Guides / Ideal Tools / The Ideal Shears Enchantments
The Ideal Shears Enchantments
Published September 15, 2026 · Updated October 24, 2026
Shears are the item most likely to make someone check the enchanting table twice, wondering where Fortune and Silk Touch went. Shears take no Fortune on either edition, and Silk Touch is a Bedrock-only extra.
Why no Fortune, and no Silk Touch on Java
Fortune and Silk Touch are both limited to the mining_loot enchantable item tag on Java Edition, and shears are not in it: the Java Edition shears can take Efficiency, Unbreaking, Mending and Curse of Vanishing, and Bedrock Edition adds Silk Touch through the anvil. Shears don't need Silk Touch for what they harvest. Breaking cobwebs, leaves, vines, ferns and similar plants with shears gives you the block itself in item form, and a cobweb broken with shears always drops itself, with or without Silk Touch.
Efficiency V
Efficiency is the only speed enchantment shears can take. Shears already break leaves in 0.05 s, but cobwebs take 0.4 s, wool 0.25 s and vines 0.15 s, so those are the blocks where Efficiency V helps most. Shears also harvest a full beehive or bee nest for 3 honeycombs and reset it to honey level 0. If you shear it by hand without a campfire or soul campfire below it, the bees attack you.
Unbreaking III + Mending
Shears lose 1 durability when used to shear something or to break any block (except fire and soul fire), so Unbreaking and Mending are the durability pair. A dispenser can also use shears: it shears a sheep, bogged, snow golem, mooshroom or sulfur cube in front of it, or harvests honeycombs from a full beehive or bee nest (without angering the bees), and each use lowers the shears' durability. A failed attempt, such as a sheep with no wool, does not.
Efficiency V- Unbreaking III
- Mending I
Give this build in-game
/give @s minecraft:shears[enchantments={"minecraft:efficiency":5,"minecraft:mending":1,"minecraft:unbreaking":3}]Needs cheats enabled and operator permission (or creative mode with commands allowed).
/give @s shears /enchant @s efficiency 5 /enchant @s mending 1 /enchant @s unbreaking 3
Run the commands one at a time, in order. /enchant works on the item held in your hand. Needs cheats enabled.
See also Best Enchantments in Minecraft, which lists the best enchantments for every item with the one decision that matters for each.
To see where this build sits among all your gear, see Minecraft Enchanting Order.
Frequently asked questions
What enchantments can go on shears in Minecraft?
On Java Edition: Efficiency, Unbreaking, Mending and Curse of Vanishing. Bedrock Edition adds Silk Touch. Fortune is not available on shears in either edition.
Can shears get Silk Touch?
Only on Bedrock Edition, where the anvil accepts Silk Touch on shears. On Java Edition shears cannot take it, and they don't need it to collect cobwebs, leaves or vines: shears drop those blocks in item form without it.
What is the best enchantment for shears?
Efficiency V. It's the only speed enchantment shears can take. Shears already clear leaves in 0.05 s, and Efficiency V helps most on the slower blocks: cobwebs (0.4 s), wool (0.25 s) and vines (0.15 s).