Guide to item repair in Minecraft: Crafting grid, anvil, Mending, and more

Repairing items in Minecraft is essential for making the best use of looted or dropped weapons and for maintaining your gear. There are various ways to repair items in the game, each with its pros and cons. Some items, like tridents, can only be obtained renewably as low-durability drops from drowned mobs in the Java Edition, making repairs essential.

Maintaining your gear is a fundamental part of the gameplay loop. Additionally, many players in Minecraft develop a sense of attachment to their weapons and tools by repairing and naming them, which adds a personal touch to their equipment.

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Understand the four ways to repair your items

1) Crafting grid

Using a crafting table is the simplest way to repair in Minecraft (Image via Mojang Studios)

The crafting grid is the simplest and most accessible way to repair items. By combining two damaged items of the same type and material, you can create a new one with restored durability.

The resulting item combines the remaining durability of the previous two plus a small repair bonus equal to five percent of the item’s maximum durability, though this value is capped at the item’s maximum durability. This method removes all regular enchantments but not curses.

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2) Grindstone

Grindstones are similar to Minecraft but have one difference (Image via Mojang Studios)

The grindstone provides a dual-purpose solution for repairing items and removing enchantments. By combining two identical items in the grindstone, you can restore durability while also clearing all enchantments. A portion of the experience points from removed enchantments is returned, making this a useful tool.

Similar to crafting grid, it removes regular enchantments but not curses. If you’re looking to clear unwanted enchantments, the grindstone is the perfect choice.

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3) Anvil

Anvil can be used as a weapon when dropped (Image via Mojang Studios)

The anvil is one of the best tools for item repair, allowing you to restore durability while preserving or even enhancing enchantments. You can also name an item. You can combine two identical items or use materials to repair tools and armor made of the corresponding material. In this method, the first item is repaired and the other is merged with the first.

This method also lets you transfer enchantments between items or combine them to create more powerful gear. However, using an anvil requires experience points, and the cost increases with repeated repairs or the number of enchantments on the item.

Additionally, anvils themselves have limited durability and can break after several uses, so keep backups ready if you rely on this method frequently. It can also be dropped to cause damage to mobs and players.

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4) Mending enchantment

Mending gives an almost auto-healing-like power to your tools (Image via Mojang Studios)

Mending is an enchantment that repairs items automatically by using experience orbs. Whenever you collect experience, it is redirected to repairing the item instead of increasing your experience bar. The rate of recovery with mending is two durability per experience point. This makes Mending an excellent choice for long-term durability management without the need for crafting or tools.

You can obtain Mending through a variety of means like acquiring it through structures like jungle pyramids, strongholds, and ancient cities. It can be obtained through fishing and raids as well. But the popular way to get your hands on it is through trading with a librarian villager. Mending only works if the enchanted item is actively equipped or held in your main or off-hand slot.