MAX LEVEL OVERVIEW
Quick reference for the maximum level of every vanilla Minecraft enchantment.
VMax Level 5 (7 enchantments)
IVMax Level 4 (7 enchantments)
IIIMax Level 3 (16 enchantments)
IIMax Level 2 (4 enchantments)
IMax Level 1 (9 enchantments)
Top levels a table can actually give
The maximum level is where an anvil stops, not where an enchanting table stops. A table does its best in the bottom slot with 15 bookshelves around it: that slot always asks for level 30 (it takes 3 levels and 3 lapis lazuli), and the enchanting power behind it is 31 plus a bonus from the item's enchantability, moved up or down by as much as 15%. A level of an enchantment is only offered when that power lands inside its own window.
A book has an enchantability of 1, so at that slot its power never goes past 36. That is enough for the top level of 27 of the 36 enchantments a table can give. The other nine stop short on a book, at Bane of Arthropods IV, Breach III, Density IV, Efficiency IV, Power IV, Quick Charge II, Sharpness IV, Smite IV and Thorns II.
Gear with more enchantability rolls higher, because every full 4 points let the power climb 2 further. Golden armor has 25, golden tools and weapons 22, netherite gear, wooden tools, leather armor and the mace 15, iron tools 14, copper tools 13, chainmail 12, diamond gear 10, iron armor and the turtle shell 9, copper armor 8 and stone tools 5. Books, bows, crossbows, tridents and fishing rods have 1.
| Enchantment | Max level | Best on a book | Enchantability for the max | Merging two books |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bane of Arthropods | V | IV | 4 or more | Two IV books, 5 levels |
| Breach | IV | III | 12 or more | Two III books, 8 levels |
| Density | V | IV | 4 or more | Two IV books, 5 levels |
| Efficiency | V | IV | 12 or more | Two IV books, 5 levels |
| Power | V | IV | 12 or more (a bow has 1) | Two IV books, 5 levels |
| Quick Charge | III | II | no roll reaches it | Two II books, 3 levels |
| Sharpness | V | IV | 16 or more | Two IV books, 5 levels |
| Smite | V | IV | 4 or more | Two IV books, 5 levels |
| Thorns | III | II | more than any item has | Two II books, 12 levels |
Three of them never come out of a table at the top level, on any item: Power V, because a bow has only 1; Quick Charge III, whose power window starts at 52 and closes at 50; Thorns III, which needs more enchantability than anything in the game has. The rest do on the right gear, which is why the golden sword is the only sword that rolls Sharpness V, and why a diamond pickaxe tops out at Efficiency IV while an iron or netherite one reaches V.
What the anvil charges for the rest
Two books with the same level merge into the next level, up to the maximum and never past it. Java Edition charges the level that ends up on the result times the enchantment's anvil multiplier, and a book pays half the multiplier an item pays, rounded down but never below 1. That merge is the last column above. The Book on an anvil column in the complete table below is what one top level book costs on an item that has never been on an anvil.
Every job except a plain rename also raises the work penalty of the result, from 0 to 1, 3, 7, 15 and 31, and both items bring their own penalty into the next job. A job worth 40 levels or more shows Too Expensive in survival, so the cheap order merges books in pairs first and sends the gear through as few jobs as possible.
The most expensive books to finish with are Soul Speed III, Swift Sneak III and Thorns III at 12 levels each, then Impaling V at 10. At the cheap end, Aqua Affinity, Flame, Knockback II, Mending and Multishot cost 2.