Mending is a one-level Minecraft enchantment that repairs a tool, weapon or piece of armor with the experience (XP) you pick up, at a rate of 2 durability points per XP point. You cannot roll it at an enchanting table: it is a treasure enchantment, so you get it as an enchanted book from a librarian villager, from loot, or from fishing, then put it on the item with an anvil.
Table of Contents
Quick answer: Minecraft Mending
- What it does: XP orbs you collect repair the Mending item instead of going to your level bar. The rate is 2 durability per 1 XP, according to Beebom, AnvilCalc and Switchblade Gaming.
- Best way to get it: trade with a librarian villager. Beebom and Switchblade Gaming both say a librarian of any level can offer a Mending book, and that breaking and re-placing the lectern re-rolls the offers.
- Other sources: structure loot chests (Ancient Cities, strongholds, desert and jungle temples, mineshafts and more, per the guides) and fishing, which is the slowest.
- Only equipped items repair: the item must be in your main hand, off-hand or an armor slot. A Mending tool in the inventory or a chest does not heal.
- One conflict: Mending cannot be combined with Infinity on a bow.
Checked November 10, 2026, 01:40-01:41 UTC. Latest Java release at that time: 26.3 (Mojang’s launcher feed); latest snapshot 26.4 Snapshot 7.
A librarian villager at a lectern is the most controllable source of a Mending book. AI-generated illustration, not in-game textures
How to get Mending in Minecraft
Mending is a treasure enchantment. Beebom, AnvilCalc and Switchblade Gaming all say the same thing: it never shows up at the enchanting table, however many bookshelves you build. It only comes as an enchanted book, and you combine that book with your gear in an anvil. That anvil step costs XP levels once; Switchblade Gaming notes that after it, repairs through Mending are free.
| Source | What the guides say | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Librarian villager | Any librarian level can offer a Mending book. If the offers do not include it, break and re-place the lectern to re-roll (Beebom, Switchblade Gaming). | High: you can repeat until it appears |
| Structure loot chests | Beebom lists Ancient Cities, strongholds, desert pyramids, jungle temples and abandoned mineshafts “and more”. Switchblade Gaming’s list adds trial chamber vaults, bastion remnants and End cities. | Medium: you have to explore, and nothing is guaranteed |
| Fishing | A small chance of a treasure item, which can be an enchanted book with a random enchantment (Beebom, Switchblade Gaming). | Low |
| Raid rewards (Bedrock) | Beebom says Mending books can occasionally appear as pillager raid rewards in Bedrock Edition. Switchblade Gaming does not list raids, and we could not confirm this in Mojang’s notes. | Unconfirmed |
Get Mending from a librarian villager
- Find an unemployed villager and place a lectern next to it. It becomes a librarian.
- Open its trade menu and read the enchanted book offers. You are looking for a Mending book (Mending I is the only level there is).
- No Mending? Break the lectern and place it again to re-roll the librarian’s offers, as Beebom and Switchblade Gaming describe, and check again.
- Buy the book once it appears, then combine it with your item in an anvil.
Our Minecraft villager trades chart has the full list of what each profession sells.
Is the Villager Trade Rebalance a different route?
Not in a normal world. Mojang’s 1.20.2 patch notes introduced the Villager Trade Rebalance as an experiment you switch on when creating a world, and say it has no effect on normal worlds. Under it, librarians from different village biomes sell different enchanted books, each biome has one special enchantment only a Master Librarian with full XP sells, and some enchantments were removed from village trading and “must be found in other ways”. The same section lists a boost to structure loot: enchanted books with Mending have a high chance of generating in Ancient Cities (the other listed pairs are Efficiency in mineshafts, Quick Charge in pillager outposts, and Unbreaking in desert and jungle temples).
That Mojang list sits under the experiment heading, so we cannot tell you from those notes alone whether Ancient City Mending books are boosted in a default world. The guides above still list Ancient Cities as a loot source. If you plan a world around the experiment, check which village biome trades what in the in-game Experiments screen before you commit.
XP orbs repair equipped Mending gear instead of filling the level bar. AI-generated illustration, not in-game textures
How Mending repairs your gear
When you collect an XP orb while a damaged Mending item is equipped, the XP repairs the item first, at 2 durability per XP point. AnvilCalc’s example: an orb worth 5 XP repairs 10 durability. If the item is fully repaired, the leftover XP goes to your level bar as normal (AnvilCalc, Beebom).
Which items are eligible
Mending works on items that have durability and can hold enchantments. AnvilCalc lists nearly all equipment: armor, tools, weapons, bow, crossbow, trident, fishing rod, shears, shield, Elytra and mace. Our Minecraft mace guide covers the best enchantments for the mace.
What happens when you wear several Mending items
Each orb repairs one item, not all of them. AnvilCalc and Beebom say the game picks one eligible item at random per orb, and fully repaired items are ignored. AnvilCalc adds that durability does not change the odds, so a nearly full tool is as likely to be picked as a badly damaged one. If you want to fix one piece first, take the other Mending items off or put them away.
Where does the XP come from?
Anything that drops orbs works: Beebom lists killing mobs, mining valuable ores, trading with villagers and smelting batches of items. A mob or guardian farm speeds it up, but normal play already sends orbs to your gear.
| Item | Max durability | XP to repair from empty (our arithmetic) |
|---|---|---|
| Diamond pickaxe | 1,561 (Switchblade Gaming) | About 780 XP (1,561 divided by 2) |
That row is our own division of the guide’s durability figure by the 2:1 rate, not a number from Mojang. It ignores the random split between items and any rounding the game applies.
Mending vs anvil repairs
Anvil repairs get more expensive each time an item goes through one. Switchblade Gaming says the “prior work” penalty roughly doubles with each anvil use and that the anvil refuses with “Too Expensive!” once the cost goes past 39 levels. Mending repairs do not add to it, which is why players put it on gear they plan to keep. Pair it with Unbreaking and the item loses durability more slowly in the first place (Switchblade Gaming). Our Minecraft enchantments list shows how Mending fits with every other enchantment, and the trial chambers guide covers a loot source that Switchblade Gaming names for it.
Mending FAQ
Can you get Mending from an enchanting table?
No. It is a treasure enchantment and only comes as a book from a villager, loot or fishing.
Why is my Mending item not repairing?
Check that it is damaged and equipped in your main hand, off-hand or an armor slot. Items in your inventory or a chest do not repair (Beebom, Switchblade Gaming). If you wear several Mending items, a different one may be taking the XP.
Can you put Mending and Infinity on a bow?
No. Beebom, AnvilCalc and Switchblade Gaming all say the two cannot be combined on one bow.
Is there a Mending II?
No. Mending has a maximum level of 1, according to AnvilCalc and Switchblade Gaming.
Does Mending work on Elytra and shields?
Yes, AnvilCalc lists both among the items Mending can go on.
Sources: Mojang’s Java Edition 1.20.2 patch notes (September 20, 2023) and the launcher feed’s current release and snapshot list; Beebom, What Does Mending Do in Minecraft (July 27, 2026); AnvilCalc, Mending guide (October 16, 2026); Switchblade Gaming, Mending guide. Guide figures are the sites’ own and were not checked against Mojang’s pages. Checked November 10, 2026, 01:40-01:41 UTC.
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Featured image: AI-generated illustration
