# Fortune Enchantment in Minecraft: What It Does and How to Use It

_Published October 16, 2026_

How Fortune multiplies block drops, why it conflicts with Silk Touch, and when to pick it over the alternative.

Fortune multiplies how much a block actually drops when you mine it — more diamonds, more redstone, more lapis per block, for anything whose normal drop is a resource rather than the block itself.

## What Fortune actually does

Fortune increases the quantity of a block's natural drop, with better odds at higher levels. It doesn't change *what* drops — a Fortune pickaxe still converts diamond ore into diamonds, coal ore into coal, and so on — it just stacks better odds of getting extra copies of that same drop on top of the normal conversion. The exact bonus varies by which block/drop is involved (some blocks like gravel-to-flint or glowstone get a flat extra-item chance per level, while ore drops get a multiplier-style bonus), but the core idea is the same across every Fortune-affected block: more resource per block broken.

## How to use it

Fortune is the correct pick any time your goal is "get more of a resource" — ore veins, gravel farms for flint, redstone/lapis farming, nether quartz. It's mutually exclusive with Silk Touch, so you need to decide per-tool (or just keep one of each) whether you want more drops or the block itself.

## Well-known builds that use it

Fortune is one half of the central tradeoff covered in depth in [Fortune vs. Silk Touch](/guides/fortune-vs-silk-touch) — read that guide for exactly when each one wins. It's also one of the standard four enchantments (alongside Efficiency, Unbreaking, Mending) on [The Ideal Pickaxe](/guides/ideal-pickaxe), [Ideal Shovel](/guides/ideal-shovel), and [Ideal Hoe](/guides/ideal-hoe) builds.

**Diamond Pickaxe:** Efficiency V, Fortune III, Unbreaking III, Mending I

[Build the Fortune Pick →](https://anvilcalc.com/#eyJpIjoiZGlhbW9uZF9waWNrYXhlIiwiZSI6W10sInAiOjAsIm4iOiIiLCJ0IjpbWyJlZmZpY2llbmN5Iiw1XSxbImZvcnR1bmUiLDNdLFsidW5icmVha2luZyIsM10sWyJtZW5kaW5nIiwxXV19)

## Frequently asked questions

**What does Fortune III do exactly?**

It increases the quantity of a block's natural drop — more diamonds, redstone, lapis, or similar per block mined — with better odds at Fortune III than I or II. It multiplies the normal drop rather than changing what drops.

**Can you have Fortune and Silk Touch on the same tool?**

No — they're mutually exclusive. See Fortune vs. Silk Touch for exactly why and how to pick between them.

**Does Fortune work on mob drops?**

Fortune itself is a tool enchantment for blocks, not mobs — the enchantment that increases mob drop quantity is Looting, applied to a weapon instead.

**Is Fortune worth it on a shovel?**

Yes for one specific case: Fortune on a shovel increases the chance gravel drops flint instead of gravel, which is otherwise a slow, luck-based process without it.