A Minecraft enchanting table is crafted from 1 book, 2 diamonds and 4 obsidian. On its own it only offers low-level enchantments. To unlock the maximum level 30 offer you need 15 bookshelves around it, each with one clear block between shelf and table. The standard layout is a one-block-tall ring of shelves on the edge of a 5×5 square centred on the table, with one gap left to walk in.
Enchanting costs far less than the number on the button suggests. A level 30 offer needs you to have 30 levels, but it charges only 3 levels and 3 lapis lazuli. Everything below follows the Minecraft Wiki's Enchanting Table, Enchanting table mechanics and Enchantment pages, which reflect Java 26.3. Bedrock differences are flagged where the wiki documents them.
Enchanting table recipe
Combine 1 book, 2 diamonds and 4 obsidian on a crafting table. You'll still see it called the "enchantment table", the name it had until Java 1.13 (17w47a) and Bedrock 1.21.30.
To move a placed table you have to mine it with a pickaxe; wooden or better works. Mined by hand it drops nothing, and the wiki lists it as non-renewable except through vaults, so don't punch it by accident. If you're also out mining for netherite, our guide to finding ancient debris covers where to dig.
How many bookshelves for max enchantment?
Fifteen. That's the maximum number of bookshelves the table counts, and the 16th and beyond are ignored. With 15 counted shelves the bottom slot always offers level 30. Fourteen tops out at 29.
How close do bookshelves need to be to an enchanting table?
The wiki's rule: a bookshelf counts if it sits exactly two blocks from the table along one horizontal axis, up to two blocks along the other, and at the table's height or one block higher. In practice that's the outer edge of a 5×5 square centred on the table. That gives 16 spots per layer and 32 across the two valid layers. A shelf touching the table is too close. One three blocks out, or two blocks above the table, is ignored.
What can sit in the gap
The block between the table and each shelf must let the effect through. In Java, only the block at the shelf's height matters, and it must be an enchantment power transmitter: air, snow, short grass and other replaceable blocks. Per the wiki, most other blocks break the connection, even transparent ones like torches. So keep torches out of that inner ring.
If your guide says both layers must be clear, it predates Java 1.18.2 (22w07a), which changed detection to check only the shelf's height. Replaceable blocks stopped blocking in 1.20 (23w14a). Also, don't trust the floating glyph particles. The wiki notes they can reach the table from shelves that don't count.
The ideal enchanting table setup: the 15-shelf ring
The ideal setup is the simplest one, and it's the first layout the wiki gives:
- Place the enchanting table where you want the room's centre.
- Picture the 5×5 square around it. The 16 blocks on its outer edge are your shelf spots.
- Place 15 bookshelves on those spots, all at the table's height or all one block higher. Leave one spot empty as your doorway.
- Keep the eight blocks directly around the table clear at the shelves' height: air, or a transmitter block in Java.
- Put an unenchanted item and lapis in the table and check that the bottom slot reads 30.
The wiki also shows a corner arrangement with the shelves stacked two high. It uses 16 shelves, one more than you need. Java also lets other blocks tagged as enchantment power providers stand in for bookshelves. The wiki pages we checked don't name them, so stick with bookshelves.
How to enchant in Minecraft
- Open the table and put in the item. It has to be unenchanted.
- Add lapis lazuli. You can put in any amount, but one enchantment never needs more than 3.
- Read the three offers. Each shows a level requirement and a lapis cost of 1, 2 or 3.
- Hover over an offer to preview one enchantment it will apply. Others may come with it. The glyph text is Standard Galactic Alphabet and doesn't affect the enchantment.
- Click an offer you have the levels and lapis for.
You're charged levels equal to the lapis cost, so 1 to 3 levels, not the requirement shown. Higher requirements generally give more and stronger enchantments, but there's a large random factor. The wiki notes that even a level 30 enchant can produce a lone Fortune II or Efficiency III. If you close the table, the item and lapis go back to your inventory.
Why the offers never change
The three offers come from an enchanting seed stored on you, not on the table. That seed only rerolls after you enchant something. Until then, the same kind of item at a table with the same number of shelves shows the same offers, so swapping tables doesn't help. Changing the shelf count does change the level requirements. To get a fresh roll, enchant something cheap, like a book in the top slot.
Why is my enchanting table only level 20?
From the wiki's cost table: with 8 or fewer counted shelves the bottom slot can't go above 20. If it's capped at 20 or below, the table is counting well under 15. This checklist follows from the placement rules:
- Fewer than 15 shelves are actually in valid positions.
- Shelves are touching the table, or sit three blocks out instead of two.
- Shelves are two or more blocks above the table.
- Something in the inner ring is blocking a shelf. Per the wiki, even a torch does it.
- On Bedrock, the gap isn't air on both layers (see below).
| Bookshelves | Top slot | Middle slot | Bottom slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1–2 | 1–6 | 1–8 |
| 2 | 1–3 | 2–8 | 4–11 |
| 4 | 1–4 | 3–10 | 8–14 |
| 6 | 1–5 | 3–12 | 12–17 |
| 8 | 1–6 | 4–14 | 16–20 |
| 9 | 1–7 | 4–15 | 18–21 |
| 10 | 2–7 | 5–16 | 20–23 |
| 12 | 2–8 | 5–18 | 24–26 |
| 14 | 2–9 | 6–20 | 28–29 |
| 15 | 2–10 | 6–21 | 30 |
What the enchanting table can and can't give you
As of Java 26.3, the table enchants pickaxes, shovels, axes, hoes, fishing rods, all player armour, swords, spears, bows, crossbows, maces, tridents and books. A book becomes an enchanted book. Many other items need an anvil and a book. The table never gives two conflicting enchantments together.
Can you get Silk Touch from an enchanting table?
Yes, on pickaxes, shovels, axes and hoes, at level I. Its effective cost range is 15–65, so an offer with a requirement of 15 or more can roll it. You don't need level 30. It conflicts with Fortune, so you'll never get both together. In Java, shears can't get Silk Touch from the table.
Can you get Mending from an enchanting table?
No. Mending is a treasure enchantment, and the wiki states that treasure enchantments can't be obtained from an enchanting table. The full list is Mending, Frost Walker, Soul Speed, Swift Sneak, Wind Burst, Curse of Binding and Curse of Vanishing. For Mending, see our guide to getting Mending fast, which pairs with a villager trading hall. Soul Speed comes from specific sources, including piglin bartering.
Enchanting table setup on Bedrock
The shelf positions and the 15-shelf maximum are the same on Bedrock, but the gap rule is stricter. The block at table height and the block above it, between table and shelf, must both be air. Snow or short grass in the gap, fine in Java, isn't air, so it doesn't qualify there. On mobile, tap an offer before adding lapis to preview it. Bedrock's table can also put Thorns on helmets, leggings and boots, and Sharpness, Smite or Bane of Arthropods on axes. Java's can't. Sweeping Edge is the Java-only exception the other way.