What Feather Falling does
| Level | Effect | Book cost |
|---|---|---|
| I | 3 points against falls, about 12% less fall damage | 1 |
| II | 6 points against falls, about 24% less fall damage | 2 |
| III | 9 points against falls, about 36% less fall damage | 3 |
| IV | 12 points against falls, about 48% less fall damage | 4 |
Book cost is the anvil cost of putting that book on a fresh item. However, already-used items add their prior work penalty: work it out in the calculator.
How fall damage works
You take 1 damage for every block you fall after the first three. So a 23-block drop deals 20 damage, which is a full health bar. Armor points do nothing against it: only enchantments reduce falls.
Feather Falling gives 3 protection points per level against falls, so level IV adds 12 points. Protection on your other pieces counts too, and the total caps at 20 points, or 80% less damage.
Here is that 23-block drop again. With no enchantments you take 20 damage and die. With Feather Falling IV you take 10.4. With Feather Falling IV and Protection IV on all four pieces you hit the cap and take only 4.
How far you can fall
From full health without enchantments, you survive drops of about 22 blocks. Feather Falling IV alone stretches that to about 41 blocks. With the 80% cap from Feather Falling IV plus full Protection IV, you can survive drops of around 100 blocks. Absorption hearts and Resistance push it further.
In practice, that means a mistake on a mountain or a missed water bucket no longer ends a trip. It does not make you safe from every height, so keep a water bucket on your hotbar.
Ender pearls and the mace
Ender pearl teleports deal fall damage. Each throw costs 5 damage, which Feather Falling IV cuts to 2.6, or 1 at the cap. That makes long pearl chains safe, which matters in PvP and when you cross the End.
The mace relies on falling. A smash attack that lands cancels your fall damage, but a miss means you take the whole fall. So every mace build should wear Feather Falling IV boots, especially with Wind Burst launching you up again.
Ways to avoid falls without it
- Landing in water, even a single source block, cancels fall damage.
- Slime blocks bounce you without damage unless you sneak.
- Hay bales, honey blocks and beds soften the landing.
- Powder snow, cobwebs, scaffolding, ladders and vines stop the fall.
- A Slow Falling potion stops fall damage while it lasts.
Best boots with Feather Falling
Feather Falling fits next to almost everything boots can take. The usual max boots are Protection IV, Feather Falling IV, Depth Strider III, Soul Speed III, Unbreaking III and Mending. Swap Depth Strider for Frost Walker II if you prefer walking on water. See the best boots enchantments and the cheapest boots enchant order.
Feather Falling and movement tools
The more you move around, the more Feather Falling earns its slot. It softens every kind of fall damage:
- Bad elytra landings, where you hit the ground too steeply.
- Wind charges that launch you higher than you meant.
- Landing after a Riptide launch in the rain.
- Ender pearl throws, which deal fall damage each time.
- Missed Density smashes with the mace.
Falls it can't save you from
Some falls kill no matter what. The void below the End kills anything, and landing in lava burns you regardless of how gently you land. Keep a water bucket for big drops: a well-timed bucket cancels a fall completely.
Is Feather Falling IV worth it?
Always. It is one of the cheapest books on the anvil, it conflicts with nothing, and it covers the most common way to die by accident. Even early boots in iron benefit, because the enchantment points do not depend on the armor material.
Feather Falling on early boots
Put Feather Falling on the first boots you enchant, even before Protection. Falls into ravines and off mountains kill more new players than mobs do. When you upgrade to diamond or netherite boots, add Feather Falling IV again before the other boot books.
Feather Falling on the anvil
Boots take more books than any other armor piece. So plan the order: put Soul Speed on first, since it is a ×4 book, then Depth Strider or Frost Walker. Feather Falling is a ×1 book, so it fits in near the end. The boots enchant order lists every step.
Feather Falling for builders
Builders fall a lot, from scaffolding and from the edges of tall builds. Feather Falling IV turns most of those slips into a small loss of health. So it is worth putting on even a spare pair of boots you only use for building.
Which items take Feather Falling
Feather Falling goes on 1 kind of gear in the calculator: boots. An enchanting table can roll it on the boots.
Nothing conflicts with Feather Falling, so it fits next to every other enchantment its items can take.
Feather Falling from the enchanting table
The level you can roll depends on the item's enchantability. A material with a higher value reaches higher levels from the same level 30 enchant. This table shows the best Feather Falling each boots can get from a level 30 enchant with 15 bookshelves.
| Item | Enchantability | Best from the table |
|---|---|---|
| Netherite Boots | 15 | IV |
| Diamond Boots | 10 | IV |
| Iron Boots | 9 | IV |
| Golden Boots | 25 | IV |
Anything higher has to come from a book instead. Then the enchanting table calculator shows the exact chance for every level.
Anvil cost of Feather Falling
Feather Falling has an anvil multiplier of 2 from another item and 1 from a book. So a Feather Falling IV book costs 4 levels on a fresh item, and each lower level costs 1 less. Two fresh Feather Falling III books merge into Feather Falling IV for 4 levels. Building it from scratch takes 8 level I books and 7 merges, 28 levels in all. That is as cheap as books get, so it rarely decides the order.
Java charges the full resulting level every time, even when the item already has a lower level of it. Every step also adds the prior work penalty of both items. The enchantment calculator finds the cheapest order for your whole set of books.
Builds, questions and guides
Feather Falling is part of the max build for 1 item: best boots enchantments. To put it on in the cheapest order, see the boots enchant order.
More reading: Getting books from librarians, How to enchant in Minecraft, Every max enchantment level. You can make a Feather Falling book with the command generator. The librarian price list shows what villagers charge for it.
How to get Feather Falling
- Enchanting table It can appear when you enchant a supported item at an enchanting table. However, higher levels need more bookshelves and a level 30 enchant.
- Librarian villagers Librarians can sell it as an enchanted book. Level I costs 5–19 emeralds plus a book.
- Trial chamber vaults This loot table names it directly, so it is one of the most reliable places to look.
- Random enchanted books It is also in the pool for the random enchanted books and gear in many chests and in fishing loot.
Feather Falling is an uncommon roll at the enchanting table, but it only appears on boots. You can also find it in trial chamber vaults. Librarians sell it often, and the book costs ×1 per level on the anvil, so Feather Falling IV adds only 4 levels to fresh boots.
Enchanting power and librarian prices
| Level | Enchanting power | Librarian price |
|---|---|---|
| I | 5–11 | 5–19 emeralds |
| II | 11–17 | 8–32 emeralds |
| III | 17–23 | 11–45 emeralds |
| IV | 23–29 | 14–58 emeralds |
The power column is the hidden enchanting value each level needs. A level 30 enchant on netherite boots reaches power 43 at most. That already includes the enchantability bonus and the random spread. The price column shows what a librarian can ask for each book. Curing a zombie villager or the Hero of the Village effect lowers it.
Tips
- Feather Falling IV with Protection IV on all armor reaches the 80% cap for falls.
- It also reduces the damage of ender pearl throws, which makes pearl travel much safer.
Commands
Give yourself a Feather Falling book or enchant the item in your hand. These work in Java 26.3 once cheats are on.
/give @p enchanted_book[stored_enchantments={feather_falling:4}]
/enchant @s feather_falling 4
/give @p netherite_boots[enchantments={feather_falling:4}]Versions
Feather Falling is in every Java version from 1.21 (when enchantments became data files) up to 26.3.
- 1.21.9: now goes on copper boots.
Also see the update log for every change, and how this data is checked. Bedrock player? See Feather Falling on Bedrock.
Questions
Does Feather Falling stop all fall damage?
No. With Feather Falling IV and full Protection IV you still take 20% of the fall damage. Land in water, on hay bales or use a slow falling potion to avoid it completely.
What height can you survive with Feather Falling IV?
About 41 blocks with Feather Falling IV alone, from full health. With Protection IV on every piece as well, the 80% cap lets you survive drops of around 100 blocks.
Does Feather Falling stack with Protection?
Yes. Protection points on every piece count against falls too. Feather Falling IV (12 points) plus a full Protection IV set (16 points) passes the 20-point cap, so you take 80% less fall damage.
Can you put Feather Falling on other armor?
No. Feather Falling only goes on boots, from the table or from a book.
Does Feather Falling reduce ender pearl damage?
Yes. Ender pearl teleports deal fall damage, so Feather Falling and Protection both reduce it.
Does Feather Falling work on elytra landings?
Yes. Hitting the ground too steeply with an elytra is fall damage, so Feather Falling and Protection reduce it.
What is the max level of Feather Falling?
Feather Falling IV. It adds 12 protection points against falls.
Is Feather Falling worth it?
Yes. It is cheap, conflicts with nothing and stops the most common accidental deaths.
Can you get Feather Falling from the enchanting table?
Yes. Boots can roll Feather Falling at the table, and a level 30 enchant can reach level IV.
Does Feather Falling help with the mace?
Yes. A smash that lands cancels your fall damage, but a miss does not, so Feather Falling IV boots are a must for mace players.