Silk touch in Minecraft is one of the most useful enchantments in the game. It lets you mine blocks like glass, ice, and ore in their full block form instead of getting the usual broken-down item. Without silk touch, many blocks either drop something different or break completely. This guide shows every way to get silk touch in Minecraft, plus which tools and blocks work best with it.
TL;DR
- Silk touch is a level 1 enchantment that makes blocks drop themselves instead of normal items.
- You can get it from an enchanting table, an anvil with an enchanted book, villager trading, fishing, or loot chests.
- Enchanting a wooden shovel gives the highest chance of rolling silk touch first try.
- Librarian villagers can trade silk touch books, and snowy librarians at Expert level guarantee it.
- Silk touch only works on pickaxes, shovels, axes, and hoes in normal gameplay.
- It cannot be combined with fortune, looting, or luck of the sea on the same tool.
What Does Silk Touch Do In Minecraft
Silk touch changes what a block drops when you mine it. Normally, breaking stone gives you cobblestone, but with silk touch, the stone block itself drops. The same applies to many other blocks that usually break or change form when mined. This makes silk touch perfect for collecting glass, ice, grass blocks, mycelium, ore blocks, and other delicate or special blocks in one piece.
How To Get Silk Touch In Minecraft
There are several ways to get silk touch in Minecraft. Some are fast and reliable, while others depend on luck. Here are all the methods explained.
1. Enchanting Table Method
The enchanting table is the most direct way to get silk touch. Surround your enchanting table with bookshelves, leaving one block of space between the table and each shelf, to unlock higher-level enchantments. You will need lapis lazuli and experience levels to enchant.
Silk touch can appear on any compatible tool, but the odds change depending on the tool. A simple trick many players use is enchanting a wooden shovel. Since wooden shovels have a very small pool of possible enchantments, the chance of rolling silk touch is much higher than with other tools. If the first option does not show silk touch, enchant a cheap level 1 item to reset the table, then try again.
2. Anvil And Enchanted Book Method
If you already have a silk touch enchanted book, you can apply it to any compatible tool using an anvil. Place the tool and the book together, and you will need experience levels based on the tool’s existing enchantments. This method is reliable once you have the book, since it does not depend on enchanting table luck.
3. Trading With Librarian Villagers
Librarian villagers can sell enchanted books, including silk touch, in exchange for emeralds. Build a library using a lectern to turn a villager into a librarian. In worlds with the trade rebalance enabled, librarians in snowy biomes guarantee a silk touch book once they reach Expert level. This is one of the most reliable long-term methods since you can keep trading and leveling new librarians.
4. Loot Chests
Silk touch enchanted books and tools can appear as rare loot in dungeons, mineshafts, strongholds, desert and jungle temples, and raid rewards. This method is random and not something you can farm on demand, but it is worth checking every chest you find while exploring.
5. Fishing
Fishing can occasionally give you a silk touch enchanted book as part of the treasure loot table. The chances are very low without the luck of the sea enchantment, so this method only makes sense if you already have an AFK fishing farm running.
Which Tools Work With Silk Touch
In normal gameplay, silk touch can be applied to:
- Pickaxes
- Shovels
- Axes
- Hoes
Swords and fishing rods cannot use silk touch through normal gameplay.
Silk Touch Vs Fortune
Silk touch and fortune cannot go on the same tool, since the two enchantments are incompatible. Each one serves a different purpose:
- Silk touch is best for collecting fragile or special blocks whole, such as ore blocks, glass, ice, and bee nests with bees still inside.
- Fortune is best for maximizing drops when mining resources like diamonds, emeralds, lapis lazuli, and redstone.
Many experienced players keep two separate tools, one with silk touch and one with fortune, and switch between them depending on what they need.
Best Blocks To Use Silk Touch On
Silk touch is especially useful for collecting blocks that you cannot normally pick up, including:
- Ore blocks like diamond ore, coal ore, and deepslate ore variants, for compact storage
- Glass and stained glass, which normally shatter when mined
- Ice blocks, useful for obsidian farms and decoration
- Grass blocks and mycelium, which normally turn to dirt
- Beehives and bee nests, allowing you to move bees safely
- Ender chests, which drop obsidian without silk touch
- Sculk blocks and sculk sensors
- Suspicious sand and suspicious gravel
It can also be used to collect a creaking heart after you defeat a creaking in the pale garden biome.
What Silk Touch Cannot Do
Silk touch does not work on everything. A few important limits to know:
- Spawners cannot be collected with silk touch, even though the tool works on them, mining one just destroys it.
- The dragon egg cannot be collected with silk touch, you need to use a piston or place a torch underneath it instead.
- Silk touch cannot be combined with fortune, looting, or luck of the sea on the same tool.
Tips For Getting Silk Touch Faster
- Use a wooden shovel at the enchanting table for the highest single-try odds.
- Build a librarian trading hall early so you always have a backup source of silk touch books.
- Use an enchanting table with the full bookshelf setup so you have access to higher-level enchanting options while searching for silk touch.
- Pair your silk touch pickaxe with good pickaxe enchantments like efficiency and unbreaking for extra value.
- Once you mine ore blocks with silk touch, you can store them and break them later with a fortune pickaxe for maximum drops.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you get silk touch 2 in Minecraft?
No. Silk touch is a level 1 enchantment, so the maximum level is always silk touch I. There is no higher version of this enchantment.
Does silk touch work on spawners?
No. Spawners cannot be collected even with silk touch. Breaking a spawner destroys it without giving you anything.
How many bookshelves do you need for silk touch?
You only need a few bookshelves since silk touch is a low-level enchantment, but having the full 15 bookshelves around your enchanting table unlocks access to all level 30 enchantments, increasing your overall enchanting options.
What is the fastest way to get silk touch?
Enchanting a wooden shovel at the enchanting table gives one of the highest single-try chances of rolling silk touch, since wooden shovels have a very small pool of possible enchantments.
Can silk touch and fortune be on the same tool?
No. Silk touch and fortune are incompatible enchantments and cannot be applied to the same tool in normal gameplay.
