6 best enchantments for Minecraft pickaxes ranked

A pickaxe is likely the most vital tool in a Minecraft player's arsenal, and enchanting one can considerably improve a player's time while mining various blocks.

Although most pickaxe enchantments are beneficial in Minecraft, a few are much more preferable to others. Some enchantments for pickaxes help, but others can go the extra mile and make a player's time spent in the mine much more beneficial and even enjoyable.

If Minecraft players manage to obtain a high-quality pickaxe such as one made of diamond or netherite, there are a number of enchantments very much worth looking into to apply to their new tool.

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Ranking every pickaxe enchantment in Minecraft version 1.18

6) Curse of Vanishing

Curse of Vanishing is the one negative enchantment applicable to pickaxes (Image via Mojang)

Essentially only usable as a prank in Minecraft, Curse of Vanishing is a detrimental enchantment that players should avoid placing on their pickaxe, especially a precious one. The curse causes the item to "vanish" or despawn immediately after a player dies, making it impossible to retrieve.

This also makes Curse of Vanishing a useless enchantment in Minecraft Hardcore, as players only get one life anyway. Unless players are trying to prank or inhibit a fellow player, this enchantment is definitely worth avoiding as much as possible.

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5) Silk Touch

Silk Touch allows players to receive blocks they couldn't normally obtain (Image via Mojang)

One of the more intriguing (but also situational) Minecraft enchantments for pickaxes, Silk Touch, allows players to mine blocks that will drop themselves.

For example, if players mine a diamond ore block with Silk Touch, instead of receiving diamonds as an item, they'll receive the diamond ore block itself. This opens up access to various blocks that players would normally receive a different item from or would simply break altogether.

It may not be useful for a pickaxe that is used all the time, but it's definitely a great enchantment to have on a backup for when it's needed.

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4) Unbreaking

Unbreaking improves the life of a player's tool, such as their pickaxe (Image via Mojang)

Pickaxes have a finite durability in Minecraft based on what material they're made of. Wooden and golden pickaxes break quickly, while diamond and netherite picks take quite some time to break. However, with the Unbreaking enchantment, Minecraft players can get even more use out of their pickaxe before it's threatened to break.

Although many players believe that Unbreaking extends the durability of the item itself, it actually implements a percentage chance for the item to not lose durability when it breaks a block.

At higher ranks, players can extend the life of their pickaxe significantly. In fact, a netherite pickaxe with maximum Unbreaking can break approximately 8,000 blocks before it breaks or requires repairing.

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3) Mending

Mending keeps a player's pickaxe or other tools in top condition (Image via Mojang)

Why use Unbreakable and extend the life of a pickaxe in Minecraft when you can keep it in top form for as long as you gain experience? Thanks to Mending, players can use XP orbs picked up from crafting or killing mobs, which will restore the durability of enchanted equipment. This is great for keeping a pickaxe in top shape indefinitely, especially if players have an XP farm that they can use to rack up XP orbs.

However, it's important to note that if players have multiple pieces of gear enchanted with Mending, the piece of gear that receives the XP orb pickups will be randomized. Only one piece of gear can receive the restoration at a time, so pick your enchanted gear wisely.

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2) Fortune

Players can get extra item drops by using Fortune (Image via Mojang)

For Minecraft players that want to maximize what they receive while mining, Fortune is the enchantment for them. It increases the items dropped from broken blocks, including ore blocks. This means players can get more raw iron, raw gold, redstone dust, and even diamonds by using their enchanted pickaxe.

Paired with other enchantments, this can make a pickaxe a long-lasting tool that brings higher yields of items or even a blazing fast block-clearing tool with great item drops when paired with Efficiency.

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1) Efficiency

Efficiency speeds up a player's time in the mine considerably (Image via Mojang)

There are no two ways about it; mining in Minecraft can be a tedious endeavor. It takes a large chunk of time and requires players to stare at nothing but underground stone blocks unless they're fortunate enough to hit a dripstone or lush cave biome.

With Efficiency, players can boost their mining speed and get back to base with their hard-earned items at a better clip. Efficiency works a little differently on certain tools, but it's straightforward for pickaxes.

At maximum rank, a pickaxe enchanted with Efficiency V will mine blocks 45% faster, which is a number that may not seem like much. Still, the difference between standard mining speed and Efficiency V is like night and day by comparison.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinions.