Curse of Vanishing is a Minecraft Java Edition enchantment in the vanishing group, with a maximum level of I. It is a curse and treasure-only.
minecraft:vanishing_curse
A cursed item disappears completely when you die — no death-pile recovery, it simply ceases to exist.
Tip: Its only honest uses are PvP (deny enemies your gear on death) and adventure maps. Everyone else should keep it far away from good equipment.
Vanishing Curse deletes the item on death instead of dropping it. In PvP that denies your killer the loot; everywhere else it is pure downside. The keepInventory gamerule and similar protections override it. Grindstones cannot remove curses — once applied, the curse stays.
Treasure enchantment — never on the enchanting table. Found as books in structure loot, from fishing, or from Librarian trades.
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.
Curse of Vanishing applies to any gear that can take damage (tools, weapons, armor, and more). Items from the reviewed catalog in this group:
The two curses: Vanishing deletes the item on death, Binding keeps it stuck on you while alive. Both are treasure books applied by anvil, mostly for pranks and map-making.
Bedrock Edition: Vanishing Curse works the same in Bedrock Edition.
The enchantment ID for Curse of Vanishing is minecraft:vanishing_curse. Java Edition 1.13+ commands such as /enchant use this namespaced form. On Java 1.12.2 and earlier the numerical ID was 71.
Curse of Vanishing goes up to level I (level 1). Run /enchant @p minecraft:vanishing_curse 1 while holding a valid item to apply the maximum level.
No. Grindstones cannot remove curses. The curse stays until the item is destroyed or vanishes on your death.
In PvP it denies enemies your gear when they kill you, and map-makers use it for one-life items. For normal survival it is purely harmful.
Yes. With the keepInventory gamerule on, you keep the item on death and the curse does nothing.