Fortune

Overview

Fortune multiplies what an ore gives you, and the difference over a mining career is measured in stacks rather than percentages. Diamonds, coal, redstone, lapis, emeralds and nether quartz all roll extra drops, and the raw metal ores follow the same rule, so a Fortune III pickaxe pays for itself in a single deep-slate session. It also affects several non-ore blocks that quietly matter: glowstone, melons, carrots, potatoes, beetroot, sweet berries and amethyst clusters all yield more. What it does not affect is just as important — iron and gold blocks smelted from raw ore are unchanged, blocks that drop themselves are unchanged, and anything you would rather have in its original form is the business of Silk Touch. That conflict is the enchantment's whole strategic content. Fortune and Silk Touch cannot share a tool, and the standard answer is not to choose but to carry two pickaxes: Fortune for ore veins, Silk Touch for glass, ice, bee nests, amethyst and ore blocks you want to move. A player who mines seriously has both by mid-game and swaps between them without thinking about it.

Multiplying ore yields — diamonds, coal, redstone, lapis, emeralds and quartz — which is what turns a mining trip from a supply run into a stockpile.

Multiplies the drops from ores and some plants — diamonds, coal, redstone, lapis, emeralds, glowstone, melons and carrots. Mutually exclusive with Silk Touch.

The highest level of Fortune is III. It is standard, so it sits in the enchanting table's own offer pool.

Weight 2 gives it roughly 5–11% of the pool a table draws from for an item in its slot, and that share is about how often a level-30 table puts it in front of you.

How to get it

Roll it at a table with 15 bookshelves or apply a book; 2 level II books make level III on an anvil. Weight 2 makes it an uncommon offer, and at level III a diamond ore averages roughly 2.2 diamonds instead of 1.

Tips

• Carry two pickaxes: Fortune for ore veins and Silk Touch for glass, ice and blocks you want intact.
• It multiplies glowstone, melons and amethyst clusters as well as ores, which is easy to forget when clearing a build.
• Deepslate diamonds are where it pays; the ore Y-levels tool shows exactly where to dig.
• Ancient debris is unaffected by Fortune, so take the Silk Touch pickaxe on a netherite run instead.

What each level does

The table below is the per-level effect. Going from I to III is where the real difference is, and an anvil turns two II books into a III.

Fortune III averages roughly 2.2 diamonds per diamond ore.

Properties

The enchanting table can roll it, and librarians sell it as a book — breaking and replacing a lectern rerolls the trade until one does.

What it can be applied to

Fortune can be applied to Pickaxe, Axe, Shovel, and Hoe.

• Pickaxe
• Axe
• Shovel
• Hoe

Gear it goes on

Wooden ShovelWooden PickaxeWooden AxeWooden HoeStone ShovelStone PickaxeStone AxeStone HoeGolden ShovelGolden PickaxeGolden AxeGolden Hoe

Incompatible enchantments

Fortune cannot share an item with Silk Touch.

Combining them costs levels and still leaves you with only one of the two. Decide which you actually want before the book goes on the anvil.

Silk Touch

How to get it

Enchanting table or an enchanted book.

At a table with fifteen bookshelves the level-30 slot is where it appears; below level 30 the offer pool is smaller and the levels lower, which is why the bookshelf ring is worth building before you enchant anything you care about.

Command

If cheats are on, use the first line to add Fortune III to the item you are holding, or the second to be handed one outright — written with the 1.20.5 "enchantments" component.

Guides and tools that cover this

• GuidesThe Complete Minecraft Enchanting Guide (1.21.4)→
• ToolsEnchantment Order Calculator→

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

Silk Touch