Minecraft: Best Enchantments For Swords

The pen may be mightier than the sword, but Minecraft has no pen. The sword is the best weapon in Minecraft and should be utilized as such. Considering players will be using the sword to battle a great number of hostile mobs across their many adventures in Minecraft, it’s best to invest in the best enchantments that will make the sword the best it can be, even if some of those enchantments are some of the rarest items in Minecraft.

The best sword enchantments in Minecraft range from different amounts of usefulness. Some sword enchantments can benefit the player for different damage outputs, whereas others will simply allow the player to gain more loot. Many of the best enchantments for swords in Minecraft come from different sources.

Updated on March 30, 2024, by Jake Fillery: To become the best fighter in Minecraft, and truly keep those pesky hostile mobs away, or even to cull the farms that provide the most efficient food, it’s best to look for the best Minecraft sword enchantments. Having a sword in a survival world is essential, as players can never predict the sneaking hiss of an exploding Creeper, a horde of zombies coming in, and more hostilities that seek their demise. Below, players will find the best sword enchantments in Minecraft that will aid them on their journey, whether it’s their first world or their hundredth.

Best Sword And How To Get Them

Players will want to make sure that they are spending their XP wisely, and the plethora of sources that it can come from is being well-invested to create the best enchantments for swords in Minecraft. As such, it’s a wise idea to learn the different types of swords that players can make, and which ones will be most effective against the forces of evil.

How To Craft A Sword

If players want to know how to craft a sword in Minecraft, then they will first need to head to a Crafting Table to seek the recipe. Players will then want to place 1 Stick at the middle of the bottom row, and then add 2 of any of the following materials: Plank / Stone-Tier Block / Iron Ingots / Gold Ingots / Diamonds to the middle top and middle row.

How To Craft A Netherite Sword

Easily the best sword in Minecraft, the Netherite sword will require players to obtain a Smithing Table. Once open, players need to place 1 Smithing Template in the first box, a Diamond Sword in the second box, and finally a Netherite Ingot in the third box. This will allow players to upgrade their gear and claim a Netherite sword, which will have the best sword enchantments Minecraft, and The Ender Dragon wouldn’t stand a chance.

Minecraft Sword Stats (Bedrock Edition)

10 Curse of Vanishing

Makes The Item Disappear If The Player Holding It Dies

• How To Get: Loot chests in Strongholds, End Cities, Jungle Temples, Ruined Portals
• Incompatible Enchantments: None

By far the worst enchantment is Curse of Vanishing, something that players should desperately avoid for their swords due to the fact that if they have it, and die whilst having the sword in their inventory or equipped in hand, then it will be lost forever. There is no saving this sword, and once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. This enchantment is only on this list as a warning for players to avoid it.

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Luckily for players who want to avoid this enchantment, they cannot acquire it through the enchantment table. Instead, it is acquired through already set loot found in chests from the End City, Jungle Temples, Strongholds, Ruined Portals, and even from fishing. If players acquire this enchantment, it’s best to just leave it behind, or disenchant it for some free XP.

9 Bane Of Arthropods 5

• How To Get: Use Enchantment Tables
• Incompatible Enchantments: Sharpness, Smite
• Extra Damage Enemies: Spiders, Cave Spiders, Silverfish, Endermites

The Bane of Arthropods is a weapon enchantment with not many features to warrant use. The purpose of the enchantment is to deal extended damage to arthropod mobs, which involve a bounty of biome-specific hostiles in survival, such as spiders, cave spiders, silverfish, bees, and endermites. Unfortunately for this enchantment, these mobs are few and far between and do not warrant wasting a damage enchantment, as players can only have one damage enchantment rather than all of them.

Although the damage is particularly good against this mob type, it still does make it worth it. The bonus of Bane of Arthropods is that players will be able to inflict the Slowness effect on the arthropod that is hit.

8 Smite 5

• How To Get: Use Enchantment Tables
• Incompatible Enchantments: Sharpness, Bane of Arthropods
• Extra Damage Enemies: Skeletons, Zombies, Zombie Villagers, Withers, Wither Skeletons, Zombified Piglins, Strays, Husks, Phantoms, Drowned, Zoglins, Zombie Horses

As another damage-based enchantment for weapons, Smite will increase the damage that is inflicted upon undead mobs, whether they are of the zombie or skeleton variety.

Although this may seem like a large number of mobs, it simply is not the best all-around damage enchantment that can be used. Smite is good for certain situations, and it may even be handy to have a Smite sword when fighting the Wither in Minecraft, but it isolates undead mobs rather than including all of them.

7 Knockback 2

Pushes Mobs Back With Each Attack, Up To Six Blocks

• How To Get: Use Enchantment Tables
• Incompatible Enchantments: None

Depending on how the player looks at it, Knockback can be a burden or a blessing. The purpose of this enchantment is to send a mob backward a few blocks if they are hit with a sword with Knockback. This can be a lifesaver since if a creeper is about to explode, the sword will knock them out of range. It’s also a great tip for surviving in the Nether, as Hoglins are quick, and deal damage up close, so knockback will send them running.

However, when fighting skeletons, it could be a nuisance, as the skeleton will continue to shoot at a distance, meaning players need to run back to them. This is where the fatal flaw of Knockback comes in, as fighting mobs can be annoying when the player has to repeatedly go after them due to the knockback effect.

6 Mending

Uses XP To Restore Durability

• How To Get: Librarian Trader, Jungle Temples, Strongholds, Ancient Cities
• Incompatible Enchantments: Infinity (Bows only)

A great enchantment for every item, Mending will restore durability lost in exchange for experience points. Considering the sword is a great source for getting experience points, Mending is worth having. Experience will drop on killing mobs, hostile or passive, meaning those experience points will go straight back into the weapon, with some leftover to help level up the player. Something like Mending may be useful if players decide to try out great biome mods in Minecraft for new survival adventures.

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Mending is a rare enchantment that cannot be found simply by using the Enchantment Table. Players can locate Mending from a few rare sources, but the most efficient way is to find a librarian villager to make the trade.

5 Fire Aspect 2

Set Targets On Fire With Each Attack

• How To Get: Use Enchantment Tables
• Incompatible Enchantments: None

With Fire Aspect, players will be able to set their target on fire. This will deal continuous damage, which is a great bonus to the damage that will already be dealt by the physical blow. Not only will players be able to burn enemies, thus killing them quicker, but the fact that they are on fire means that some mobs will have their meat cooked, although this may ruin a gameplay challenge for Minecraft veterans, which could involve a pacifist run of the game.

Fire Aspect 2 is a great way to farm mobs, like Hoglins for cooked pork, and for killing non-hostile mobs like cows, chickens, pigs, and sheep to instantly cook their meat. However, Fire Aspect does not work during rain, but it’s still a great enchantment.

4 Sweeping Edge 3 (Java Edition Exclusive)

Sweep Attack That Damages All Mobs In Close Range

• How To Get: Use Enchantment Tables
• Incompatible Enchantments: None

When players are surrounded by hostile mobs, Sweeping Edge could save the day. This enchantment will increase the sweep attack damage that players deal. To activate its damage buff, players will need to stay on the ground, and not jump spam for critical hit damage.

Activating Sweeping Edge can be a little finicky, and the disadvantage of this weapon enchantment is that it is exclusive to Java Edition, meaning console and PC players that use Bedrock Edition cannot use Sweeping Edge.

3 Unbreaking 3

Extends Durability

• How To Get: Use Enchantment Tables
• Incompatible Enchantments: None

Another enchantment that can be placed on any item of use is Unbreaking. This will extend the durability of an item, while also increasing the chance that the durability reduction will go down with use. Unbreaking will ensure that the sword the player is using will never break, as long as it is well-maintained and tended to.

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Unbreaking may save the life of the player if they are being attacked by countless mobs, especially in the Nether. Their sword will not break as fast as swords without Unbreaking. Durability is a key factor when using crafted tools.

2 Looting 3

• How To Get: Use Enchantment Tables
• Incompatible Enchantments: Sharpness, Smite

The advantage of killing mobs doesn’t just come from the experience they will drop. A very good reason to kill mobs is for their loot. However, some loot is rarer than others, but with Looting 3, players will see a massive increase in their loot gains upon killing enemies.

These loot drops can be extremely rare. For instance, a drowned has more chance to drop a trident, and animals have more chance to drop more than one piece of meat. Looting is a great sword enchantment due to its ability to give bonus and rare loot, especially when paired with useful Redstone contraptions for item farming.

1 Sharpness 5

• How To Get: Combine 2 Sharpness +4 swords
• Incompatible Enchantments: Bane of Arthropods, Smite

Despite other damage-based enchantments offering bonuses on specific mobs, Sharpness affects all mobs with an increase in melee damage. Players will truly feel the power of Sharpness 5, which has the power to take out a creeper in just 2 hits. Other mobs will go down far quicker than with just a basic sword, thanks to the fact that Sharpness adds 1.25X extra damage per tier, great assistance for a mysterious survival game like Minecraft.

How To Get Sharpness 5 Enchantment

To get Sharpness 5, players will need to combine 2 Sharpness +4 swords, as Sharpness 5 isn’t an enchantment that can be discovered simply at the Enchantment Table. The damage output is well worth the effort, as it cuts down foes quickly.

Minecraft

Platform(s)

PS4 , PS3 , PS Vita , Xbox One , Xbox 360 , Switch , 3DS , PC , Android , iOS , Wii U

Released

November 18, 2011