Silk Touch is a Minecraft Java Edition enchantment in the mining loot group, with a maximum level of I.
minecraft:silk_touch
Mined blocks drop themselves instead of their usual items — ore blocks stay ore blocks, glass comes back whole, bee nests keep their bees.
Tip: Silk Touch is the only way to move bee nests with the bees inside, and to collect glass, ender chests, and coral without breaking them. It cannot share a tool with Fortune.
Silk Touch is the collector's enchantment: glass panes, ice, glowstone, bookshelves, nylium, coral, sculk blocks, and ore blocks for storage or decoration. Ores are the trap — a Silk Touch pick gives you diamond ore, not diamonds, so mine ores with your Fortune pick instead. Mutually exclusive with Fortune, which is why everyone carries two pickaxes.
Enchanting table, Librarian villager trades, structure chest loot, and fishing treasure.
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.
Silk Touch applies to axes, pickaxes, shovels, hoes. Items from the reviewed catalog in this group:
These enchantments cannot be on the same item as Silk Touch (source: minecraft-data 1.21 registry):
Fortune multiplies drops, Silk Touch preserves the block — mutually exclusive. Ores and crops: Fortune. Blocks you want to place elsewhere: Silk Touch.
Silk Touch changes what drops, Efficiency changes how fast you mine, and they stack. The classic Silk Touch tool is Efficiency V + Silk Touch + Unbreaking III + Mending.
Bedrock Edition: Silk Touch works the same in Bedrock Edition, including the Fortune conflict.
The enchantment ID for Silk Touch is minecraft:silk_touch. Java Edition 1.13+ commands such as /enchant use this namespaced form. On Java 1.12.2 and earlier the numerical ID was 33.
Silk Touch goes up to level I (level 1). Run /enchant @p minecraft:silk_touch 1 while holding a valid item to apply the maximum level.
No. Monster spawners never drop anything, even with Silk Touch. The same goes for infested blocks and a few others.
Only if you want the ore block itself for storage or decoration. For actual diamonds, use Fortune III — it averages more than double the yield.
Glass, ice, bee nests (with bees inside), ender chests, coral, glowstone, bookshelves, and sculk — anything that normally breaks into nothing or into a different item.
Yes. It is one of the rarer table enchantments (weight 1), but it can appear. Librarian trades are the reliable alternative.