Best Sword Enchantments

Every sword enchantment, ranked

Enchantment	Max	Verdict	Why
Sharpness	V	Max build	Damage against everything.
Smite	V	Alternative	Huge damage to undead only. A second sword for the wither. Excludes Sharpness, so you pick one.
Bane of Arthropods	V	Alternative	Spiders and bees only; skip. Excludes Sharpness, so you pick one.
Fire Aspect	II	Max build	Sets mobs on fire, cooked drops.
Knockback	II	Max build	Pushes mobs away; many players skip it.
Looting	III	Max build	More and rarer drops.
Unbreaking	III	Max build	Part of every max sword.
Mending	I	Max build	Part of every max sword.
Curse of Vanishing	I	Avoid	A curse: it only makes the item worse.

What matters on a sword

The sword is the main melee weapon in Bedrock. It takes Sharpness, Looting, Fire Aspect and Knockback, while the axe can't take Looting or Fire Aspect. So the sword is the weapon for drops and mob farms.

Every max sword starts with Sharpness V, Unbreaking III and Mending. After that it depends on what you fight. Looting III is a must for farms, while Fire Aspect II and Knockback II are a matter of taste.

Builds for different playstyles

Mob farm sword

Sharpness V, Looting III, Unbreaking III and Mending. Looting raises the drops, and Mending repairs the sword from the farm's own experience. Leave off Knockback, which pushes mobs out of reach.

Wither and undead sword

Swap Sharpness for Smite V. It adds 12.5 damage against undead, so zombies, skeletons, wither skeletons, phantoms, drowned and the wither itself go down far faster. Keep a normal Sharpness sword for everything else.

Wither skeleton skulls

Looting III raises the chance of a wither skeleton skull. Pair it with Smite V for a dedicated Nether fortress sword.

PvP

Sharpness V, Fire Aspect II, Unbreaking III and Mending. Bedrock has no attack-charge meter, so steady clicks count, and Knockback can push a target out of reach. Skip Knockback unless you fight near ledges.

Conflicts and which one to pick

Bedrock 26.60 has 3 conflicts on the sword: Sharpness with Smite, Sharpness with Bane of Arthropods and Smite with Bane of Arthropods. An anvil refuses a book that clashes with an enchantment already on the item, so decide before you start.

Sharpness, Smite or Bane of Arthropods

Only one of the three fits on a sword. Sharpness V for an all-round sword, Smite V for undead, and Bane of Arthropods almost never. The three-way comparison has the numbers.

Knockback and Fire Aspect: worth it?

They conflict with nothing, so the max build includes both. However, Knockback II can hurt farm rates, so many players leave it off and save 2 levels.

Each enchantment on the sword

Sharpness V

Sharpness adds melee damage against every mob and player. At level V that means +6.25 damage (3.125 hearts). The book costs 5 levels on a fresh sword. More about Sharpness.

Fire Aspect II

Fire Aspect sets the mob you hit on fire. At level II that means the target burns for 8 seconds. Sets mobs on fire, cooked drops. The book costs 4 levels on a fresh sword. More about Fire Aspect.

Knockback II

Knockback pushes the mob you hit further away. At level II that means +2 knockback strength. Pushes mobs away; many players skip it. The book costs 2 levels on a fresh sword. More about Knockback.

Looting III

Looting makes mobs drop more items and raises the chance of rare drops. The book costs 6 levels on a fresh sword. More about Looting.

Unbreaking III

Unbreaking gives items a chance to not lose durability when used. At level III that means tools skip 75% of durability loss, armor 30%. The book costs 3 levels on a fresh sword. More about Unbreaking.

Mending

Mending repairs an item with experience orbs. At level I that means each experience point you pick up repairs 2 durability. The book costs 2 levels on a fresh sword. More about Mending.

The numbers behind the build

Unbreaking III skips three out of four durability losses on average, so the item lasts about four times as long. Mending then repairs 2 durability per experience point, so each point you collect pays for about 8 uses.

In Bedrock, Sharpness V adds 6.25 damage to every hit. Smite V adds 12.5 against undead and Bane of Arthropods V adds 12.5 against spiders, bees and silverfish, but neither adds anything against other mobs. Bedrock has no attack-charge meter, so every hit gets the full bonus.

Where to get the books

You need 6 books for this build. Mending is a treasure enchantment, so the enchanting table won't give it. Plan to trade or loot for it first. Here is where each one comes from:

• Sharpness V: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, gear worn by trial chamber mobs, trial chamber vaults, random chest loot and fishing.
• Fire Aspect II: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, random chest loot and fishing.
• Knockback II: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, gear worn by trial chamber mobs, ominous vaults (trial chambers), random chest loot and fishing.
• Looting III: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, ominous vaults (trial chambers), random chest loot and fishing.
• Unbreaking III: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, random chest loot and fishing.
• Mending: librarian villagers, trial chamber vaults, random chest loot and fishing.

Librarians are the most reliable source for exact books, because you can reroll them until they offer the one you want. The trading hall guide shows how, and the villager trade tool lists the prices. Combine the books in the cheapest anvil order so no step becomes too expensive.

Which books to get first

Roll Sharpness, Looting and Unbreaking at the enchanting table on a diamond sword. Fire Aspect and Knockback can show up there too, so a few rolls often cover half the build.

Then get Mending from a librarian or fishing. Add Looting III before you build your first mob farm, and make a Smite sword before you summon the wither. Upgrade to netherite last: the enchantments stay on.

Which material to enchant

Put your best books on a netherite sword: it has the most durability (2031), so every enchantment lasts longest, and it also survives lava. The golden sword has the highest enchantability (22), so it rolls the best results at an enchanting table, but it wears out fast. Enchantments stay on when you upgrade diamond gear to netherite at a smithing table, so you can enchant diamond first and upgrade later.

Mistakes to avoid

• Putting Knockback on a farm sword. Mobs fly out of reach, and you lose kills.
• Using one sword for everything. A Smite sword does the wither fight much faster, and you don't risk your main sword.
• Leaving Mending for last on a sword you use every day. The sooner it has Mending, the less you spend on repairs.
• Adding books to the sword one at a time. Merge them in pairs first, or the penalty climbs fast.

Sword enchantment questions

Every enchantment a sword can take in Bedrock 26.60: Sharpness, Smite, Bane of Arthropods, Fire Aspect, Knockback, Looting, Unbreaking, Mending.

See also the full list of incompatible enchantments and the god gear command generator.

Cheapest order

Combining these books in the wrong order can cost twice as many levels or hit Too Expensive! The cheapest order for the max sword costs 38 levels in 6 steps, with no step above 14. So you never need more than 14 levels at once.

Spend the levels step by step as you earn them: that costs about 582 experience points in total. If you saved up to level 38 first, you would need 2543 points, because each level costs more XP the higher you climb. Afterwards the sword has been on the anvil 3 times, so later repairs start at a penalty of 7.

See every step

Other gear

• Full armor set
• Helmet
• Chestplate
• Leggings
• Boots
• Elytra
• Axe
• Spear
• Mace
• Trident
• Bow
• Crossbow
• Pickaxe
• Shovel
• Hoe
• Fishing Rod
• Shears
• Brush
• Flint and Steel
• Shield
• Carrot on a Stick
• Warped Fungus on a Stick