Luck of the Sea

Overview

Fishing pulls from three pools — fish, junk and treasure — and Luck of the Sea moves the odds towards treasure. Treasure is where fishing stops being a food source and starts being a genuine loot route: enchanted books including Mending, enchanted bows and rods, name tags, saddles and nautilus shells all live in that pool. With level III on the rod, a long fishing session becomes a realistic way to obtain books you would otherwise be rerolling a librarian for, and nautilus shells for a conduit come far faster than hunting drowned. The catch, so to speak, is the interaction with Lure. Lure shortens the wait between bites, which is obviously good, and slightly worsens the treasure ratio, which is not — so a rod built purely for treasure takes Luck of the Sea III and stops there, while a rod built for volume takes both and accepts the trade. Fishing also needs open sky and, ideally, an unobstructed body of water; fishing under a roof or in a one-block hole reduces what you can catch. Add Unbreaking and Mending and the rod lasts indefinitely.

Turning fishing into a loot route — enchanted books, name tags, saddles and nautilus shells — rather than a slow way of catching cod for dinner.

Improves the odds of pulling treasure rather than junk while fishing. Combined with Lure, it turns fishing into a genuine source of enchanted books.

III is as high as Luck of the Sea goes. It is a standard enchantment, which means the enchanting table can roll it for you.

Weight 2 gives it roughly 22% 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

Enchant a Fishing Rod at a table with 15 bookshelves, or apply books; 2 level II books make level III. Weight 2 makes it an uncommon roll, and level III roughly doubles the treasure rate.

Tips

• Lure speeds up bites but slightly worsens the treasure ratio, so a pure treasure rod skips it.
• Fish in open water under open sky; a covered pool or a single block of water reduces what the table can give you.
• Add Mending and Unbreaking III so the rod outlives the session rather than breaking mid-cast.
• Nautilus shells from fishing are the cheapest route to a conduit if you have no drowned farm.

What each level does

What each level actually gives you. The jump from I to III is where most of the value sits, and an anvil can combine two II books into one III.

Luck of the Sea III roughly doubles the treasure rate.

Properties

A table offers it as it stands, and a librarian's book is usually the cheaper route, with a lectern reroll to get the offer.

What it can be applied to

Luck of the Sea can be applied to Fishing rod.

• Fishing rod

Gear it goes on

Fishing Rod

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

With cheats on, the first command applies Luck of the Sea III to whatever you are holding; the second hands you an item that already has it. Since 1.20.5 the item form uses the "enchantments" component rather than the old NBT tag.

Guides and tools that cover this

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

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

Lure