Mending vs Infinity

The difference

In Java 26.3, Infinity lists Mending as incompatible, so an anvil refuses to put both on one bow. Infinity means one arrow lasts forever. Mending means the bow never breaks, as long as you collect experience.

With a skeleton farm or a fletcher villager selling arrows, Mending is the better long-term choice. For exploring without an arrow supply, Infinity is simpler. Infinity also never saves tipped or spectral arrows, so potion archers lose nothing by taking Mending.

Level by level

A bow has 384 durability and uses 1 per shot. With Unbreaking III it lasts about four times as long, so roughly 1536 shots. A Mending bow then needs 192 experience points to go from nearly broken to full, because each point repairs 2 durability.

Arrows are cheap by comparison: one flint, one stick and one feather make four. That is why players with a farm usually pick Mending.

Which to pick, situation by situation

• Early game. Infinity. The enchanting table can offer it, arrows are scarce, and you have no XP farm to feed Mending yet.
• Skeleton or mob farm. Mending. Kills drop arrows and experience, so the bow repairs itself while you collect ammo.
• Long exploring trips. Infinity is simpler. You only carry one arrow, which frees inventory space for loot.
• Ender Dragon. Infinity is handy for shooting the End crystals without counting arrows. A Mending bow works too, if you carry two stacks.
• Raids. Mending. Raiders drop plenty of experience, so a Mending bow stays topped up across every wave.
• Tipped arrows. Mending. Infinity only saves normal arrows, so it adds nothing to a potion-arrow build.

Max build with each

Here is what a full bow costs with each option, books combined in the cheapest order on a fresh bow:

Open the Mending build or the Infinity build in the calculator. The bow enchant order walks through every anvil step. The best bow enchantments page explains each book in the build.

Which items take each

• Mending goes on helmet, chestplate, leggings, boots, elytra, sword, axe, spear, mace, trident, bow, crossbow, pickaxe, shovel, hoe, fishing rod, shears, brush, flint and steel, shield, carrot on a stick and warped fungus on a stick. The enchanting table never offers it, so every one of them needs a book. Related questions: Mending on bow, Mending on elytra, Mending on shield, Mending on trident, Mending on spear, Mending on mace, Mending on crossbow, Mending on fishing rod, Mending on shears, Mending on pickaxe, Mending on helmet, Mending on flint and steel, Mending on brush.
• Infinity goes on bow. The enchanting table can offer it there directly. Related questions: Infinity on crossbow.

What each one does

Mending

Mending repairs an item with experience orbs. When you pick up experience while holding or wearing a Mending item, the XP goes into repairing it first, at 2 durability per XP point.

• It is a treasure enchantment: get it from librarian villagers, fishing, chest loot or trial chamber vaults.
• Only damaged items in your hands or armor slots are repaired.

Infinity

Infinity lets you shoot forever with a single normal arrow in your inventory. Special arrows are still used up.

• In Java 26.3 Infinity and Mending exclude each other: you must pick one.
• Infinity is cheap to keep; Mending is better if you have an arrow farm.

Where to get them and what they cost

• Mending: max level I, from librarian villagers, trial chamber vaults and enchanted loot from fishing and chests. Once you have one, a max book costs 2 levels on a fresh item. Librarians sell a Mending book for 10 to 38 emeralds. It is a treasure enchantment, so the enchanting table never offers it.
• Infinity: max level I, from the enchanting table, librarian villagers and enchanted loot from fishing and chests. Once you have one, a max book costs 4 levels on a fresh item. Librarians sell an Infinity book for 5 to 19 emeralds.

They are incompatible, so you choose one per item. Both can go on the bow. Whichever you pick, combine the books in the cheapest order with the enchantment calculator or follow the bow enchant order.

Good to know

Both get better with Unbreaking III. On an Infinity bow, Unbreaking is the only thing that keeps the bow alive. On a Mending bow, it means each repair needs fewer experience points.

Mending is the harder book to find. It is a treasure enchantment, so it comes from librarians, fishing, loot and vaults, but never from the table. Infinity, by contrast, can come straight from an enchanting table on a bow, although its weight of 1 makes it rare.

Common mistakes

• Buying Infinity for a Mending bow. The anvil won't accept it, so the book is wasted. Check the bow first.
• Expecting Infinity on a crossbow. Crossbows can't take Infinity at all, so their only choice is Mending.
• Grinding a finished Mending bow. A grindstone also removes Power, Punch and Flame. A second bow with Infinity is usually cheaper.

Switching from one to the other

An anvil never swaps Mending for Infinity. If you put a conflicting book on an item, the anvil shows no result at all. So the only way to switch on the same item is a grindstone. It strips every enchantment except curses, then you enchant the item again from scratch.

Many players keep two bows: an Infinity bow for travel and a Mending bow for home and farms. If you do grind an item, the Java grindstone also clears its prior work penalty, so the rebuild costs the same as on new gear.

Java and Bedrock differences

In Java 26.3, Mending and Infinity are incompatible. The anvil differs between the editions. Java charges the full new level of every book, plus 1 level for each conflicting enchantment it skips. Commands work with one /give in Java, using the enchantments component. This page shows the Java 26.3 numbers.

More comparisons

• Sharpness vs Smite
• Sharpness vs Smite vs Bane of Arthropods
• Density vs Breach
• Fortune vs Silk Touch
• Fortune vs Looting
• Protection vs Fire Protection
• Protection vs Blast Protection
• Loyalty vs Riptide
• Multishot vs Piercing
• Depth Strider vs Frost Walker