You’ve probably spent hours staring at a diamond pickaxe that’s down to its last sliver of durability. It’s stressful. One more block and that Efficiency V, Fortune III tool is dust. In Minecraft, how to get mending books isn't just a side quest; it is the absolute baseline for endgame survival. Without Mending, your gear is essentially on a timer. You repair it once, twice, maybe three times at an anvil, and then the dreaded "Too Expensive!" message pops up, effectively bricking your best items.
Mending is a treasure enchantment. That means you aren’t going to find it at an enchantment table. You can throw 30 levels at a book a thousand times and you'll never see it. It’s frustrating, honestly. But once you understand how the game actually distributes these books, the "grind" becomes a lot more manageable. You just need a plan.
The Librarian Trade: The Only Way to Keep Your Sanity
Let’s be real. If you want Mending, you’re looking for a Librarian. While you can find Mending in loot chests or by fishing, those methods are basically gambling with your time. A Librarian villager is a guaranteed faucet.
You need a villager who hasn't been traded with yet. If they have those little white sparkles when you click them, they’re fresh. Trap them in a small 2x2 area. It feels a bit cruel, but it’s for the greater good of your armor set. Place a Lectern down. Check their first-tier trades. If they don't offer Mending, break the Lectern and place it again. This resets their profession and their inventory.
Pro tip: Do this during the day. Villagers only work during certain hours (usually 2,000 to 9,000 in-game time). If you try to cycle trades at midnight, they’ll just stare at you.
I’ve seen people spend forty minutes doing this. I’ve also seen people get it on the second try. It’s pure RNG. But once you see that Mending book for 10 to 38 Emeralds, trade for it immediately. Once you trade, that villager is locked. They will keep that Mending trade forever.
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The Zombie Discount Strategy
If you find a Mending book but it costs 34 Emeralds, you might think that’s steep. It is. But you can lower that price to exactly 1 Emerald. You’ll need a zombie.
On Hard difficulty, a zombie killing a villager has a 100% chance of turning them into a Zombie Villager. On Normal, it's 50%. On Easy? Don't even try it; they just die. Once they’re a zombie, hit them with a Splash Potion of Weakness and feed them a Golden Apple. They’ll shake for a few minutes and then pop back into a human with massive discounts. You can repeat this up to five times, though usually, one or two "cures" gets the price down to a single Emerald. It’s the most efficient way to scale your gear in the entire game.
Looting the World: When You’re Tired of Villagers
Maybe you hate trading. Maybe you’re playing a "No Trading" challenge. Whatever. You can still find Mending, but you better be prepared to travel.
Stronghold libraries are your best bet for chest loot. Each library has several chests, and they have a significantly higher chance of containing enchanted books than your average dungeon. Ancient Cities are another goldmine. The loot tables in the Deep Dark are stacked, but you have to deal with the Warden. Honestly, sneaking around a blind sonic monster just for a book is a vibe, but it’s high-risk.
- Desert Temples: Low chance, but easy to loot early on.
- End Cities: These are great because you usually find the gear already enchanted with Mending.
- Jungle Temples: Almost never worth the effort, but hey, if you're there anyway.
The Fishing Myth
Back in the day, people used "AFK Fish Farms" to get Mending books while they slept. Mojang nerfed that. To get "treasure" loot from fishing now, you have to be fishing in "Open Water." This means a 5x5x5 area of water source blocks. No more tiny 1x1 holes in your basement.
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Even with a Luck of the Sea III rod, the odds are slim. You’ll catch a lot of leather boots and raw cod before you see a Mending book. It’s a relaxing way to spend a rainy in-game day, but it is objectively the slowest way to get the enchantment.
Why Mending is Actually "Broken"
There’s a reason people obsess over how to get mending books. It fundamentally changes how you play. Normally, Minecraft is a game of resource management. You use your pickaxe to get diamonds to make a new pickaxe.
Mending breaks that loop. It uses Experience Orbs to repair your items. If you have a Mending pickaxe and you mine coal or quartz, the XP from the ore repairs the tool faster than the mining damages it. You effectively have an infinite tool.
This creates a new priority: XP farming. Once you have Mending on all your gear—Armor, Sword, Pickaxe, Bow (though you can't have Mending and Infinity on the same bow, choose wisely)—you need a consistent source of XP. Enderman farms in the End or Gold farms in the Nether become your "gas stations." You go there for five minutes, and your entire kit is shiny and new again.
Common Misconceptions and Pitfalls
A lot of players think they can find Mending at the Enchantment Table if they just keep refreshing the Level 30 options. You can't. It is coded as a "Treasure Enchantment," just like Frost Walker or Soul Speed.
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Another mistake? Putting Mending on a tool that’s already at the "Too Expensive" limit. If you’ve repaired your pickaxe at an anvil six times, adding a Mending book might cost 35+ levels. It’s often better to start with a fresh tool, apply your Mending book first, and then add the other enchantments.
Also, remember that Mending only works if you are holding the item or wearing it when you pick up XP. If you have a Mending sword in your inventory but you’re holding a torch, the sword won't repair. The XP will just go into your level bar.
The Future of Mending: Experimental Changes
It’s worth noting that Mojang has been tinkering with villager trades in recent experimental snapshots. In some versions, Librarians from specific biomes only sell certain books. For example, you might only be able to get Mending from a Swamp Librarian.
Swamps don't have natural villages. This means you have to find two villagers, transport them to a swamp, breed them, and then grow the baby into a Swamp Librarian. It adds a massive layer of complexity. If you're playing on the most recent "Experimental" toggles, the "place and break lectern" trick won't work unless you’re in the right biome. Check your game version before you spend three hours wondering why the villager won't give you the trade.
Building Your Mending Infrastructure
To do this right, stop thinking about Mending as a one-time item. Think of it as a utility.
- Find a Zombie Spawner: Use this to get easy XP and a supply of copper/iron early on.
- Locate a Village: Don't just pillage it. Protect it. Build a wall. Lighting is your friend.
- Fletchers are Key: Before you get your Mending Librarian, get a Fletcher. They buy sticks for emeralds. It’s the easiest way to fund your Mending addiction. Chop down a forest, turn it into sticks, and you’ll have a stack of emeralds in ten minutes.
- Auto-Sorting: Once you have a villager offering Mending, build a small stall for him. Label it. You don't want to lose the one guy who keeps your gear alive in a crowd of generic "Paper for Emerald" guys.
Mending is the gap between the mid-game and the "God-tier" endgame. It’s the difference between being afraid of losing your gear and being an unstoppable force of nature. Get your lecterns ready, start chopping wood for sticks, and settle in for a bit of a grind. It’s always worth it.
Actionable Next Steps
- Check your biome: If you are on an experimental version, head to a Swamp or Jungle to start your breeding program.
- Craft 3-4 Lecterns: Sometimes breaking and placing the same one gets tedious; having a few allows you to cycle through multiple villagers at once.
- Stockpile Emeralds: Don't even start the Librarian reset process until you have at least 40 emeralds. There is nothing worse than seeing a Mending trade and not being able to afford it before the villager de-spawns or changes their mind.
- Prioritize your Pickaxe: If you only have one Mending book, put it on your pickaxe first. It’s the tool you use most, and it’s the easiest to repair via mining.