Fortune Enchantment Minecraft: Everything You Need To Know

 

This post was last updated on March 1, 2026

The fortune enchantment in Minecraft gives you more drops from mined items. Whether it’s iron ore, gold ore, diamonds, or even melons – fortune gives you the chance to double, triple, or even quadruple drops.

This guide explains everything you need to know about the Minecraft Fortune enchantment – how it works, how to get it and all the other important details.

What Does the Fortune Enchantment do?

The Minecraft Fortune enchantment is a powerful buff that increases the number of items dropped by a block after it’s mined. If you enchant mining, chopping, or digging tools, your tools will give you more ore, blocks, and other items.

There are three levels of the Fortune enchantment, with each successive level increasing the maximum number of extra drops and the chance that extra items are dropped.

How Does the Fortune Enchantment Affect Drop Rates?

The formula behind the Fortune enchantment is actually relatively complex and varies based on the item being harvested.

To understand the full mechanics of this enchantment, it helps to know the raw system of how Fortune works at each level.

• Level I – a 66% chance of mining the standard amount of drops (1x), and a 33% chance of mining 2x. Giving an overall average increase of 1.33x
• Level II – a 50% chance for 1x, a 25% chance of 2x, and a 25% chance of 3x. This gives an average of 1.75x.
• Level III – 40% chance of 1x, 20% for 2x, 20% for 3x, and 20% chance for 4x. This gives an average of 2.2x.

From this information, you can see how Fortune becomes more effective with each level, and how it increases the likelihood (and quantity) of extra items dropping.

For example, when mining stone, coal, diamond ore, emerald ore, or iron ore with a Fortune III pickaxe, there is a higher chance you will receive multiplied drops, rather than a single item.

Because some blocks (like Redstone ore, and glowstone) drop multiple items when mined, it makes sense to work with multipliers, rather than simply adding an extra item.

Also, certain blocks like melons, glowstone, and nether wart work naturally drop items based on random numbers. For example, breaking glowstone (without Fortune) can drop anywhere between 1 and 4 glowstone dust. In these cases, some items automatically drop the higher rates, and others have the potential extra drops.

A further property of Fortune is that it positively affects other randomized item drops. For example, it increases the chances of flint drops from gravel, apples dropping from trees, gold nuggets from gilded blackstone, and leaves dropping sticks and saplings.

What Item Drops are Increased with the Fortune Enchantment

• Ores and minerals
  • Coal ore
  • Diamond ore
  • Emerald ore
  • Iron ore
  • Copper ore
  • Gold ore
  • Nether gold ore
  • Nether quartz ole
  • lapis lazuli ore
  • Redstone ore
  • Amethyst cluster
  • Glowstone
  • Flint
  • Gold nuggets
• Vegetation
  • Melons
  • Nether wart
  • Sweet Berries
  • Grass
  • Ferns
• Seeds
  • Beetroot
  • Carrots
  • Potatoes
  • Wheat
• Sea lanterns

Incompatibilities

Fortune can’t be paired with the Silk Touch enchantment.

How to Get the Fortune Enchantment

To enchant items with Fortune, all you need to do is run them through an enchantment table. Because the available enchantments are randomized, you might need to try running your tool through the enchanting table a few times to get the Fortune enchant.

Using an enchanting table

Follow these steps to get the Fortune enchantment on your tools.

1. Build an enchanting table from 2 diamonds, 4 obsidian blocks, and one book.
2. Get some XP, and some lapis lazuli.
3. Interact with the enchanting table to open the enchanting menu.
4. Put your tool in the enchanting slot, and some lapis lazuli in the lapis slot.
5. Mouse over the three enchantment options, and (if it’s there) select one with the Fortune enchant.

Note, to unlock higher levels of the Minecraft Fortune enchantment, you’ll need to surround your enchanting table with bookshelves. To unlock the maximum level you’ll need a total of 15 bookshelf blocks surrounding your table.

You’ll also need one piece of lapis lazuli for each enchantment level. So if you’re going for Fortune III, you’ll need three pieces of lapis lazuli.

Alternatively, you can find a Fortune enchantment book in certain loot chests. These are then used on an anvil to enchant tools with the Fortune enchantment.

What Items can be Enchanted with Fortune

Any of the following tools can be enchanted with the Fortune enchantment:

• Pickaxes
• Shovels
• Axes
• Hoes

Final Thoughts – Fortune III is a Powerful Enchantment!

Powering up your tools with the Minecraft Fortune enchantment is a great choice to make in the game. This simple buff gives you a chance to get more item drops any time you mine certain blocks – extra diamonds from diamond ore, what more could you ask for?

FAQs

Is there a Fortune 4 Enchantment in Minecraft?

There is no level 4 Fortune enchantment in Minecraft – there are only three different levels.

What is Fortune 3 vs Fortune 2?

Fortune III increases the chances to get multiplied drops and increases the maximum level of multiplication. Fortune III has the chance to give 4x item drops, whereas Fortune Level II has a maximum of 3x.

How Rare is the Fortune Enchantment?

The fortune enchantment is relatively rare, although it isn’t the rarest in the game. If you save up enough experience to reach level 30, you should be able to get it fairly easily. It might take you a couple of tries though – and just make sure not to choose the Silk Touch buff because it’s incompatible with Fortune.