Best Enchantment Order for the Anvil
Tick the enchantments you want and get a step-by-step plan: which books to combine first and in what order to put them on the item.
How we calculate
Every anvil use makes the next one more expensive: a prior work penalty of 1, then 3, 7, 15 and 31 levels is added. That is why putting books on the item one by one is the most expensive route. It is cheaper to combine books with each other first, so the item goes through the anvil as few times as possible.
A step costs the penalties of both items plus the level of every enchantment in the right slot times its multiplier. For a book the multiplier is halved. Multipliers, maximum levels and enchantment compatibility come from the game’s own 26.3 data. The calculator tries every possible order and picks the cheapest one in which no single step costs more than 39 levels.
We count levels, not experience points: one level at level 30 costs more than at level 5. Each enchantment is a separate book already at the level you need; combining two identical books to raise the level, repairs and renaming are not included. Bedrock Edition uses different rules, which the calculator does not cover.
Sources
checked 30 September 2026
Questions and answers
Why is putting books on one by one more expensive?
After every anvil use the item’s penalty almost doubles: 1, 3, 7, 15, 31 levels. When books are combined with each other first, the item goes through the anvil fewer times, and the big penalties never get a chance to build up.
What does “Too Expensive!” mean?
In Survival the anvil refuses any operation costing 40 levels or more. The calculator only looks for orders in which every step costs 39 levels or less. If there is none, it tells you so.
Why can’t I pick some enchantments together?
The game forbids some combinations on one item: for example Silk Touch with Fortune, different kinds of Protection, or Infinity with Mending on a bow. These rules come from the game’s own data.
Which game version are these rules for?
Java Edition 26.3: multipliers, maximum levels and compatibility come from that version’s game data. The anvil works differently in Bedrock Edition.
Unofficial tool. Not affiliated with the developers or publishers of Minecraft.