You need three iron blocks and four iron ingots to make an anvil

An anvil in Minecraft is a block you craft from iron that lets you repair tools, combine enchantments, and rename items. To make one, you place three iron blocks in the top row of a crafting table, four iron ingots in the middle and bottom rows (leaving the center square empty), and one iron ingot in the bottom-right corner. The result is a single anvil that you can place anywhere in your world.

Anvils are one of the few ways to repair enchanted tools without losing the enchantments. A regular crafting table or grindstone will remove enchantments when you repair, but an anvil keeps them. This makes anvils essential if you have a pickaxe or sword with rare enchantments you want to keep using.

Key Takeaways

  • Crafting an anvil requires 31 iron ingots total — three iron blocks (27 ingots) plus four loose ingots — placed in a specific pattern on a crafting table.
  • Anvils repair tools and weapons while preserving their enchantments, unlike the grindstone which removes enchantments during repair.
  • You can also use an anvil to combine two enchanted items, merge enchantments from one tool onto another, and rename any item in the game.
  • Anvils take durability damage each time you use them and will eventually break, so you may need to craft multiple anvils over a long game.
  • Anvils are heavy and fall like sand or gravel, so they can crush mobs and damage you if they land on your head.

The exact crafting recipe and placement

Open your crafting table and place the materials in this exact pattern: put three iron blocks across the top row (positions 1, 2, and 3). In the middle row, place one iron ingot on the left (position 4), leave the center empty, and place one iron ingot on the right (position 6). In the bottom row, place one iron ingot on the left (position 7), one in the center (position 8), and one on the right (position 9).

If you do not have enough iron, you will need to mine iron ore and smelt it in a furnace. Each iron ore block yields one iron ingot when smelted. Since you need 31 ingots total, you will need to mine at least 31 iron ore blocks. Iron ore is found underground, most commonly between Y-level -64 and Y-level 72 in modern Minecraft versions, though it appears more frequently in the middle ranges.

How to use an anvil to repair tools

Place the anvil on the ground and right-click it to open the repair interface. You will see two input slots and one output slot. Put the damaged tool in the left slot and either another copy of that tool or the raw material it is made from in the right slot. For example, to repair a diamond pickaxe, you can place another diamond pickaxe in the right slot, or place diamonds themselves.

The anvil will show you the cost in experience levels at the bottom of the window. Click the output slot to complete the repair. Your tool will regain durability, and you will lose the experience levels shown. If the tool has enchantments, they stay on the repaired tool — this is the main reason to use an anvil instead of a crafting table.

Combining enchantments with an anvil

You can place two enchanted items of the same type in the anvil to combine their enchantments onto one tool. Put the first tool in the left slot and the second tool in the right slot. The anvil will merge the enchantments from the right tool onto the left tool, and the right tool will be consumed in the process.

If both tools have the same enchantment at different levels, the anvil will upgrade that enchantment to the higher level, or to one level above the highest if both are the same level. For example, combining a pickaxe with Efficiency III and a pickaxe with Efficiency III will create a pickaxe with Efficiency IV. Conflicting enchantments — ones that cannot exist on the same tool — will not combine.

Renaming items with an anvil

You can rename any item by placing it in the left slot of an anvil and typing a new name in the text field that appears. The cost is usually just one experience level. Custom names appear in italics in your inventory and in the world when you drop the item. This is useful for marking special tools, labeling storage containers, or creating named items for adventure maps.

Names can be up to 50 characters long and can include color codes if you use a command to set them, though typing in the anvil interface itself does not support colors. Renamed items keep their names even if you drop them, store them, or move them between worlds.

Anvil durability and when they break

Each time you use an anvil — whether to repair, combine enchantments, or rename — the anvil takes durability damage. After roughly 25 uses, the anvil will crack and show a slightly damaged appearance. After 50 uses, it will crack further. After 75 uses, the anvil breaks completely and disappears, dropping nothing.

The exact number of uses before breaking varies slightly depending on what you do with the anvil. Renaming costs almost nothing and may not count toward durability. Repairing and combining enchantments cost more durability the higher the experience cost of the operation. If you use your anvil heavily, plan to craft a second one or have iron stored for repairs.

Finding anvils without crafting

You can also find anvils in the world without crafting them. Damaged anvils appear in village blacksmith buildings, in the bastion remnants structure in the Nether, and occasionally in other generated structures. These found anvils are already damaged and will break sooner than a newly crafted one, but they save you the iron cost if you find one early in your game.

Anvils can also be obtained from creative mode or through commands if you are playing on a server or in a world with cheats enabled. The command is /give @s anvil, which places a fresh anvil in your inventory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an anvil fall on me and deal damage?

Yes. Anvils fall like sand and gravel, and they deal damage to any mob or player they land on. A falling anvil can kill you if you are not careful, so avoid standing under one when it is falling. This mechanic is sometimes used in adventure maps or traps.

What is the difference between an anvil and a grindstone?

An anvil repairs tools while keeping enchantments and can combine enchanted items. A grindstone also repairs tools but removes all enchantments in the process. Use an anvil when you want to preserve enchantments; use a grindstone when you want to remove them and get some experience back.

How much experience does it cost to repair a tool?

The cost depends on how damaged the tool is and how many enchantments it has. A slightly damaged diamond pickaxe might cost 1 to 3 levels, while a heavily damaged pickaxe with many enchantments could cost 10 or more. The anvil shows the cost before you confirm the repair.

Can I repair a tool that is completely broken?

Yes, an anvil can repair any tool no matter how damaged it is, as long as you have the materials. A tool at 1 durability and a tool at 0 durability (completely broken) can both be repaired the same way.

Do anvils work the same in Java and Bedrock editions?

Anvils work almost identically in both versions, though some minor details differ. The crafting recipe is the same, repair mechanics are the same, and durability loss is similar. If you play on one edition and switch to the other, anvil use will feel familiar.