
- Name your favorite item so it stands out in the mending lottery
- Put Mending on expensive items like elytra first before everyday tools
- Get XP from bottled enchanting to purposefully repair items
- Combine with Unbreaking to reduce wear rate and offset mending costs
Why You Can’t Have Mending and Infinity
Mending and Infinity are mutually exclusive enchantments in survival mode. An infinity bow prevents collecting repairing arrow damage xp. Players must choose between:
- Mending to repair bows from xp orbs
- Infinity to have unlimited arrows without using arrow ammo
Use commands or creative mode to add both enchantments to the same bow.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Mending prioritize item repair?
Mending randomly selects eligible damaged items to repair when xp is collected. No slots or items get priority. Fully repaired items won’t be chosen.
Does naming items help them get picked for mending?
No, but naming items helps identify your favorite gear when randomly chosen for repair.
Can Mending go on the same item as other enchantments?
Yes! Combine Mending with enchantments like Unbreaking, Efficiency, Fortune, Power, Protection, etc.
Is Mending worth the effort to get?
Absolutely! Mending cuts costs on anvils and materials to repair items. It allows keeping well-enchanted tools, weapons, and armor maintained indefinitely.
Conclusion
The incredibly useful Mending enchantment enables infinite item durability powered by a renewable xp supply. Obtaining the treasure enchantment requires effort but unlocks next-level gear sustainability. Repairing and preserving your best equipped items makes Mending well worth the search.
