Top 5 things you likely didn't know about Anvils in Minecraft

Anvil has to be one of the most used blocks in Minecraft. Nearly every player enchants items in it throughout their time on a world. Enchantment tables can put enchantments directly on items, but players have less control over them than using an anvil.

Many players know the function of an anvil and probably know the crafting recipe by heart, too. But there's plenty they might not have known, like these anvil fun facts.

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Fun facts about anvils in Minecraft

5) Mining anvils

Players probably know that if they don't use a pickaxe on their anvil, it will break and be gone forever. The only way to mine an anvil and pick it back up is with a pickaxe, which is much quicker than by hand or other tools. Here's which type will mine it the fastest:

• Wooden- 3.75 seconds
• Stone- 1.9 seconds
• Iron- 1.25 seconds
• Diamond- 0.95 seconds
• Netherite- 0.85 seconds
• Golden- 0.65 seconds

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4) Repairing items

Resources can repair items (Image via Minecraft Wiki)

While it's not the most common use of anvils, they can be used to repair items, even if they're not enchanted. Players might not have realized that one material can repair 25% of the item's full durability.

One iron ingot will repair an iron pickaxe by 25%. One diamond will improve a diamond sword by 25%. Using these is much cheaper than crafting an entirely new sword or pickaxe to put together with the damaged one.

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3) Falling anvil damage

Anyone who has had the misfortune of being under a falling anvil knows it can deal significant damage. Here's how the damage is calculated. Anvils, which will fall if there's no block underneath them, deal two hearts of damage per block fallen after the first.

For example, an anvil falling four blocks will deal six hearts of damage. It can also deal no more than 20 hearts of damage, even if it falls from hundreds of blocks.

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2) Cartography alternative

Maps can be made in an anvil (Image via Minecraft Wiki)

One of the most valuable items in Minecraft is a map. Many players start with a beginning map or seek out a cartography table to make one. However, an anvil can do the same, although only for Bedrock Edition.

Naming a piece of paper "map" will turn it into one. "Locator map" will do the same, and players can add a compass to the map in the user interface, too.

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1) Durability

Each use of a Minecraft anvil has a 12% chance to damage the block. On average, an anvil survives about 25 uses or so, but it can last much longer.

Falling anvils have a 5% chance to become damaged as a result. Additionally, anvils cannot be repaired in another anvil. Players will need to craft more.