Prior Work Penalty Calculator

How to use it

1. Enter how many times each item went through an anvil.
2. Add the enchantment cost of the step (the calculator on the home page shows it).
3. See the full cost and whether it hits Too Expensive.

Good to know

• Each use doubles the penalty plus one: 0, 1, 3, 7, 15, 31.
• The result has one more use than the higher of the two inputs, so combining two fresh books makes a book with 1 use.
• A grindstone wipes the enchantments and the penalty together.

Related: Too Expensive fixes, Anvil guide, and the enchantment calculator for the cheapest anvil order.

The penalty table

The penalty is 2ⁿ − 1 for n uses. After an anvil step, the result's uses are one more than the higher of the two inputs. That's why merging books in pairs, then putting one book on the item, is cheaper than adding books one by one. The calculator finds the best order; the Too Expensive guide explains the fixes.

The full cost of one anvil step

One step costs the left item's penalty, plus the right item's penalty, plus the enchantment cost. Renaming in the same step adds 1 more. In survival, the anvil shows Too Expensive! once that total reaches 40.

The enchantment cost comes from the right-hand item. Each enchantment on it costs its result level times a multiplier, and books use half the item multiplier. For example, a Mending book costs 2, a Sharpness V book costs 5, and a Thorns III book costs 12.

Worked example

Say your sword went through the anvil 3 times, and you add a fresh Mending book. The sword's penalty is 7, the book's is 0, and Mending adds 2. So the step costs 9 levels. Afterwards the sword has 4 uses, so its next step starts at 15.

Why one-by-one fails

A max netherite sword takes 7 books. If you add them one at a time, the steps cost 5, 3, 9, 11, 17, 37, 66 levels. The seventh book, Unbreaking III, hits Too Expensive, so the sword never gets finished.

The cheapest order pairs books first and only then puts them on the sword. That keeps every item's use count low. It costs 49 levels in 7 steps, and the biggest step is just 14. The sword enchant order page lists each step.

Repairs and renames count too

• Repairing with material, like diamonds on a diamond pickaxe, adds a use. Each unit restores a quarter of the durability and costs 1 level.
• Combining two damaged tools of the same kind also adds a use.
• In Java, renaming alone does not add a use, and a rename-only step is capped at 39 levels, so it never shows Too Expensive. It still costs 1 level plus the current penalty.
• Renaming during a book step adds just 1 level. So rename in your last book step, not on its own.
• A grindstone resets the penalty, but it also strips every enchantment except curses.

How to read the result

• Total is what the anvil will show as the Enchantment Cost for this step.
• Levels of room left is how far you are below 39, the most a step can cost before it shows Too Expensive.
• The last line gives the uses and penalty the result will carry into its next step.
• Use 0 uses for a fresh book or item, and count every past combine, repair and rename.
• If you don't know the enchantment cost, the enchantment calculator shows it for every step it plans.

How many uses an item can take

The penalty climbs fast. At 5 uses it is 31, which leaves just 8 levels for the enchantment cost and the right item's penalty. At 6 uses it is 63, so every step except a rename is Too Expensive.

So plan big items early. Put Mending and the other key books on before the item collects repairs. Also, creative mode has no limit at all, so test orders there if you want to see the full cost.