Mending Enchantment in Minecraft: What It Does and How to Use It

Max level

I

Applies to

Nearly all equipment: armor, tools, weapons, bow, crossbow, trident, fishing rod, shears, shield, elytra, mace

Incompatible with

Infinity

Obtained via

Anvil only (treasure enchantment) — villager trade or loot, never the enchanting table

Mending repairs an item's durability using the experience you'd normally bank toward your next level — the single most requested enchantment in the game, and for good reason.

What Mending actually does

Every experience orb you collect while a Mending item is equipped or held repairs that item by 2 durability points per experience point the orb contained, instead of adding that XP to your level progress. If you have more than one Mending item equipped at once, one item is randomly selected per orb — durability doesn't factor into the odds at all, so a nearly-full item has the same chance of being picked as a badly damaged one. Any leftover XP beyond what's needed to fully repair the chosen item still goes to your XP bar normally.

How to use it

Mending is close to a universal "set and forget" pick — once applied, you simply keep playing and picking up XP orbs, and your gear stays repaired without ever needing an anvil visit or spare materials. The one real tradeoff is Infinity on a bow: Infinity removes the need for arrows entirely, which is arguably more valuable than auto-repair for a bow specifically, and the two can never coexist on the same item.

Well-known builds that use it

Mending appears on nearly every build on this site — The Ideal Sword, Ideal Pickaxe, Ideal Helmet, and more all include it as a standard pick. The one place it's a real either/or choice is the bow, covered in The Ideal Bow Enchantments's Infinity-vs-Mending breakdown.

For the order to buy librarian books in and how to cycle a librarian for the one you want, see Minecraft Librarian Trades.

Frequently asked questions

How much durability does Mending repair per XP?

2 durability points per 1 experience point contained in the orb you pick up — so a single orb worth, say, 5 XP repairs 10 durability.

What happens if I have Mending on multiple items at once?

Each experience orb repairs exactly one randomly-chosen eligible item (not all of them) — durability doesn't affect the odds, so a lightly-damaged item has the same chance of being picked as a heavily-damaged one. Any XP left over after fully repairing the chosen item goes to your normal XP bar.

Can you have Mending and Infinity on the same bow?

No — they're mutually exclusive. Infinity removes the need for arrows entirely; Mending repairs durability using XP. You have to pick one per bow.

Can you get Mending from the enchanting table?

No — Mending is a treasure enchantment, obtainable only via anvil (combining an enchanted book you got from villager trading, fishing, or loot), never directly from the enchanting table.