It’s not too hard to guess the purpose of Mending in Minecraft. The name alone suggests it has something to do with rejuvenation or repair. And, as you’ll read in a moment, that’s exactly what you’ll get. And trust us, once you get it for the first time, it will become something you’ll want to obtain again. The reason? It allows you to stop worrying about collecting and crafting. For one item at a time, to be fair, but a pretty important one, if you choose well or get lucky. We won’t keep the mystery going anymore. Here’s an answer to, “what does Mending do in Minecraft?”
What is Mending in Minecraft?
Mending is one of the enchantments you can apply to items via Minecraft Enchanting. But unlike other enchantments, Mending never appears in the Enchanting Table, which makes it exclusive and is the reason why not many players know of it. It can only appear as a pre-enchanted item and from very limited sources. Additionally, unlike some enchantments, Mending only scales to rank 1, e.g. Mending I is its maximum level. Finally, Mending never expires unless you replace or disenchant it.
Mending in Minecraft does these things:
Here are the rules Mending in Minecraft adheres to:
- Once an item is enchanted with Mending, every XP point you gain awards 2 durability points on the item.
- If you need more than 2 durability points to repair an item and you gain multiple XP points, one XP point is deducted after every 2 restored durability points. If that leaves you with 1 viable durability point at the end, XP is added to your XP bar as normal.
- In case you have more items with Mending, the enchantment randomly selects which item to repair.
- If one of the items is fully repaired, Mending does not consider it for repair – it only considers damaged items.
- Only equipped items that have Mending are considered for repair.
- You can only repair one item with a single XP orb collection. The game awards the rest to your XP bar even if you equip other damaged items with Mending.
- You cannot enchant the same item with both Mending and Infinity in Survival Mode. Using Minecraft command makes this possible, however.
Where to get Mending in Minecraft?
You can acquire Mending in Minecraft in 4 ways:
1. Fishing
You can obtain an Enchanted Book with Mending I by catching treasure while Fishing in Minecraft in open water. Unenchanted Fishing Rod has a 5% chance to catch treasure. The percentage increases with the Luck status effect and Luck of the Sea enchantment.
2. Raids
When you enter a Minecraft village with a Bad Omen status effect, you trigger an in-game event named “Minecraft raid”. Every mob you kill has a chance of dropping treasure with Mending I Enchanted Book.
3. Trading
We taught you how to breed Villagers in Minecraft and trading is a pivotal part. We recommend trading with a Villager whose profession is Armorer, preferably Level 8 or 9 so they offer Enchanted Diamond Armor. Alternatively, you can trade with a Villager who is a Librarian, e.g., wait for him to offer an Enchanted Book with Mending I.
4. Looting Chests
Enchanted Books and items with Mending I books can appear in Chests in all versions of Minecraft. However, Mending I shares the probability to be applied with all other viable enchantments, making the chance pretty low.
What can I apply Mending to?
Any item that has a durability bar is compatible with the enchantment. So, Mending works on these items:
- Tools (Axe, Pickaxe, Shovel, Hoe, Fishing Rod, Shears)
- Weapons (Bow, Sword, Crossbow, Trident)
- Armor (Helm, Leggings, Chestplate, Boots, Shield, Turtle Shell)
- Miscellaneous (Carrot on a Stick, Elytra, Flint and Steel)
Any recommendations?
We recommend you apply Mending on 3 items:
- Fishing Rod. Fishing deducts 1 durability point from a Fishing Rod but has a chance to award between 1 and 6 XP points.
- Pickaxe. You use it most often, so it’s a good idea to keep its durability at a maximum.
- Armor. Pick the strongest piece of Armor you have, preferably Diamond.