Unenchanting Minecraft: A Guide to Removing Enchantments

Are you a Minecraft player looking to learn more about enchantments and how to remove them in the game?

We explore what enchantments are, why you might want to remove them, and the various methods you can use to do so.

From using an Enchantment Table to crafting tables and commands, we cover all the necessary materials and risks involved in removing enchantments.

Discover the effects of removing enchantments and how it can benefit your gameplay experience.

What Are Enchantments in Minecraft?

In Minecraft, enchantments are unique improvements players can add to their items. Damage, protection, increased range, improved speed, and imperviousness to fire are some of the benefits offered by enchantment. To obtain these effects, hook enchantments to an item by using an enchanting table, a grindstone, an anvil (with an enchanted book), and a smithing table (for netherite). For reach the enchanting selection, place an item on the enchanting table in the middle slot, and then put experience points into the table.

Why Would You Want to Remove Enchantments?

You would want to remove enchantments in Minecraft in order to ensure that books, armor, or weapons have desirable enchantments on them. There are two ways to accomplish this. One way is to remove the existing enchantments and start over. The other way is to salvage the existing enchantments from a tool that will be expended.

Tools accelerate progression, but the game becomes too easy if pickaxes and axes with Mending or armor with Unbreaking III are too common except as the rewards for very rare and difficult accomplishments. With Minecraft Netherite gear, it takes 203,080 to deplete a fully-enchanted sword from the game. To avoid this, you may want to remove the enchantments from high-level gear or skip starting over with a new piece of gear by instead salvaging those enchantments for use after the gear’s last few uses.

How to Remove Enchantments in Minecraft?

Enchantments, once applied to an item, cannot be completely removed from an item in Minecraft. There are two ways to remove enchantments. The way to have an item not be enchanted in Minecraft is to enchant a book, place it in an enchanted item anvil, and place the undesired item with the associated enchantment in the new item slot. The enchantment will not carry over from the book to the unwanted item with this process. The second way is to use the Grindstone to reduce the level of an enchantment by the amount of enchantment levels the grindstone removes. If there is only one level, then that enchantment is removed from the item.

Using an Enchantment Table

The most basic way to remove enchantments on Minecraft is by using an enchantment table. You need 15 Bookshelves to achieve level 30 enchantments. The experience cost depends on how good the enchanted item is, but after allowing the player to choose an enchantment on a specific item is equipped or removed, this allows for the different selection of enchantments.

Using a Grindstone

The Grindstone is a utility block that allows for the removal and changing of a tradesperson’s villager’s job as well as the removal of one of an item’s enchantments. The process removes all enchantments if there are more than one. The only scenario where the grindstone does not help with overall armor disinfection is if the item is already disenchanted. This video explains how to use a grindstone to disenchant items in Minecraft.

Using a Crafting Table

Crafting tables are the home base of all item enchanting and disenchanting processes, at least as far as the Minecraft interface is concerned. They provide information on all the aspects of enchanting from the cost to the description of the enchantment.

However, the one thing a crafting table doesn’t do is remove enchantments. Adding an enchantment to a tool, weapon, or armor always require an enchantment table or anvil. To disenchant, you have to do it in one of those two locations.

Using Commands

Commands in Minecraft are computer programming commands internally coded by the Minecraft developers. Players on all platforms but mobile can use client commands to remove enchantments from items. A list of various client commands is available on popular Minecraft wiki Fandom (see Commands). These are the ones most commonly used to remove enchantments:

1. /clear <entity> [item> [count] – This removes all item enchantments held by the <entity>
2. /give <player> <item> – This removes all enchantments on an item
3. /enchant <player> <enchantment> – This removes all enchantments on an item

Players on Java and Bedrock editions can also use NBT replacements to create their own Minecraft commands and give players items with the correct enchantment already removed. By pre-placing this code, you can instantly switch enchantments by controlling access to the enchanted version.

What Are the Materials Needed to Remove Enchantments?

The materials needed to remove enchantments in Minecraft are experience points stored in the player’s experience level. This value is displayed as the green and yellow orb towards the bottom of the heads-up display on the screen’s bottom-middle. The experience cost to remove enchantments is determined by the weight of book enchantment removal. Vanilla enchantment levels range between 1-3 Bookcases for the enchantment removal cost, 1-4 levels of enchanting for tools and armor, or -2 levels of enchanting for equipment or books.

However, custom enchantments for non-tool armor or weapon items will have their own custom XP levels determined by the server admin providing those mods. Unbreaking, Silk Touch, and Fortune uses the calculation of the player’s level + 5, multiplied by 3. If it helps at all here is an equation, depending on input values, for calculating the amount of experience one will need to remove enchantment (cost in levels).

Equation for typical Minecraft enchantment removal cost and experience calculation according to Gamepedia (left side of equation) and Fact Lovers’ Online Calculator (right side). Substitute weight value of enchanted tool or book for the enchantment (e), and starting level (lev), into equation. Solve using current player knowledge of player-to-target experience for enchanting or enchantment removal. Calculate x based on available enchanting experience (+n players have if enchanting, or -6 to -n if removing book enchantment or n experience must be gathered if XP is less than n).

Formula for Enchanting Experience (Left Side) (

CostInLevels(e, lev)) = -6 to 1

(lev + 1) * 17 = (lev + 1) * 5.6667

Formula for Enchantment Removal Experience (Right Side) (

CostInLevels(e, lev)) = -1 to 1

x * e + oldX, where x equals 0, your oldX equals the cost in levels result from Gamepedia, then replace your oldX with x

Formula for Starting Level Contribution (Flat Cost) (

CostInLevels(e, lev)) =

x * e – oldX, where x equals 0, your oldX equals the cost in levels result from Gamepedia, then replace your oldX with x

Formula for Bookcases Cost (

CostInLevels(e, lev)) =

(8x * b) – oldX + (6x + 1), where for b in the range from 1 to 3 bookshelves

Whether the materials mentioned above are too expensive depends on player experience with the world and their ability to gather in-game. When playing on Peaceful as a new player or restoring village life, players may need to remove enchantments for trading at level 1, which according to Gamepedia calculation requires an initial X of 0 and an experience of 6 levels. Experience with the world can be rapidly increased driving up XP levels by mining in the Overworld, waiting for Endermen attacks, or spending the day exploring temples, mines, and homes.

Lapis Lazuli

In Minecraft, lapis lazuli is used to remove existing enchantments from a tool or piece of armor. The player takes the enchanted tool or piece of equipment, combines it with lapis lazuli in an anvil, and then renames it with an empty name. The lapis lazuli is used in combination with earned experience points (EXP) from the player’s Experience Bar, such as the 30 level point placeholder, to be used up.

The Renewable resource location of lapis lazuli in the game is deep underwater. The Blue Pixel Biomes underwater caverns generate the most, approximately 48 each. They can also be dug up from ore under most overworld biomes. Where there are approximately 225 each on the average lapis lazuli generation. To remove enchantments from an item, a player must have at least two points of Lapis Lazuli, one for each existing enchantment.

Grindstone

The grindstone tool is another item in the Minecraft game that can remove enchantments and used for disenchanting. The grindstone is both a utility block and item that allows players to combine two items or remove all enchantments from the latter. The item that has enchantments on it will instead become naked after its magical properties have been exchanged, alebit with durability lost based on the amount of time the item was equipped with enchantment.

Crafting Table

The crafting table in Minecraft allows players to arrange items in grid slots to create new items. In versions prior to 1.14, the grindstone can be crafted to repair items and remove enchantments. It is done using two wooden planks (two wood blocks place above each other in a crafting table slot) and three stone slabs (three stone blocks with one each placed in top, middle, and bottom crafting table slot). You can even use it to combine two weapons or tools.

Enchantment Table

Enchanting tables are non-solid transparent blocks that provide the ability to give the power to various items with every available enchantment. They can be removed via any pickaxe, which has slightly different timings based on your upgrade of pickaxe. There are three stages of enchanting table removal:

1. Enchantment Table with Stone Pickaxe: 23.6 seconds destroys the block, providing a drop of between one and three Enchantment Table Blocks (with a pickaxe) and one Enchantment Table (without a pickaxe).
2. Enchantment Table with Iron Pickaxe: 8 seconds destroys the block, providing a drop of one Enchantment Table (with or without a pickaxe).
3. Enchantment Table with Diamond, Gold, or Netherite Pickaxe: 2.8 seconds destroys the block, providing a drop of one Enchantment Table block or item.

Destroying an enchanting table grants some experience. It can be destroyed and collected to reset the enchantments. Each enchanting table has a thick book open on a lectern. In the case that an enchanting table is removed, both the enchanted table and lectern blocks will drop. The book on the lectern does not play a purpose or mechanism role in the enchanting table function and remains as a book decoration block.

Are There Any Risks in Removing Enchantments?

There are slight risks in removing enchantment in Minecraft which come from accidentally using stronger tools. Besides these minor risks, enchantment removal has no risks as even the Ender Dragon and the Enderman will drop experience needless to say that they will generate even more.

Most dangers of removing enchantments in Minecraft are a result of not paying attention, losing equipment with an enchanting table, and using more powerful tools. If you are only looking to remove enchantments, liquid lava and the Void are the two best mechanisms as there is no risk unless you spend a lot of time gawking around the lava.

Do not use books on items that when enchanted have a smaller repair cost, and if you want to remove an enchantment from armor, do not use a freshly crafted one. If you have given up looking for experience scrolls, such as those dropped by the Ender Dragon, as there is a comparable quantity of experience each time you slay it and is simpler than hunting Endermen

Losing the Original Item

In Stripe’s screenshot on his suggestion on how to remove enchantments in Minecraft, he points out that when an item is dropped in lava, the enchant is lost and only the basic item is returned. This is true. In Minecraft, when an item with an enchant is dropped into lava, only the basic, unenchanted version of the item is returned. This can be a frustratingly slow process as it causes resource loss and introduces environmental risks. The game only destroys blocks dropped in lava after five employee cooldowns or 1000 ticks.

Chance of Failure

Chance of failure means the possibility that trying to remove an enchantment using the grindstone could erase the tool or book altogether.

In the case of using the grindstone or the netherite tool method, if there is an enchantment that is worth keeping, make sure the tool or book being modified have a storage spot within a chest. If the item is lost in the process, a copy can be crafted if in a dangerous environment like Anarchy Minecraft with a real risk of dying and losing the item permanently.

While the chance of failure is on record as being very minimal ( 0%-1.54% based on PvP vs PvE) it never hurts to plan for a worst-case scenario since there is never 100% certainty in games due to some hidden calculation aspects.

What Are the Effects of Removing Enchantments?

• If you are transferring an item, only the tool enchants will transfer. None of the diamond armor-only enchantments will carry over.
• When using tools with enchantments, if the items are too damaged there is a chance the enchantment will disappear. This is far less likely on weapons and tools than on armor and elytras or other durability items.
• When trading an item with villagers or giving it to a friend, the trade will not be possible for items that are not enchanted. If an item is seldom traded, you may lose the enchantment if the item gets out of your hands or too damaged.
• You will lose some components, such as lapis lazuli levels and experience levels. If you don’t have enough lapis lazuli or experience levels, you will also have to spend additional time to enchant something new or gather the resources in survival mode.

Removing enchantments in Minecraft, like any method of enchanting or removing, can have both positive and negative effects. The most commonly positive is that it allows you to move enchantments from low-quality items to high-quality items, rather than something you found in a chest in a desert temple. The most common negative is that undead mobs can pick up your now-unenchanted gear, allowing you to potentially lose the gear to hunting down that mob and killing it.

Losing the Enchantment Effect

There are four tiers of enchantments in Minecraft. Some can be removed relatively easily, while others are permanent or require Netherite (one of the hardest discovered materials with a mining level of 4) to disenchant. This means that the new block of Netherite Ancient Debris must be mined with a diamond or Netherite pickaxe, and then smelted in the furnace to obtain a Netherite ingot.

The following enchantment tiers cannot be removed, as items in a Minecraft world cannot be upgraded or downgraded by removed enchanting after the fact. Each tier with associated ways to lose their enchantment is listed below.

• Enchantments that can be removed without mods or external system by throwing into cactuses or fire:
  • Battle ground enchantments:
    • Curse of Binding
    • / Curse of Vanishing
    • Channeling (Trident)
    • Flame (Bow)
    • Frost Walker (Boots)
    • Impaling (Trident)
    • Multishot (Crossbow)
    • Riptide (Trident)
    • Soul Speed (Boots)
• Mid-tier enchantments that can only be removed with a grindwheel, grindstone, or smithing table:
  • Tools and minimal tool replacement enchantments:
    • Curses of Vanishing, Unbinding (Boots)
    • Aqua Affinity, Bane of Arthropods, Blast Protection, Depth Strider, Feather Falling, Fire Protection, Fire Aspect, Knockback, Looting, Respiration, Sharpness, Silk Touch
    • Sweeping Edge, Thorns
    • Unbreaking, Fortune, Lure, Loyalty, Quick Charge, Attire Curse
• Low-tier, chestplate, and leggings enchantments that can only be removed through wearing off:
  • Tools and minimal tool replacement enchantments
  • Curses of Binding, Vanishing (any tool except the sword, books)
  • Power, Efficiency, Smite, Infinity, Mending
  • Protection
• Low-tier enchantments that can be given as drop enchants mean a mid-tier item needs to be enchanted to chance removal. All items including books
  • Flame, Curse of Vanishing, Channeling, Lure, Fortune, Riptide, quick charge, Cur of Binding
  • Any level of enchantment including books

Gaining Experience Points

In Minecraft, you can use the grindstone to remove enchantments and enchantment costs from items. Unlike the simple removal of enchantments seen by throwing an enchanted item into a cactus or lava, you will receive an experience point reward from doing it with the grindstone.

After having equated the item you want to disenchant with enchanting a different item you do not care about from the grindstone, you will retrieve the item back it’s original form with enchantments and the same item level as before. This may be helpful when you wish to fully strip an enchanted item you wish to keep and exploring different enchants.

Possibility of Combining Enchantments

There is no way of combining enchantments in Minecraft, unfortunately. If you have multiple enchanted items equipped when your armor is destroyed, it is possible to keep the enchantments of both your unalive netherite armor and your old spare piece on a new spare piece. If you wear both when the old piece breaks, the enchantments will remain on the spare piece in your inventory.

Similarly, if you have the standard netherite armor lava deaths that destroy your equipped armor, as long as it is not the last one to go, the enchantments can remain on armor in your inventory. You can then add the enchantments from your unequipped armor to a new netherite armor set.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I remove enchantments from an item in Minecraft?

To remove enchantments, you can use an enchantment table or an anvil. Place the item in the corresponding slot and select the enchantment you want to replace.

2. Can I remove all enchantments at once in Minecraft?

Yes, you can use a grindstone to remove all enchantments from an item at once. Simply place the item in the first slot and a second item in the second slot to grind all enchantments off.

3. What level do I need to be to remove enchantments in Minecraft?

You need to be at least level 30 to use an enchantment table to remove enchantments. If you want to use an anvil, you need to have enough experience points to pay for the enchantment you want to add.

4. Can I remove enchantments on an item I found in Minecraft?

Yes, you can remove enchantments on any item, including ones you found. However, some items, like enchanted books, cannot be enchanted using an enchantment table and can only be found in dungeons or as loot.

5. How do I remove curses from items in Minecraft?

Curses are negative enchantments that can only be removed using a grindstone or by combining it with a book in an anvil. However, there is a chance the curse will transfer to the book, so use caution.

6. Is there a way to remove enchantments without losing the item in Minecraft?

Yes, if you want to remove an enchantment but keep the item, you can use a combination of an anvil and enchanted books. Place the item in the first slot and the enchanted book with the desired enchantment in the second slot to transfer the enchantment without losing the item.