BEST Minecraft Sword Enchantments: RANKED

Amongst axes, tridents, and bows, swords are the go-to combat weapon in survival Minecraft. Just like any other tool or weapon, there are various sword enchantments to choose from.

To help simplify things, we’ve ranked each enchantment and described its effects and benefits. Some of these enchantments target all entities, while others are specific. Some increase looting, while others improve durability. There’s something for everyone.

So if you’re looking to improve your survival combat, craft an enchanting table and anvil and get to enchanting!

1

Sharpness

Enchantment Levels: 5
Incompatibilities: Smite, Bane of Arthropods

Sharpness is the best Minecraft sword enchantment. While it may not be the hardest-hitting, it’s a simple enchantment that damages all mods. It gives you the upper hand when fighting hoards of mobs and is our go-to enchantment when starting a new world. Unlike Smite or Bane of Arthropods, Sharpness works on all mobs, undead and arthropods alike.

It’s also important to note that Sharpness is the only sword enchantment that affects the Ender Dragon. So don’t forget to add this enchantment to your arsenal when venturing to the End.

The enchantment adds a few melee damage points to your sword. The amount of points added depends on the level of enchantment.

2

Looting

Enchantment Levels: 3
Incompatibilities: N/A

Looting is a Minecraft enchantment that causes the mob to drop more items and increase drop rate chances. While the enchantment works on other tools like pickaxes, using it as a sword enchantment can quickly help you progress through the game. For example, using a sword with looting increases the chance of ender pearls or wither skeleton heads dropping.

However, there are a few exceptions to the looting enchantment. For example, Withers, Iron Golems, and Snow Golems are unaffected by the enchantment. In addition, it doesn’t affect the sponge drop by an Elder Guardian or totems of undying from Evokers.

3

Knockback Minecraft Sword Enchantment

Enchantment Levels: 2
Incompatibilities: N/A

We’ve pumped the Knockback enchantment up our list due to how handy this enchantment is. Sure, it only has two levels, but when you’re in a tight spot, there’s nothing more valuable than a sword with Knockback.

The enchantment increases the distance that your sword will knock mobs back. With Knockback I, the distance will be increased by 105% and 190% with Knockback II.

Some Minecraft players find the Knockback enchantment annoying, especially when fighting ranged entities. So, keep this in mind when fighting mobs such as Skeletons or Blazes.

Lastly, it’s important to note that the Warden from Minecraft 1.19 is unaffected by the Knockback enchantment.

4

Mending

Enchantment Levels: 1
Incompatibilities: N/A

Mending is, without a doubt, the most helpful enchantment as it restores the tool’s durability by absorbing experience. It’s one of the best Minecraft sword enchantments but isn’t much help during combat. However, it essentially gives your sword infinite durability.

That means that if you have a Netherite sword, you won’t have to worry about repeating the sword using rare ancient debris. Instead, the sword will repair itself as you slaughter hoards of Piglins, Skeletons, and even Cows.

However, enchanting your sword with Mending isn’t as easy as placing it on an enchanting table. Instead, you’ll need to find an enchanted book with mending in the wild. The best way to do this is through villager trading or creating an AFK fish farm.

5

Fire Aspect Minecraft Sword Enchantment

Enchantment Levels: 2
Incompatibilities: N/A

Even though this enchantment doesn’t ignite your entire blade to create a flaming sword of death, it’s pretty helpful. When enchanted with Fire Aspect, your sword will set your target on fire. So not only will the mob take damage from your sword, but it’ll also take fire damage.

The Fire Aspect enchantment also can cook food instantly. So yes, killing a Pig in Minecraft with this sword enchantment will drop cooked pork chops!

Lastly, if you’re playing on Bedrock, you can use an item with Fire Aspect to light campfires and candles and even activate TNT blocks.

6

Unbreaking

Enchantment Levels: 3
Incompatibilities: N/A

If you haven’t managed to find yourself a mending enchanted book just yet, try the Unbreaking enchantment on your Minecraft sword. Easily obtained through the enchanting table, it increases the sword’s durability. While it doesn’t increase the item’s durability per se, it instead avoids durability reduction, which increases per enchantment level.

You can expect your tools to last between 100 and 300 percent longer. Another great thing about Unbreaking is that it can be stacked with Mending. So while it might sound unnecessary, Unbreaking will give you more time between needing to repair your sword with Mending.

7

Sweeping Edge (Exclusive to Java)

Enchantment Levels: 3
Incompatibilities: N/A

The Sweeping Edge enchantment increases sweep attack damage in Minecraft Java Edition. Sweep attacks have a 2.75 x 2.75 x 2.75 cube range, meaning that any mobs within that area will be damaged by your sword. The increased damage by the enchantment ranges between 50% and 75%, depending on your enchantment level.

While Sweeping Edge can be combined with other enchantments, it doesn’t work well with Fire Aspect. Instead, Fire Aspect will only affect the primary target, not those in the sweeping range. Sweeping Edge is also challenging to use when playing with friends, as it’s likely that you’ll swipe them too.

8

Smite

Enchantment Levels: 5
Incompatibilities: Sharpness, Bane of Arthropods

If dealing with Zombies, Skeletons, and Phantoms is your biggest nightmare, then enchanting your sword with Smite is a power move. The only downside to this enchantment is that it only affects undead mobs. That means that unless the entity is zombified or skele-fied, you won’t reap the benefits of the extra damage the enchantment deals.

Smite adds 2.5 extra melee damage to undead mobs per level of enchantment. Its specificity to undead mobs is why it’s fallen so low on our rank; however, it’s still helpful and easy to obtain through an enchanting table.

9

Bane of Arthropods Minecraft Sword Enchantment

Enchantment Levels: 5
Incompatibilities: Sharpness, Smite

If Spiders and Silverfish are the banes of your existence, it’s time to get your revenge. This Minecraft sword enchantment has increased damage against Spiders, bees, Silverfish, and Endermites. However, like Smite, these benefits don’t affect any other mob besides Arthropods.

However, unlike Smite, this enchantment adds an additional effect – slowness IV. Just like the potion, Slowness causes the mob to move at a slower pace. This is fortunate as Arthropods tend to move at terrifying speeds.

10

Curse of Vanishing

Enchantment Levels: N/A
Incompatibilities: N/A

The Curse of Vanishing is just that – a curse. A sister enchantment to Curse of Binding, the enchantment makes any item, including swords, disappear upon death. That’s right, the item isn’t dropped at all but instead removed from the world entirely.

There’s no way to get around this curse, which sucks if your sword is made from diamond or Netherite. In addition, it can’t be removed by using a grindstone.

How To Enchant a Sword in Minecraft

The first step to enchanting your sword in Minecraft is to craft an enchanting table. You’ll need two diamonds, a book, and 4 obsidian blocks. Place the table in an open space and plop down some bookshelves, as shown below.

Next, put your sword and lapis lazuli into the indicated slots once you have a few XP levels available. On the right-hand side, you’ll see different enchantments appear.

Select the enchantment you’re looking for, and voila! If you can’t find the enchantment you’re looking for, try replacing the enchanting table or the bookshelves around the table.