Can you put Efficiency on an axe?

How to add it

You can get Efficiency straight from an enchanting table, or combine an enchanted book with the axe on an anvil: Efficiency V costs 5 levels on a fresh axe.

Plan it in the calculator

What it does on an axe

Efficiency speeds up chopping logs, planks and anything else an axe breaks quickly. Efficiency V adds 26 mining speed, which makes clearing a forest far faster. It does not change attack speed, so a fighting axe gets nothing from it in combat.

Step by step

1. First, get Efficiency V as an enchanted book. Sources: a librarian villager (17–64 emeralds for a top-level book), an enchanting table (on a plain book), fishing, chest loot or trial chamber vaults.
2. Then put the axe in the left slot of an anvil and the book in the right slot.
3. Finally, pay the cost shown: 5 levels on a fresh axe, plus any prior work penalty the axe already has.
4. If the axe is getting more books, plan the order first so no step costs 40 levels or more.

Why it works

Efficiency lists axe among its supported items. That matters because each enchantment's data file lists the items it supports, and the anvil checks that list. The enchanting table can also offer Efficiency on an axe directly.

It conflicts with nothing else an axe can take, so it fits into any axe build.

What it costs on the anvil

First, the base price: on a fresh axe, Efficiency V costs 5 levels. Java charges the full new level of each book, so upgrading later costs the whole level again. Each anvil use also raises the item's prior work penalty for the next step.

Order matters. Say your axe already has Sharpness V, Fortune III, Unbreaking III and Mending, put on in the cheapest order. That took 3 anvil uses, so adding Efficiency last costs 12 levels: 7 for the prior work penalty plus 5 for the book. Planning everything from the start costs 32 levels in total, with no step above 11.

Plan your own version in the calculator or follow the axe enchant order. The prior work penalty calculator shows how the penalty grows.

Where Efficiency goes

• Efficiency goes on axe, pickaxe, shovel, hoe and shears. The enchanting table offers it on the axe, pickaxe, shovel and hoe, while the shears need a book. Related questions: Efficiency on shears.

Commands and creative mode

In creative or with cheats, one command does it: /give @p netherite_axe[enchantments={efficiency:5}]. Holding the item, /enchant @s efficiency 5 works too. Creative mode also ignores the anvil's 40-level limit. The command generator writes the right syntax for your edition.

Java and Bedrock

As far as the item list goes, the answer is also the same in Java and Bedrock. The anvil differs, though: Java charges the full new level of every book. This page follows Java 26.3.

About Efficiency

Efficiency makes tools mine faster. The bonus grows with the square of the level, so Efficiency V adds 26 mining speed.

Efficiency has a max level of V. If you need a book, you can get it from the enchanting table, librarian villagers, trial chamber vaults and enchanted loot from fishing and chests. A librarian sells an Efficiency V book for 17 to 64 emeralds. Before you buy, read everything about Efficiency, including what each level does.

What else an axe can take

Besides Efficiency, an axe can take Sharpness, Smite, Bane of Arthropods, Fortune, Silk Touch, Unbreaking and Mending. Then the best axe enchantments page ranks them and gives the max build.

Related questions: Sharpness on axe, Looting on axe, Smite on axe, Fire Aspect on axe, Knockback on axe.

Related

• Best axe enchantments
• Efficiency
• Sharpness on axe
• Looting on axe
• Smite on axe
• Fire Aspect on axe
• Efficiency on shears
• Knockback on axe