What does Aqua Affinity do in Minecraft?

Enchantments in Minecraft are enhancements that either improve the functionality of tools and items or grant them special abilities. Aqua Affinity is an enchantment that provides the latter and is not discussed enough. It is a helmet-exclusive enchantment that increases the player's underwater mining speed to allow for quicker mining sessions.

The Aqua Affinity enchantment has no levels and is relatively easy to acquire, making it a useful addition that can come in handy occasionally. In this article, we delve into the details of the Aqua Affinity enchantment in Minecraft and guide players on how to get and use it.

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Minecraft Aqua Affinity guide: Everything players need to know

Aqua Affinity is a great enchantment to have in case the player is planning on building an underwater base or structure, as the mining speeds underwater are five times slower than normal. With an Aqua Affinity helmet equipped, players can mine at regular speeds even when completely submerged.

Additionally, there is a penalty in Minecraft for mining underwater while floating, causing players to mine at 25 times slower speeds than outside of water. However, this penalty is ignored when the player's helmet has Aqua Affinity.

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How to Get Aqua Affinity in Minecraft

An enchanting table (Image via Mojang)

The Aqua Affinity enchantment is by no means rare as players can get it from several sources: the enchanting table, fishing, trading with librarians, and from the loot chests of several structures.

The enchanting table and librarians are the most reliable sources of any enchantment in the game.

Since Aqua Affinity is a helmet-only enchantment, it is not needed in large quantities. Therefore, it is recommended that players obtain Aqua Affinity from the enchanting table and use the librarians for other rarer enchantments.

Enchanting Table

An enchanting table offering Aqua Affinity (Image via Mojang)

To use the enchanting table, players need to place bookshelves around it with a one-block gap. Up to fifteen bookshelves can be placed to affect the trades, with fifteen making the enchanting table offer the highest level enchantments.

Place the helmet to check if the enchanting table offers Aqua Affinity or not. If it does, place the amount of lapis lazuli demanded by it in the second slot and click on the enchantment to apply it. If a table does not offer the Minecraft enchantment of choice, players can enchant a different item to change the offers.

Trader

A librarian (Image via Mojang)

To get an enchanted book with Aqua Affinity from a trader, players have to place a lectern next to a villager to make it a librarian and then check its trade offers. In case a trader does not offer Aqua Affinity, players can break and re-place the lectern to change its trades. This can be repeated until the enchantment of choice comes up in the trades.