8 Best Minecraft Pickaxe Enchantments [Better Mining In 2024]
Minecraft, that iconic sandbox game we've all come to love, boasts a plethora of intriguing aspects, including unique enchantments designed to enhance your gaming experience.
One tool specifically that benefits immensely from these enchantments is a pickaxe - an essential asset in any player's arsenal.
With such an extensive list of enchantments available, it can be challenging to figure out which ones are the most beneficial for your Minecraft pickaxe. We've done the legwork and compiled a guide on the best Minecraft pickaxe enchantments.
Whether you're an experienced player looking to up your game or a rookie fresh off the boat in this pixelated world, this rundown is sure to offer some nuggets of wisdom.
From those that increase mining speed and durability to ones that offer bonus drops and rare treasure loot, our roundup of top-tier Minecraft pickaxe enchantments will have you striking gold in no time.
This definitive guide is just what you need to take your mining skills from ordinary to extraordinary.
Skip to
8 Best Minecraft Pickaxe Enchantments
In Minecraft, enchanting your tools, especially pickaxes, significantly enhances your mining and resource-gathering experience.
The right enchantments not only increase the efficiency and yield of mining but also add unique abilities to your pickaxe. These enchantments vary from practical utility to some with peculiar effects.
We explore the eight best enchantments for pickaxes, each offering a distinct advantage and gameplay experience.
Mending
Mending is a highly sought-after enchantment in Minecraft. It allows the pickaxe to use experience orbs to repair itself, effectively making it last indefinitely as long as you keep gathering experience.
This enchantment is a game-changer for players who want to maintain a favorite, high-level pickaxe without constantly worrying about its durability.
The enchantment uses the experience you gain from various activities, such as mining or defeating mobs, to replenish the tool's durability.
This means the more you use the pickaxe, the longer it lasts, provided you keep earning experience points. Mending ensures your best tools stay with you throughout your adventures.
Fortune
Fortune is a must-have for any miner looking to maximize their resource collection. This enchantment increases the drop rate of items from blocks.
When mining coal, diamonds, or emeralds, the Fortune enchantment can significantly increase the number of items dropped per block. The enchantment comes in different levels, with each level boosting the chances of multiple drops.
This makes it particularly valuable when mining rare ores like diamonds, as it can greatly increase your yield. It’s important to note that Fortune doesn’t affect all blocks, such as iron and gold, which drop their respective ores rather than items.
Also Read: Minecraft Mending Enchantment [Repair Your Items Using XP]
Efficiency
Efficiency greatly speeds up the mining process. This enchantment increases the speed at which a pickaxe can mine blocks.
At higher levels, Efficiency turns your pickaxe into a rapid mining tool, allowing you to breeze through stone, ores, and other mineable blocks with ease.
It's particularly useful when undertaking large-scale mining projects or when you're in a hurry to gather resources. The higher the level of Efficiency, the faster your pickaxe will break blocks.
This enchantment is a staple for players who spend a lot of time mining and want to do it as efficiently as possible.
Unbreaking
Unbreaking is a fundamental enchantment for any tool in Minecraft, including pickaxes. It increases the durability of your pickaxe by giving it a chance to not use durability on block breaks.
This means that each time you mine a block, there’s a chance that your pickaxe’s durability will not decrease. At higher levels, Unbreaking greatly extends the life of your pickaxe, allowing you to mine more blocks before needing to repair or replace your tool.
This enchantment is particularly valuable in combination with other enchantments like Efficiency and Fortune, as it helps maintain those valuable tools for much longer.
Silk Touch
Silk Touch is a unique enchantment that allows you to mine blocks in their original form. For example, when you mine a block of diamond ore with Silk Touch, you'll receive the ore block itself rather than diamonds.
This is incredibly useful for gathering certain types of blocks that normally can't be collected, such as glass, grass blocks, mycelium, or glowstone.
Silk Touch is especially beneficial for players who enjoy building and landscaping, as it allows for the collection of diverse materials that can be used for decoration or construction.
Curse of Vanishing
Curse of Vanishing is an enchantment with a unique downside. Any tool enchanted with Curse of Vanishing will disappear upon the player's death, meaning it can't be recovered along with other items.
This enchantment might seem like a disadvantage at first, but it can be strategically used in multiplayer settings. For instance, you might not want certain valuable tools to fall into the hands of other players.
Enchanting a pickaxe with Curse of Vanishing ensures that if you can't have it, no one else can either. However, it’s a risky enchantment for valuable tools, as it can result in a total loss.
Curse of Binding
Curse of Binding is an enchantment that, once applied to an item, prevents it from being removed from its slot until the player dies or the item breaks.
While this enchantment is more commonly associated with armor, it can also be applied to a pickaxe. The main utility of Curse of Binding on a pickaxe is in specific scenarios or challenges where you want to ensure a particular tool stays in use.
It’s a double-edged sword, as you cannot remove the pickaxe from your main hand or tool slot unless it breaks or you die, which could be inconvenient if you want to switch to another tool.
Explore More: Minecraft Fortune Enchantment 2024 [Maximize Your Loot Drops]
Sharpness
Sharpness is an enchantment typically associated with weapons like swords and axes, enhancing their damage output. However, in some versions of Minecraft, it can also be applied to pickaxes.
While not the most conventional choice for a pickaxe, Sharpness turns your mining tool into a makeshift weapon, slightly increasing its damage against mobs.
This can be particularly useful in situations where you're caught off-guard by hostile creatures while mining. A pickaxe with Sharpness won't replace a proper weapon, but it provides a decent offensive capability in a pinch.
The enchantment comes in various levels, with each level adding extra damage to your attacks. It's an unconventional choice for a pickaxe, but in the dangerous depths of Minecraft's caves and ravines, having a tool that can both mine efficiently and defend against threats can be a surprising advantage.
It's important to note that focusing on traditional pickaxe enchantments like Efficiency or Fortune might be more beneficial for mining-focused gameplay. Sharpness on a pickaxe remains a niche but interesting choice for players who like to be prepared for every situation.
FAQs About Best Minecraft Pickaxe Enchantments
What is the most beneficial Minecraft Pickaxe Enchantment?
The answer to this depends on your gameplay style but Efficiency and Fortune are generally considered the most beneficial for speedy mining and increased drop rates respectively.
Can you combine enchantments on a pickaxe in Minecraft?
Yes, you can combine enchantments using an Anvil. However, certain enchantments are incompatible with each other such as Fortune and Silk Touch.
Is the 'Mending' enchantment useful for a pickaxe in Minecraft?
Yes, Mending uses collected experience orbs to repair your tools, including your pickaxe, which can help prolong its lifespan significantly.
How does the 'Fortune' enchantment affect a Minecraft Pickaxe?
The Fortune enchantment increases the maximum number of drops by 1 per level (up to 4 with Fortune III) for certain blocks like Diamond Ore or Emerald Ore.
What does the 'Curse of Vanishing' do in Minecraft?
Curse of Vanishing makes a tool, including your pickaxe, disappear upon death instead of dropping on the ground, making it unrecoverable.