Can you put Looting on a spear?

How to add it

You can get Looting straight from an enchanting table, or combine an enchanted book with the spear on an anvil: Looting III costs 6 levels on a fresh spear.

Plan it in the calculator

What it does on a spear

A spear takes Looting just like a sword. Looting III raises the average blaze rods and ender pearls from 0.5 to 2 per kill, and the wither skeleton skull chance from 2.5% to 5.5%. It fits alongside Sharpness, Lunge and Fire Aspect, since it conflicts with none of them.

Step by step

1. First, get Looting III as an enchanted book. Sources: a librarian villager (11–45 emeralds for a top-level book), an enchanting table (on a plain book), fishing, chest loot or ominous vaults (trial chambers).
2. Then put the spear in the left slot of an anvil and the book in the right slot.
3. Finally, pay the cost shown: 6 levels on a fresh spear, plus any prior work penalty the spear already has.
4. If the spear is getting more books, plan the order first so no step costs 40 levels or more.

Why it works

Looting lists spear 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 Looting on a spear directly.

It conflicts with nothing else a spear can take, so it fits into any spear build.

What it costs on the anvil

First, the base price: on a fresh spear, Looting III costs 6 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 spear already has Lunge III, Sharpness V, Fire Aspect II, Knockback II, Unbreaking III and Mending, put on in the cheapest order. That took 3 anvil uses, so adding Looting last costs 13 levels: 7 for the prior work penalty plus 6 for the book. Planning everything from the start costs 46 levels in total, with no step above 13.

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

Where Looting goes

• Looting goes on sword and spear. The enchanting table can offer it on both. Related questions: Looting on axe, Looting on trident.

Commands and creative mode

In creative or with cheats, one command does it: /give @p netherite_spear[enchantments={looting:3}]. Holding the item, /enchant @s looting 3 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 Looting

Looting makes mobs drop more items and raises the chance of rare drops. Each level adds up to one extra common drop and improves rare and equipment drops.

Looting has a max level of III. If you need a book, you can get it from the enchanting table, librarian villagers, ominous vaults (trial chambers) and enchanted loot from fishing and chests. A librarian sells a Looting III book for 11 to 45 emeralds. Before you buy, read everything about Looting, including what each level does.

What else a spear can take

Besides Looting, a spear can take Lunge, Sharpness, Smite, Bane of Arthropods, Fire Aspect, Knockback, Unbreaking and Mending. Then the best spear enchantments page ranks them and gives the max build.

Related questions: Mending on spear, Sharpness on spear.

Related

• Best spear enchantments
• Looting
• Mending on spear
• Sharpness on spear
• Looting on axe
• Looting on trident