What Sweeping Edge does
| Level | Effect | Book cost |
|---|---|---|
| I | swept mobs take 50% of the attack damage | 2 |
| II | swept mobs take 66.7% of the attack damage | 4 |
| III | swept mobs take 75% of the attack damage | 6 |
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 the sweep attack works
A sword sweep hits the mobs standing next to your target. You get one when you land a fully charged hit while standing on the ground and not sprinting. A critical hit from a jump does not sweep.
Without Sweeping Edge, the swept mobs take only 1 damage. With Sweeping Edge they take 1 damage plus a share of your attack damage: 50% at level I, about 67% at level II and 75% at level III.
Where it helps
- Mob farms where mobs stand in a tight group in front of you.
- Clearing groups of zombies, skeletons or piglins in narrow spaces.
- Raids, where illagers often bunch up.
It does nothing for single targets, so a duel or a boss fight gains nothing from it.
Only swords, only Java
Sweeping Edge only goes on swords. Axes, spears and the mace never sweep, so the book has no use on them. It is also a Java Edition enchantment: Bedrock has no Sweeping Edge at all.
In a build
It does not conflict with anything, so it sits next to Sharpness V, Looting III, Fire Aspect II, Unbreaking III and Mending on the best sword. It is a ×2 book, so Sweeping Edge III adds 6 levels.
Sweeping Edge by level
Level I makes swept mobs take half your attack damage plus 1. Level II raises that to about two thirds, and level III to three quarters. The book is cheap, so go straight to level III if you use it at all.
Common mistakes
- Sprinting into the hit. A sprint hit does knockback instead of a sweep.
- Spamming the attack. Only fully charged hits sweep, so wait for the cooldown bar.
- Using it with Knockback in a farm. Knockback pushes the mobs apart, so later sweeps hit fewer of them.
Which items take Sweeping Edge
Sweeping Edge goes on 1 kind of gear in the calculator: sword. An enchanting table can roll it on the sword.
Nothing conflicts with Sweeping Edge, so it fits next to every other enchantment its items can take.
Sweeping Edge 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 Sweeping Edge each sword can get from a level 30 enchant with 15 bookshelves.
| Item | Enchantability | Best from the table |
|---|---|---|
| Netherite Sword | 15 | III |
| Diamond Sword | 10 | III |
| Iron Sword | 14 | III |
| Golden Sword | 22 | III |
Anything higher has to come from a book instead. Then the enchanting table calculator shows the exact chance for every level.
Anvil cost of Sweeping Edge
Sweeping Edge has an anvil multiplier of 4 from another item and 2 from a book. So a Sweeping Edge III book costs 6 levels on a fresh item, and each lower level costs 2 less. Two fresh Sweeping Edge II books merge into Sweeping Edge III for 6 levels. Building it from scratch takes 4 level I books and 3 merges, 16 levels in all. That is a middling cost, so the order still matters once you combine several books.
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
Sweeping Edge is part of the max build for 1 item: best sword enchantments. To put it on in the cheapest order, see the sword enchant order.
More reading: Getting books from librarians, How to enchant in Minecraft, Every max enchantment level. You can make a Sweeping Edge book with the command generator. The librarian price list shows what villagers charge for it.
How to get Sweeping Edge
- 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.
- Random enchanted books It is also in the pool for the random enchanted books and gear in many chests and in fishing loot.
Sweeping Edge is a rare roll at the enchanting table, and it only appears on swords. Librarians can sell it. Since the table caps most swords below the max on other enchantments too, a librarian book is often the simplest way to get level III.
Enchanting power and librarian prices
| Level | Enchanting power | Librarian price |
|---|---|---|
| I | 5–20 | 5–19 emeralds |
| II | 14–29 | 8–32 emeralds |
| III | 23–38 | 11–45 emeralds |
The power column is the hidden enchanting value each level needs. A level 30 enchant on a netherite sword 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
- Great at mob farms where many mobs stand together.
- Sweeps only happen on a fully charged hit while standing still or walking, not sprinting or critting.
Commands
Give yourself a Sweeping Edge book or enchant the item in your hand. These work in Java 26.3 once cheats are on.
/give @p enchanted_book[stored_enchantments={sweeping_edge:3}]
/enchant @s sweeping_edge 3
/give @p netherite_sword[enchantments={sweeping_edge:3}]Versions
Sweeping Edge is in every Java version from 1.21 (when enchantments became data files) up to 26.3.
- 1.21.9: now goes on copper sword.
Bedrock Edition has no Sweeping Edge.
Questions
Does Sweeping Edge exist on Bedrock?
No. Sweeping Edge is a Java Edition enchantment.
Does Sweeping Edge work on an axe?
No. Only swords make sweep attacks, so Sweeping Edge only goes on swords.
Is Sweeping Edge worth it?
Yes for farms and groups of mobs. It is cheap, it conflicts with nothing, and level III makes swept mobs take 75% of your attack damage plus 1.