Mending is a Minecraft Java Edition enchantment in the durability group, with a maximum level of I. It is treasure-only.
minecraft:mending
Experience orbs you collect repair the equipped item instead of filling your XP bar, restoring 2 durability per XP point. Works on tools, weapons, and armor in your hands or armor slots.
Tip: Mending + Unbreaking III makes gear effectively permanent. It cannot share a bow with Infinity — that is the one famous exception where players skip Mending.
Mending only repairs items you are wearing or holding, and if several equipped Mending items are damaged, the game picks one at random for each orb — so to repair a specific pickaxe, hold it and take off other damaged Mending gear. Any XP works: mob farms, furnaces, breeding, quartz mining. Once everything equipped is fully repaired, XP flows into your level bar as normal.
Treasure enchantment — never on the enchanting table. Get the book from Librarian villager trades (reroll by breaking the lectern), structure loot chests, or fishing treasure, then apply it on an anvil.
Hold a valid item in your main hand, then run (Java Edition 1.13+; the level is optional and defaults to 1):
This example applies the maximum level I. An anvil combines two matching levels only up to this maximum — higher levels exist only through commands.
Mending applies to any gear that can take damage (tools, weapons, armor, and more). Items from the reviewed catalog in this group:
These enchantments cannot be on the same item as Mending (source: minecraft-data 1.21 registry):
Unbreaking slows durability loss (roughly tripling tool life at III); Mending reverses it entirely using XP. They stack, and Unbreaking III + Mending is the standard immortal-gear combo — Unbreaking means far less XP is needed to keep the item topped up.
The one hard conflict: a bow can have Mending or Infinity, never both. Infinity gives free arrows forever; Mending gives a bow that never breaks. Most players pick Infinity and repair or craft a new bow when needed.
Bedrock Edition: Mending works the same in Bedrock Edition — 2 durability per XP point, treasure-only, and mutually exclusive with Infinity.
The enchantment ID for Mending is minecraft:mending. Java Edition 1.13+ commands such as /enchant use this namespaced form. On Java 1.12.2 and earlier the numerical ID was 70.
Mending goes up to level I (level 1). Run /enchant @p minecraft:mending 1 while holding a valid item to apply the maximum level.
No. Mending is a treasure enchantment and never appears on the enchanting table. The reliable source is a Librarian villager — place and break the lectern to reroll trades until Mending shows up.
They are mutually exclusive by design: infinite arrows plus infinite durability would make the bow permanently maintenance-free. Choose Infinity for convenience or Mending for longevity.
Only while equipped items are damaged — orbs repair them at 2 durability per XP point instead of leveling you. Once everything is fully repaired, XP goes to your level bar as usual.
The game picks one damaged Mending item at random among your armor slots and both hands. To repair a specific item, hold it and remove other damaged Mending gear first.