How to make an enchantment table in ‘Minecraft’ to power up your weapons and armor

• You can make an enchantment table in "Minecraft" by combining diamonds, obsidian, lapis lazuli, and a book.
• Enchantment tables give your gear magical buffs, which you'll need to spend experience points to activate.
• Enchanted weapons and armor are some of the best gear in all of "Minecraft."
• Visit Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

For as simple as "Minecraft" seems when you first start – punch a tree, craft, repeat – you'll eventually reach a point when things get more complicated, and more fantastical. Think magic portals, deadly dragons, glowing pyramids, and more.

You even have the power to use magic yourself through the enchantment table item (also known as the "enchanting" table). The enchantment table can enhance your weapons, armor, and other gear with magical upgrades. For instance, some spells make your tools work faster and last longer, while others will protect you.

Here's what you'll need to make an enchantment table, and how to get the most out of it.

How to make an enchantment table in 'Minecraft'

Crafting the enchantment table

Firstly, you'll need to put your table together. To do this, you'll need one book, two diamonds, and four blocks of obsidian. You'll also need lapis lazuli to power the table. None of these items are hard to find, but it might take a bit of time.

To get a book, you'll need to craft it with leather and paper. Leather can be acquired by killing cows, a common mob creature found in grasslands; paper is crafted from sugar cane, easily found near water in a swamp or desert biome.

Once you have your sugar cane, place the pieces in equal amounts along one horizontal row in the crafting area, and grab the paper that's created.

Now, take your leather and three pieces of paper to create a book. You can arrange them in any four blocks in the 3x3 crafting table area, as long as each piece of paper is separate.

The best way to get lapis lazuli, diamond and obsidian is by mining. Bring torches, food, weapons, and a bucket of water.

For more detailed instructions, you can check out our guide to mining diamonds, but here's the gist: You'll want to dig to at least layer 12 or lower (the "bottom" of the world is layer 0, and "sea level" is layer 63), and bring an iron pickaxe or better to mine the diamonds.

Once you've got your diamonds - you'll need at least two - find a pool of standing lava and pour your bucket of water into it. This will create obsidian, which you'll need at least a diamond pickaxe to mine. You'll need at least four blocks of obsidian.

Through all this, keep on the lookout for lapis lazuli. This is a dark blue ore that can be found nearly anywhere. The more lapis lazuli you collect, the better - you'll need to use them to make enchantments.

Once you've got all your materials, it's time to use a crafting table. In the 3x3 crafting area:

1. Place the book in the top-middle slot.

2. Place the diamonds in the left and right slots of the second row, leaving the middle slot empty.

3. Place the obsidian in the middle-center slot, between the diamonds, and then fill the bottom row with obsidian as well.

You now have an enchantment table, ready to place down and use. Note that if you want to move it later, you'll need to use a pickaxe; simply punching it will destroy the table.

How to use an enchantment table in 'Minecraft'

When you select the enchantment table to use it, you'll see two slots. The first slot is where you'll place the item you're enchanting. The table can enchant your tools, armor, and most gear (exceptions, like elytra, can instead be enchanted at the anvil).

In the second slot, you'll place the lapis lazuli. The enchantment will require up to three pieces of lapis, depending which level you select. You'll also need to spend experience points, which you can see in the green bar above your hotbar. Killing mobs, mining, and smelting at the furnace are a few easy ways to grab more points if you need them.

Once you're ready to use it, you'll notice that the enchantment table doesn't let you pick what enchantment to get. Instead, you'll just pick enchantment levels, each of which has a selection of buffs it can give. Whenever you pick an enchantment, there's also a random chance of getting a second buff too.

If, however, you want a specific item to become enchanted with a specific spell, your best bet is to enchant books until you acquire the spell you'd like. Then, use that enchanted book on the item at an anvil.

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