Guides / Ideal Tools
The Ideal Pickaxe Enchantments
September 13, 2026
A pickaxe only really needs four decisions made well. Here's the build, and the mechanics behind each pick.
Efficiency V
Efficiency adds a flat bonus to mining speed per level, and the jump from IV to V is the single biggest speed increase in the whole enchantment (each level adds 1 + level² to the tool's mining speed, so level 5 alone adds 26 — more than levels 1 through 4 combined). Combined with a Haste II beacon or potion, an Efficiency V pickaxe breaks stone and ore almost instantly.
Fortune III or Silk Touch — never both
These two are mutually exclusive on the same item because they solve opposite problems. Fortune multiplies the quantity of an ore's natural drop (extra diamonds, lapis, redstone, coal), which is what you want for gathering resources to use or sell. Silk Touch instead forces the block itself to drop, unmodified — the only way to pick up ore blocks, ice, grass blocks, or a fully-grown amethyst cluster intact. Most players keep one pickaxe of each rather than picking a single "best" option, since they serve entirely different jobs.
Unbreaking III + Mending
Unbreaking gives each point of durability damage a chance to be ignored (roughly 60% at level III), stretching out how long the tool lasts between repairs. Mending then converts any XP you pick up into durability instead of levels, which — combined with Unbreaking's reduced damage rate — means a Mending pickaxe you use regularly can go essentially forever without ever touching an anvil again for repairs.
Efficiency V- Fortune III
- Unbreaking III
- Mending I
None of these four conflict with each other, so this exact combination is achievable in a single item — the only decision AnvilCalc can't make for you is Fortune vs. Silk Touch, since that's a "which pickaxe do I need right now" call, not a cost one.