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How to Repair and Disenchant in Minecraft

The world of Minecraft offers endless possibilities, but your tools and armor won’t last forever. Knowing how to repair damaged items and disenchant unwanted enchantments is crucial for long-term survival and progression. Let’s dive into the specifics.

The primary ways to repair items in Minecraft are through an Anvil, a Grindstone, or by using Mending Enchantment. To repair using an Anvil, you combine two of the same damaged items or use appropriate crafting materials (like iron ingots for iron tools). The Grindstone, on the other hand, sacrifices enchantments to repair an item, offering a straightforward, albeit enchantment-compromising, solution. The Mending enchantment automatically repairs your item using experience orbs you collect.

Disenchanting is primarily done with a Grindstone. Placing an enchanted item in a Grindstone removes all enchantments, providing a small amount of experience in return. There is currently no way to selectively remove enchantments within vanilla Minecraft; it’s an all-or-nothing process.

Repairing Your Gear

Repairing with an Anvil

The Anvil is a vital crafting station for combining and renaming items. To repair an item using an Anvil:

Place the Anvil in your world. You craft an Anvil with 3 Iron Blocks at the top and 4 Iron Ingots at the bottom.
Right-click the Anvil to open its interface.
Place the damaged item in the first slot.
In the second slot, place either:
- A second, identical damaged item (this combines their durability).
- The appropriate crafting material for the item (e.g., iron ingot for iron tools, diamonds for diamond tools). The amount of material needed depends on the amount of durability you’re restoring.
The repaired item will appear in the output slot, along with the experience cost.
Take the repaired item. The experience will be deducted from your experience bar.

Anvil Repair Considerations:

Experience Cost: Each repair costs experience levels. The cost increases with each repair. If the cost is too high (“Too Expensive!”), you won’t be able to complete the repair.
Combining Enchantments: The Anvil can also combine enchantments from two items, creating a single, more powerful item. The item in the first slot will retain its name.
Renaming: You can rename an item in the Anvil, which also adds a small experience cost.
Material Efficiency: Using crafting materials is generally more efficient than combining two heavily damaged items, especially for expensive materials like diamonds.
Prior Work Penalty: Every time an item is repaired or enchanted on an Anvil, it accumulates a “Prior Work Penalty.” This penalty increases the experience cost of future repairs and enchantments on that item. It doubles with each successive operation on that item. Repairing early and often can mitigate the severity of the Prior Work Penalty.

Repairing with a Grindstone

The Grindstone offers a simpler, but less versatile, method of repair. It removes all enchantments from an item in exchange for some durability repair and a small amount of experience.

Place the Grindstone in your world. Craft a Grindstone with 2 Sticks on the sides, 1 Stone Slab on the top, and 2 Wooden Planks at the bottom.
Right-click the Grindstone to open its interface.
Place the damaged item in the first slot.
Place a second, identical item in the second slot, which can also be damaged.
The repaired item (without enchantments) will appear in the output slot, along with the experience gain.
Take the repaired item.

Grindstone Repair Considerations:

Enchantment Removal: This is the primary drawback. If you want to keep the enchantments, use an Anvil instead.
Experience Gain: You receive a small amount of experience when disenchanting items.
Simplicity: The Grindstone is a straightforward repair method, especially useful when you don’t care about the enchantments.
No Prior Work Penalty: The grindstone does not add to the Prior Work Penalty, making it an effective way to repair an item if you are not worried about retaining or improving its enchantments.

Repairing with Mending Enchantment

The Mending enchantment provides passive repair. When applied to a tool or piece of armor, Mending uses experience orbs you collect to repair the item’s durability.

Apply the Mending enchantment to your item using an Enchanting Table and an Anvil.
As you gain experience (e.g., by killing mobs, mining, or trading with villagers), the experience orbs will automatically repair the item with the Mending enchantment.
Any excess experience will then go towards your experience bar.

Mending Enchantment Considerations:

Passive Repair: Repairs occur automatically as you gain experience.
Experience Priority: Mending takes priority over filling your experience bar. If your item is damaged, the experience orbs will repair it first.
Treasure Enchantment: Mending is a treasure enchantment, meaning you cannot obtain it from an Enchanting Table directly. You must find it in chests, from fishing, or trade for it with villagers.
Cost: Mending will increase the cost of applying other enchantments, due to it’s “treasure” status.

Disenchanting Items

Disenchanting with a Grindstone

The Grindstone is the sole method for disenchanting items in vanilla Minecraft.

Place the enchanted item in the first slot of the Grindstone interface.
The output slot will show the item without enchantments, along with the experience gain.
Take the disenchanted item.

Disenchanting Considerations:

All-or-Nothing: The Grindstone removes all enchantments. You cannot selectively remove specific enchantments.
Experience Gain: Disenchanting provides a small amount of experience. This is usually not significant, but it can be helpful in a pinch.
Trading with Villagers: Villagers can sell enchanted items. You can disenchant these items to obtain materials or simply to remove unwanted enchantments.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Can I selectively remove enchantments in Minecraft?

No, in vanilla Minecraft, there is no way to selectively remove enchantments. Using a Grindstone removes all enchantments from an item.

2. How does the “Too Expensive!” message on the Anvil work?

The “Too Expensive!” message appears when the experience cost of repairing or enchanting an item on the Anvil exceeds the maximum experience level you have or that the game allows for a single operation (currently around level 39). This is often caused by the Prior Work Penalty, which increases with each repair and enchantment.

3. What is the best way to get Mending enchantment?

The best ways to acquire the Mending enchantment are through:

Fishing: Fishing can yield enchanted books, including Mending.
Trading with Villagers: Librarian villagers may offer Mending enchanted books in exchange for emeralds. This is the most reliable method.
Loot Chests: Mending can be found in treasure chests in structures like mineshafts, dungeons, and jungle temples.

4. Does repairing an item using crafting materials increase the Prior Work Penalty?

Yes, both repairing by combining two damaged items and repairing with crafting materials on the Anvil contribute to the Prior Work Penalty.

5. What materials can I use to repair netherite items?

You can only repair netherite items using Netherite Ingots on an Anvil.

6. Can I repair Elytra?

Yes, you can repair Elytra using Phantom Membranes on an Anvil.

7. Does the Grindstone remove curses like Curse of Binding or Curse of Vanishing?

Yes, the Grindstone removes all enchantments, including curses like Curse of Binding and Curse of Vanishing.

8. Is there a way to reset the Prior Work Penalty?

No, the Prior Work Penalty cannot be reset. However, planning out repairs efficiently to reduce the number of Anvil interactions can help to keep the experience costs manageable.

9. What is the most efficient way to repair diamond tools?

Using Diamonds on an Anvil is generally the most efficient way to repair diamond tools. However, if the tool has valuable enchantments and a low Prior Work Penalty, repairing by combining it with another diamond tool might be preferable.

10. Does the Mending enchantment work while I’m AFK fishing?

Yes, if you are gaining experience from AFK fishing, the Mending enchantment will repair your fishing rod (or any other equipped item with Mending) before filling your experience bar.

11. Can I use the Grindstone to remove enchantments from written books?

No, the Grindstone cannot be used to remove enchantments from written books. Once a book is enchanted, the enchantments are permanent.

12. If I combine two enchanted items on an Anvil, which enchantments take priority?

If two items have the same enchantment, the enchantment level of the first item in the Anvil interface will take priority. If one item has an enchantment the other doesn’t, that enchantment will be added to the resulting item (if compatible and not conflicting).

13. Can I repair a shield?

Yes, you can repair a Shield using Wood Planks of any type on an Anvil.

14. How much durability does one experience orb repair with Mending?

One experience orb repairs 2 durability points on an item with the Mending enchantment.

15. Why is my item disappearing when I try to repair it with an Anvil?

This usually happens when you accidentally place an incompatible item in the second slot of the Anvil or if the repair cost exceeds your current experience level. Double-check the items you’re using and ensure you have enough experience. Ensure you aren’t trying to repair a broken item with an un-repairable item.

How do you repair and disenchant in Minecraft?