Minecraft enchanting table setup guide for beginners

A basic enchanting setup decorated with candles (Image via Minecraft)
A basic enchanting setup decorated with candles (Image via Minecraft)

Enchanting is one of the most powerful systems available within Minecraft. Enchanting will grant players access to enchantments such as fortune, allowing players to get more items from single blocks channeling. It will enable players to call lightning down on command during thunderstorms and mending. This allows for items to be repaired by experience orbs.

Given the powerful nature of enchanting, knowing how to set up an area to enchant items is vital. Below are some basic tips for creating enchanting setups for different stages of Minecraft.


How to create three different Minecraft enchanting setups, increasing in complexity

Barebones setup

A very barebones enchanting setup (Image via Minecraft)
A very barebones enchanting setup (Image via Minecraft)

The most barebones enchantment setup players can make simply placing down a single enchanting table. These enchanting tables can be difficult to craft in the early game, as they require some materials that are hard to get early on. Enchanting tables require four obsidian, two diamonds, and a single book.

Diamonds can be obtained in the early game in a few ways that include shipwrecks, buried treasures, and mining. The obsidian can be acquired by mining it with a diamond pickaxe or found in chests near ruined portals.

Books can be found in ancient cities, shipwrecks, strongholds, and desert or plains villages or crafted using three papers and a single piece of leather.


Level 30 setup

An upgraded level 30 enchanting setup (Image via Minecraft)
An upgraded level 30 enchanting setup (Image via Minecraft)

However, using an enchanting table at the base level is not recommended, as it will only grant access to single-level enchantments.

Players can increase the level of enchantment available by adding to the number of bookcases with an uninterrupted line of sight to the enchanting table with a single block gap between the two. To access full level 30 enchantments, players must have 15 bookcases near the enchanting table.

Players should set up a sugar cane farm to get the mass amount of paper needed to make the requisite bookshelves. Players can either use a body of water near their base to make a manual sugar cane farm or a fully automated sugar cane farm.

To get the leather needed to make the books needed to create a level 30 enchanting setup, players should find at least two cows and use them to set up a cow farm, such as a cow crusher.


Fleshed out setup

A fully equipped level 30 enchanting setup (Image via Minecraft)
A fully equipped level 30 enchanting setup (Image via Minecraft)

Players can add a few additional things to their enchanting setup to bring it to the next level. This includes three major components. The first of these components is an anvil.

Anvil will allow players to combine two identical items with compatible or the same enchantments to add them together and get higher-level enchantments. Additionally, anvils will enable the players to rename items and apply book enchantments to items.

The second of these items is the grindstone. The main draw of the grindstone is the ability to remove all of the enchantments on an item and return a small bit of experience to the player.

This is useful for players looking for specific enchantments that are rarer, such as fortune. They also allow players to break down enchanted mob drops to get some XP back to put towards new enchantments.

The last addition is quality of life addition. This is to add storage to the enchanting area through chests or barrels. Players can store the lapis needed to enchant in these storage areas, so they don't need to remember to bring them with them. Additionally, players can store books that are useful for resetting available enchantments.

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