# Minecraft Enchanting Table Language: Rune Translator

_Published October 23, 2026_

Read the Minecraft enchanting table language (Standard Galactic Alphabet): translate text to runes and back, see the rune chart, and what the runes mean.

The Minecraft enchanting table language is the **Standard Galactic Alphabet**, a constructed script that the game draws on each enchantment option and in the glyph particles that fly from nearby bookshelves. It was created by the American game designer Tom Hall for the *Commander Keen* games, and it replaces each English letter A to Z with a rune. The words in the table are random and purely cosmetic, so reading them will not tell you which enchantment you get. This guide has an enchantment table translator you can use below (text to runes and back), a rune chart, and the verified facts about what the table text does and does not mean (checked against the Minecraft Wiki on 2026-10-23).

## Enchantment table translator

Type English text to see it in runes, or tap the rune keyboard to build a message rune by rune. Letters are case-insensitive. Digits, punctuation, accented letters and non-Latin characters have no rune and pass through unchanged. The runes on this page are our own drawing of the cipher, so they do not look the same as the glyphs in the game: only the letter-to-rune mapping is shared. Everything runs in your browser, nothing is sent or stored, and the share link keeps your text in the URL after the `#`.

## Standard Galactic Alphabet rune chart

The chart shows the rune used for each of the 26 Latin letters. The cipher only covers the letters A to Z: the game's font textures only those, and lowercase is an exact copy of uppercase.

## How the enchanting table text works

When you put an item into an enchanting table, three options appear, each with a line of runes. Per the Minecraft Wiki, the glyphs **do not affect the enchantment**. Three to five words are picked from a fixed list (words such as "the", "elder", "scrolls", "bless", "fire", "enchant" and "range"), joined together and shown on the button. The wiki states these words are random and purely cosmetic: they have no relation to the enchantments the item will receive. The list also holds Easter eggs: the first screenshot of the enchantment screen, posted on October 1, 2011, read "Well Played Internets You Are Good", "These Names Will Be Random And Confusing" and "Each Spell Costs Experience Levels".

What the table does reveal is a hint: hovering over an option shows **one** of the enchantments that option will apply (on mobile, tap the option before putting in the lapis lazuli). Glyph particles from the same font also fly from bookshelves to the table, but you cannot see them if the particles setting is Minimal.

To control which enchantments you get, skip the randomness and combine enchanted books on an anvil. See [Enchanting Table Guide](/guides/enchanting-table-guide) for bookshelves, levels and lapis, and run your exact build through the [calculator](/) to see the cheapest combine order.

## Frequently asked questions

**What language is the enchanting table?**

The enchanting table text is written in the Standard Galactic Alphabet, a constructed script created by Tom Hall for the Commander Keen games. Minecraft uses it as a font, and it has been part of the enchanting table since the table was added (Java Edition Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3).

**Can you read what the enchanting table says?**

Yes, you can read the runes by matching each one to a letter A to Z, and the words are plain English from a fixed list, such as the, elder, scrolls, fire and enchant. But the words are random and purely cosmetic, so they tell you nothing about your enchantment.

**Is the Standard Galactic Alphabet a real language?**

It is a real constructed script, but it is not a language. It is an alphabet that stands in for the English alphabet, so the words you read are English. Tom Hall created it for the Commander Keen series, and Minecraft only textures the letters A to Z.

**Does the enchanting table text reveal the enchantment?**

No. According to the Minecraft Wiki, the words on each option are random and have no relation to the enchantments you will get. The only hint is the tooltip: hovering over an option shows one of the enchantments it will apply.

**Does this enchantment table translator work for the in-game glyphs?**

It uses the same letter-to-rune mapping idea, one rune per letter A to Z, but the runes on this page are our own drawing, not Mojang's textures, so their shapes differ from the game's. Digits, punctuation and non-Latin characters pass through unchanged.