Anvil

Transparency	Yes
Luminance	No
Blast resistance	6,000
Tool
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64), same damage state only
Flammable	No
Drops	Itself
Data value	dec: 145 hex: 91 bin: 10010001
Name	See Data values

This article is about the item repair block. For the file format, see Anvil file format. For the mechanics, see Anvil mechanics.

“	Anvils! Your sword can now be a "Dragon's Tooth" if you want, or you could just repair it a little.	„
	— The Pretty Scary Update promo poster

An anvil is a block that allows players to repair items, rename items, and combine enchantments.

Obtaining[edit]

Anvils can be mined using any pickaxe. If mined without a pickaxe they drop nothing.

Block	Anvil
Hardness	5
Tool
Breaking time^{[note 1]}
Hand	25
Wooden	3.75
Stone	1.9
Iron	1.25
Diamond	0.95
Golden	0.65

↑ Times are for unenchanted tools in seconds.

Crafting[edit]

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Block of Iron + Iron Ingot

Natural generation[edit]

A damaged anvil will generate in the "Forge room" of the woodland mansion.

Usage[edit]

Repairing and renaming items[edit]

Main article: Anvil mechanics

Anvils have two modes to repair items that have a durability rating:

As with the crafting grid, a player may repair items by combining two similar items. With the anvil, however, the target will keep its enchantments, and may gain new ones from the sacrificed item.
Alternatively, a player can use materials originally required in the crafting of the item (iron ingots for iron items with durability, diamonds for diamond items with durability) to repair a single item. One material can only repair 25% of the target's maximum durability.

In addition, the player can rename any item - not just items with durability - by using an anvil.

Repairing[edit]

See also: Repair

Example showing a repair of two diamond pickaxes.

Repairing with materials works for the most part, but not with all items: As a rule of thumb, repairing works for items with their material in the default name. For example an anvil can repair an iron pickaxe with materials (iron in this case) while an anvil cannot repair bows or shears with any materials. As a special case, chain armor can be repaired with iron ingots and elytra can be repaired with phantom membranes. The repair does not need to be complete; one material will only repair ¹⁄₄ of the item's maximum durability.

Repairing with a matching item works for any item with durability including bows, shears and so on. The items must match in type. For example a golden pickaxe cannot combine with an iron one.

Note that in both cases the resulting durability will be limited to the item's maximum, and there is no discount for "over-repair".

As a subset of repairing one item with another, the anvil can transfer enchantments from the sacrifice to the target. This can have a synergistic effect when both items share identical enchantments, or simply add to each other when they do not. Two Sharpness II swords can be combined to make a Sharpness III sword, for example, or a pickaxe with Efficiency can be combined with one that has Unbreaking. This can produce enchantments and combinations that could not be made by using an enchanting table. But even so, some enchantments cannot be combined if they are similar, or contradicting, in terms of what they do. If the target is damaged, you will pay for the repair as well as the transfer.

Transferring high-level enchantments is more expensive, and renaming an item has an additional surcharge. The anvil has a limit of 39 levels, beyond which it will refuse to repair altogether. This limit is not present in Creative mode.

Renaming[edit]

Any item or stack of items can be renamed at a cost of one level plus any prior-work penalty. If the player is only renaming, the maximum total cost is 39 levels. The maximum length for renaming is 35 characters. Some items have special effects when renamed:

A name tag must be renamed before it can be used.
A renamed weapon will show the name in the death message upon killing another player.
A renamed spawn egg will produce a mob with the same name.
Chests, trapped chests, shulker boxes, furnaces, hoppers, droppers, dispensers, minecarts with chests, minecarts with hoppers, enchantment tables, and brewing stands will display the name in their GUI when placed. Renamed command blocks will use their name in chat messages instead of [@].

Any name changes to items are applied to the data tag {Item:{tag:{display:{Name:"{\"text\":\"<name>\"}"}}}}. Similarly this data tag can be accessed by the nbt argument using target selectors.

Enchanted books[edit]

Enchanted books are used to enchant tools. Enchanted books themselves can be combined to create higher tiered books.

Falling anvils[edit]

When there are air blocks below an anvil, the latter will fall, in the same way sand, gravel, concrete powder and dragon eggs do. A placed anvil cannot be pushed or pulled by pistons,^{[Legacy Console Edition only]} but a falling anvil can. This is different in Bedrock Edition where anvils can be pushed and pulled by pistons. Anvils will make a metallic clanging sound when they land.

When anvils land on a non-solid block, they destroy the non-solid block rather than dropping as an item, unlike gravel or sand. When an anvil is dropped on pressure plates, boats, cobwebs, slabs, signs, cakes, lily pads, opened fence gates, or closed trapdoors that do not have a block beneath them, the anvil will drop itself as an item. When dropped on a mob head, the mob head will become the item form.

When anvils fall on a player or mob, it will damage them. The damage amount depends on fall distance: 2 () per block fallen after the first (e.g., an anvil that falls 4 blocks will deal 6 () damage). The damage is capped at 40 ( × 20), no matter how far the anvil falls. Wearing a helmet will reduce the damage by ¹⁄₄, but this will cost durability on the helmet. When a player dies by an anvil falling on them, the chat will display the message: "Player was squashed by a falling anvil." However if a player is merely touched by an anvil entity, or falling anvil, no damage will result until the falling anvil becomes a solid anvil-block in the airspace where the player is located. Falling anvils can be manipulated by TNT cannons, and will pass right through a mob or player without damaging them.

Maps[edit]

In Bedrock Edition, an anvil can be used instead of a crafting table to zoom a map out, to clone a map, or to place a player position marker on a map.

Name	Ingredients	Anvil usage	Description
Map or Locator Map (zoomed out)	Map or Locator Map + Paper		Bedrock Edition only. When 8 sheets of paper are supplied, the output will be a zoomed-out version of the input map.

Name	Ingredients	Anvil usage	Description
Map or Locator Map (cloned)	Map or Locator Map + Empty Map		Bedrock Edition only. Only one copy can be made at a time. The output map will be a locator map only if the input map is; the empty map has no effect.

Name	Ingredients	Anvil usage	Description
Locator Map	Map + Compass		Bedrock Edition only. Maps crafted with only paper do not show the location marker; to add it, a compass must be added to the map.

Becoming damaged[edit]

With each use, an anvil has a 12% chance to become damaged – degrading one stage at a time, first becoming chipped, then damaged, then eventually destroyed. On average, an anvil will survive for 25 uses, which is approximately one use per 1.24 iron ingots used in crafting the anvil.

An anvil can be damaged and destroyed from falling as well: if it falls from a height greater than 1 block, the chance of degrading by one stage is 5% × the number of blocks fallen.

The damage stage does not affect the anvil's function, but only anvils of the same damage state will stack in inventory.

In the Legacy Console Edition, damaged anvils that are broken using a pickaxe then placed again are completely repaired. This is due to the fact that damaged and very damaged anvils do not exist as items.^{[Legacy Console Edition only]}

Data values[edit]

ID[edit]

Java Edition:

Block	ID Name
Anvil	`anvil`
Chipped Anvil	`chipped_anvil`
Damaged Anvil	`damaged_anvil`

Bedrock Edition:

Block	ID Name	Numeral ID
Anvil	`anvil`	145

Block data[edit]

See also: Data values

In Bedrock Edition, anvils use the following data values:

Item

	DV	Description
	0	Anvil
	1	Slightly Damaged Anvil
	2	Very Damaged Anvil

Block

	DV	Description
	0	Anvil (North/South)
	1	Anvil (East/West)
	2	Anvil (South/North)
	3	Anvil (West/East)
	4	Slightly Damaged Anvil (North/South)
	5	Slightly Damaged Anvil (East/West)
	6	Slightly Damaged Anvil (West/East)
	7	Slightly Damaged Anvil (South/North)
	8	Very Damaged Anvil (North/South)
	9	Very Damaged Anvil (East/West)
	10	Very Damaged Anvil (West/East)
	11	Very Damaged Anvil (South/North)

falling_block entity[edit]

Falling Block

Internal ID	JE: 21 BE: 66
Network ID	JE: 70
Entity ID	falling_block

See also: Chunk format § Dynamic tiles and Tutorials/Falling blocks

Dynamic block entity data
- Tags common to all entities see Template:Nbt inherit/entity/template
- TileEntityData: Optional. The tags of the block entity for this block.
- BlockState: The falling block represented by this entity.
  - Name: The name ID of the block.
  - Properties: Optional. The block states of the block.
    - Name: The block state name and its value.
- Time: The number of ticks the entity has existed. If set to 0, the moment it ticks to 1, it will vanish if the block at its location has a different ID than the entity's TileID. If the block at its location has the same ID as its TileID when Time ticks from 0 to 1, the block will instead be deleted, and the entity will continue to fall, having overwritten it. When Time goes above 600, or above 100 while the block is below Y=0, the entity is deleted.
- DropItem: 1 or 0 (true/false) - true if the block should drop as an item when it breaks. Any block that doesn't have an item form with the same ID as the block won't drop even if this is set.
- HurtEntities: 1 or 0 (true/false) - true if the block should hurt entities it falls on.
- FallHurtMax: The maximum number of hitpoints of damage to inflict on entities that intersect this falling_block. For vanilla falling_block, always 40 ( × 20).
- FallHurtAmount: Multiplied by the FallDistance to calculate the amount of damage to inflict. For vanilla falling_block, always 2.

Achievements[edit]

Main article: Achievements

Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Availability				Xbox points earned	Trophy type (PS)
Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Xbox	PS	Bedrock	Nintendo	Xbox points earned	Trophy type (PS)
	Organizational Wizard	Name a Shulker Box with an Anvil		No	No	Yes	No	30G	—

Video[edit]

History[edit]

Java Edition
1.4.2			October 7, 2012	Dinnerbone tweets the first images of the anvil's interface.
			October 10, 2012	Dinnerbone tweets the first screenshot of the anvil itself.
			12w41a	Added anvils.
			12w42a	Anvils now have an easier crafting recipe.
				Changed anvil texture slightly.
				It is now possible to repair tools, by using more of the material it is made of. (Such as adding diamonds to a nearly broken diamond pickaxe). Renamed item names appear as italic text now. # Levels was changed to Enchantment cost.
			1.4-pre	Added new sounds for the anvil.
			1.4-pre	Removed level cap for creative mode.
1.4.6			12w49a	Enchanted books were added. They can only be used with the anvil.
			12w50a	Enchanting non-tools with enchanted books only works in creative mode.
			12w50a	Silk touch can now be applied to shears by using the anvil, meaning cobwebs can be harvested.
1.5			13w02a	Mobs spawned from renamed spawn eggs have the name of their spawn egg, and their names will appear in the death message of them killing a player.
				Mobs can now display their custom name as nametag using an NBT tag.
				Brewing stands, chests, dispensers, enchantment tables, furnaces, and trapped chests will display their new name in their GUI where the normal name used to appear.
			13w04a	Mobs now show the name given to them (either by renaming their spawn egg or by external editors) above their head when the player looks directly at them within hitting range.
1.6.1			1.6-pre	Renaming a spawn egg "Dinnerbone" or "Grumm" will cause the mob to spawn upside down (this also works with renaming name tags).
1.7.4			?	Renaming a sheep spawn egg "jeb" will cause the sheep to spawn with multicolored wool (this also works with renaming name tags).
1.8			14w02a	Costs reduced to balance out with the new enchanting system.
				Renaming items only costs 1 level.
				Repairing costs reduced, 1 level per raw material or sacrifice regardless of durability restored.
				Extra costs for repairing an enchanted tool are eliminated. Costs for combining enchantments are reduced.
				Repairing costs can no longer be kept down by renaming items.
			14w04a	Prior work cost increase changed from linear (1 per repair) to exponential (times 2 plus 1 per repair).
			14w04a	Repairing with a "sacrifice" now costs 2 levels rather than only 1.
1.9			15w42a	Renaming an item no longer incurs a prior work penalty.
1.11			16w32a	Anvils now give sounds when they break.
			16w35a	Renamed items now keep their name when picked back up.
			16w39a	Very damaged anvil now generates in woodland mansions.
1.11.1			?	Anvils no longer allow enchanted books to apply to items, if no change in enchantments would take effect. This can occur if all enchantments on the book are incompatible with existing enchantments on the item – or if the enchanted book has no enchantments.
1.13			17w47a	The different damage block states for the `anvil` ID have been split up into their own IDs.
				"Slightly Damaged Anvil" and "Very Damaged Anvil" renamed to "Chipped Anvil" and "Damaged Anvil", respectively.
				Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 145.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.12.1			build 1	Added anvils.
0.14.0			build 1	Anvils are now needed to add the markers onto maps by putting a map and a compass in.
0.15.0			build 1	Anvils can now be moved by pistons.
Pocket Edition
1.1			build 1	Very damaged anvil now generates in woodland mansions.
Legacy Console Edition
TU14	CU1	1.05	Patch 1	Added anvils.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3	Rebalanced anvil repairing as per PC 1.8 changes.

Issues[edit]

Issues relating to "Anvil" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[edit]

The falling ability of the anvil is a reference to the common cartoon trope.
The anvil has the same blast resistance as obsidian and the enchantment table.
If you rename a material, such as diamonds, it will not stack with unnamed or differently-named items.
For unenchanted items, "unit repair" can easily cost more material than just crafting a new item or combining damaged items. The exception is armor, where you can use less material at the cost of experience levels.
If placed on top of exploding TNT blocks, the explosion won't affect the surrounding area.
- This is because the Anvil falls into the space the TNT entity is occupying, and since the TNT's explosion power is not high enough to destroy the anvil, no blocks are destroyed.
Anvils are also commonly used as a guillotine because of its ability to kill mobs/players as a controlled entity.
If an anvil is placed on top of a chest, you are still able to open the chest.

Gallery[edit]

The first screenshot of the anvil.^[1]
The Anvil GUI for "Minecraft Bedrock Edition"
A series of screenshots showing the item repair interface.^[2]
Top down view of the three stages of anvils. From left to right: anvil, slightly damaged anvil, very damaged anvil
3D view of the three stages of anvils. From left to right: anvil, slightly damaged anvil, very damaged anvil