
A pickaxe is one of the most frequently used tools in Minecraft as it helps to mine different materials. Like other tools such as swords, bows, and tridents, you can enchant a pickaxe with various enchantments. However, if you are a beginner, the process may overwhelm you as a variety of enchantments are available. Each one is unique and has its pros and cons.
To help you with it, we have compiled a list of the best pickaxe enchantments in Minecraft 1.21.
A pickaxe is the best tool for mining stones, various ores, or metal-based materials in Minecraft. When a block is mined using a pickaxe, it takes only one durability damage. There are 5 popular types of pickaxes in Minecraft 1.21 namely wooden pickaxe, stone pickaxe, iron pickaxe, golden pickaxe, and diamond pickaxe. Diamond pickaxe can normally be upgraded to a netherite pickaxe for the best performance.
Here is a run down of all the pickaxe enchantments in Minecraft 1.21.
- Efficiency (Levels I-V)
Efficiency enchantment makes mining blocks quicker and faster. It comes in 5 levels, with five being the highest. Once you apply Efficiency to your pickaxe, you can increase your mining speed significantly. For instance, with a level V efficiency pickaxe, the mining speed increases by +45%. It is one of the most valuable enchantments because mining for resources in Minecraft is time-consuming and takes a toll on beginners.
- Fortune (Levels I-III)
Fortune enchantments increase the number of items dropped when you mine ores. Let us understand this with an example. Imagine you find 2 diamond ores. If you are mining with a fortune picaxe, it will drop 3 to 8 diamonds from just these two ores. Isn’tit crazy?
Well the good part is that it is true not only for diamonds but for mining iron ore, gold ore, redstone ore, copper ore, coal ore, and nether quartz as well. The only exception is ancient debris, as fortune enchantment is not effective on it. Moreover, it is incompatible with another enchantment called silk touch which is next on our list.
- Silk Touch
This is a unique enchantment which helps to collect blocks in their actual form. Let us understand it with an example. When you mine grass blocks with a regular iron pickaxe, you willcollect dirt blocks. Similarly upon mining stone blocks, you collect cobble stone blocks. However, with a silk touch pickaxe, you can collect glass blocks and stone blocks when you mine them. Wouldn’t it be cool to collect diamond ore block itself when you go out to mine diamonds?
Before enchanting your pickaxe with Silk Touch, it is important to know that you can either keep fortune or silk touch on your favorite axe. They are incompatible with each other. So which one do you choose?
- Fortune versus Silk Touch
I would suggest going with Fortune if you are a beginner. Everyone knows how difficult is it to collect resources in sruvival mode for a beginner. Fortune helps to accumulate resources by collecting multiple blocks. However, the best strategy is to have two pickaxes. One with fortune and another with silk touch so you can use them accordingly.
- Mending (Level I) and Unbreaking (Levels I-III)
These two echantments are used in tandem with each other so we are discussing them together. A pickaxe is the best tool for mining blocks because its base durability is higher than other tools. But with enchantments like Unbreaking, you can increase the base durability of your pickaxe quite a lot. This makes it more sturdy and reliable.
The other enchantment called Mending helps to repair the pickaxe durability when you collect XP orbs with the mending pickaxe in hand. It is best to have both on your favorite pickaxe. Unbreaking will help you mine for longer and longer while mending will keep on repairing the pickaxe whenever you collect XP. Not to remind that you collect so much XP when killing monsters in caves and from mining ores.

Final Thoughts
To conclude, the best pickaxe enchantments in Minecraft 1.21 are:
- Efficiency V
- Fortune III
- Unbreaking III
- Mending I
You can give this simple yet handy tool great powers with them in your hand.
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