Shovels are an essential tool capable of gathering plenty of rare loot, but only if the chosen enchantments are the correct ones to use. So, today, we explore the best shovel enchantments in Minecraft 1.21 alongside all the compatible enchantments for the tool.

All Compatible Enchantments

Efficiency

• Maximum Level: V
• Source: Enchanting Table & Enchanted Books
• Restrictions: None

Efficiency enchanted tools provide a bonus to gathering speed, increasing with each level of the enchantment to a maximum of level 5.

Fortune

• Maximum Level: III
• Source: Enchanting Table & Enchanted Books
• Restrictions: Incompatible with Silk Touch

Fortune enchanted tools provide a 33% chance to double the drops of an ore block at level one, increasing to 25% to double or triple the drops at level two and 20% to double, triple, or quadruple the drops at level 3. Each roll at doubling, tripling, or quadrupling the drops has a separate chance of occurring. While not doubling, tripling, or quadrupling, fortune still increases the drops of other blocks following similar odds, including creaking hearts, glowstone, melons, nether wart, sea lanterns‌, sweet berry bushes, carrots, and potatoes. The number of seeds dropped from bushes, wheat, and beetroots are increased as well. Finally, fortune increases the chance that gravel, leaves, and glided blackstone will drop their non-guaranteed drops to as high as 100%. However, the total number of items dropped does not change.

Silk Touch

• Maximum Level: I
• Source: Enchanting Table & Enchanted Books
• Restrictions: Incompatible with Fortune

Silk touch enchanted tools cause gathered blocks to drop in their unbroken state. For example, breaking a grass block would cause the grass block to drop rather than dirt.

Unbreaking

• Maximum Level: III
• Source: Enchanting Table & Enchanted Books
• Restrictions: None

Unbreaking creates a chance that an item or tool’s durability will not decrease when used, averaging a 100% increase in lifespan per level of the enchantment. This enchantment has a maximum level of 3.

Mending

• Maximum Level: I
• Source: Enchanted Books
• Restrictions: None

Gathered Experience Orbs are automatically consumed to repair items enchanted with mending. Mending enchanted items must be in the main hand, off hand, or an equipped armor slot for this effect to occur.

Best Shovel Enchantments

• Efficiency V
• Silk Touch I
• Unbreaking III
• Mending I

Players seeking to craft the ultimate shovel will want to aim for the enchantments we have listed above. This is the maximum number of enchantments the shovel can hold, with silk touch taken in favor of fortune. While fortune does have its value when farming flint from gravel, the benefits of having it on a shovel sadly end about there. Meanwhile, a shovel with silk touch is capable of gathering a large number of blocks that are otherwise impossible or difficult to obtain, such as grass, while also saving inventory space when gathering blocks such as clay. Additionally, the silk touch enchantment on a shovel is the only way to gather snow blocks without breaking them. Any other tool, even with silk touch, will only provide snowballs. As for the remaining enchantments, efficiency, unbreaking, and mending maximize the shovel’s value during its more common uses, such as large terraforming projects, clearing out dirt patches while mining, and gathering blocks such as sand. Overall, there is no better shovel to have in hand.