Enchantment Table Setup: 15 Bookshelves Guide

Getting max level enchantments requires exactly 15 bookshelves placed around your enchanting table in a specific arrangement. One misplaced torch or carpet can silently reduce your enchanting level without you noticing. This guide covers the exact placement rules, building steps, and every common mistake that breaks the setup.

What You Need

Before building your enchantment room, gather these materials:

• 1 Enchanting Table - Crafted with 1 book, 2 diamonds, and 4 obsidian
• 15 Bookshelves - Each crafted from 3 books and 6 planks (45 books and 90 planks total)
• Lapis Lazuli - Required as fuel for each enchantment (1 to 3 pieces depending on the slot)
• Experience Levels - Level 30 minimum for the best enchantments

Crafting the Books

Each book needs 3 paper and 1 leather. Paper comes from sugar cane (3 sugar cane = 3 paper). The 45 books for all 15 bookshelves require:

• 135 paper (135 sugar cane)
• 45 leather (from cows or bartering with piglins)

If you find a village with a library, you can mine the bookshelves with Silk Touch to save significant resources. Each village library has about 4-6 bookshelves, so three villages can fully supply your enchanting room.

The Placement Rules

The enchanting table reads bookshelves based on strict distance and line-of-sight rules:

Distance Requirements

• Bookshelves must be exactly 1 block away from the enchanting table with air between them
• This means bookshelves sit in a ring 2 blocks out from the table center
• Bookshelves can be on the same level as the table or one block above it
• Bookshelves placed 2 or more blocks above the table do not count

Line of Sight

• There must be air (or a non-solid block) between the bookshelf and the table
• Any solid block in the 1-block gap breaks the connection for that bookshelf
• This is the source of most setup failures

The Detection Zone

The game checks a 5x5x2 area centered on the enchanting table. The table sits in the center, and bookshelves occupy the outer ring of this area. The bottom layer is at the same Y level as the table. The top layer is one block above.

Standard 15-Bookshelf Layout

The most common and space-efficient layout uses a U-shape or full ring. Here is the simplest arrangement viewed from above, where E is the enchanting table, B is a bookshelf, and the dot is air:

Bottom Layer (Same Level as Table)

B B B B B
B . . . B
B . E . B
B . . . B
B B B B B

This ring has 16 positions. Since you only need 15, leave one corner open as your entrance. For example, remove the bottom-left corner bookshelf:

B B B B B
B . . . B
B . E . B
B . . . B
. B B B B

Walk in through the gap. All 15 bookshelves connect, giving you level 30 enchantments.

Alternative: Two-Layer Compact Design

If you want a smaller room, use two layers with fewer bookshelves per layer:

Bottom layer:

. B B B .
B . . . B
B . E . B
B . . . B
. . B . .

That is 9 bookshelves on the bottom. Then stack 6 on the second layer:

Top layer (one block above table):

. . . . .
. . . . .
B . . . B
B . . . B
. B B . .

This gives you 15 total across two levels and a wider entrance. Both layers count equally toward the enchanting level.

Step-by-Step Building Instructions

Step 1: Place the Enchanting Table

Put your enchanting table on the floor. Leave at least 2 blocks of space in every direction. The table should be the center of your room.

Step 2: Verify the Air Gap

Stand on the enchanting table and look around. Every block immediately adjacent to the table (the 8 blocks surrounding it, plus 4 above those) must be air. No torches, no carpet, no snow layers, nothing.

Step 3: Place Bookshelves

Starting from any corner of the outer ring, place bookshelves in the positions shown in the layout above. Count to 15 and leave one opening for your entrance.

Step 4: Verify the Level

Open the enchanting table interface. The third slot (bottom) should show a level 30 requirement. If it shows less than 30, a bookshelf is not being detected. Check the troubleshooting section below.

Step 5: Light the Room

Place light sources on top of the bookshelves or on the ceiling. Torches and other light sources on the ceiling or on top of bookshelves do not interfere with enchanting. Only blocks placed between the table and bookshelves cause problems.

How Many Bookshelves Per Level

The enchanting level scales linearly with bookshelves detected:

Bookshelves	Max Enchanting Level
0	8
1	9
2	10
3	11
4	12
5	14
6	15
7	16
8	17
9	19
10	20
11	22
12	23
13	25
14	27
15	30

You need all 15 for level 30. There is no benefit to placing more than 15 since extra bookshelves are purely decorative.

Controlling the Enchanting Level

Sometimes you want a lower-level enchantment instead of level 30. For example, getting Sharpness I on a book for cheap anvil combining. You can control this by blocking bookshelves with torches.

Place a torch in the air gap between the enchanting table and a bookshelf. That bookshelf stops counting. Remove torches to add bookshelves back. This gives you adjustable enchanting levels without breaking your setup.

This technique is useful when:

• You want cheap level 1 enchantments for combining on an anvil
• You are farming for a specific low-level enchantment
• You want to conserve XP and lapis for basic gear

Common Mistakes That Break Enchanting

Torches in the Air Gap

The number one mistake. Placing a torch on the floor between the table and a bookshelf blocks that shelf. Torches on the ceiling or on top of bookshelves are fine. Torches on the walls next to bookshelves are fine. Only the 1-block gap between table and shelf matters.

Carpet or Snow Layers

Carpet on the floor between the table and bookshelves counts as a block and breaks the connection. Same with snow layers, rails, pressure plates, and other thin blocks that players assume are “nothing.” The gap must be true air.

Bookshelves Too Far Away

The bookshelf must be exactly 2 blocks from the enchanting table center (with 1 air block between). Placing bookshelves 3 blocks away does nothing. If your room is too big, the far bookshelves are decorative only.

Bookshelves Too High

Only bookshelves at the same level as the enchanting table and one level above count. A bookshelf two blocks above the table is ignored. Building a tall library looks impressive but adds no enchanting power.

Wrong Block Type

Chiseled bookshelves (the 1.20 block that stores books) do NOT count as regular bookshelves for enchanting in Java Edition. You need standard bookshelves crafted from books and planks. In Bedrock Edition, chiseled bookshelves do count when fully loaded with 6 books.

Slabs and Stairs

Half slabs and stairs in the air gap can block bookshelf detection depending on their orientation. Avoid any non-air block in the gap.

Water or Lava

Waterlogged blocks or flowing water in the air gap will break bookshelf connections. Keep liquids away from your enchanting area.

Enchanting Room Design Tips

Minimum Room Size

The smallest functional enchanting room with 15 bookshelves is 7x7x3 (including walls, floor, and ceiling). The 5x5 bookshelf ring plus 1 block of wall on each side.

Lighting

Use glowstone, sea lanterns, or shroomlights embedded in the ceiling. These give full light without any blocks in the critical area around the table. Alternatively, place torches on top of the bookshelves themselves.

Access to Anvil

Put an anvil near your enchanting table. You will constantly move between enchanting items, combining books, and renaming gear. Having them in the same room saves time. Keep a villager trading hall nearby as well for sourcing Mending and other treasure enchantments.

Grindstone

Place a grindstone in the room to disenchant bad results and recover some XP. When the enchanting table offers three bad options, enchant a cheap item (wooden shovel) to reset the offers, then grindstone the shovel to reclaim some levels.

Storage

Keep chests nearby with lapis lazuli, enchanted books, and spare gear. Label them with item frames for quick access during enchanting sessions.

Resetting Enchantment Offers

The three enchantment options displayed are generated based on your XP level and a random seed that changes only when you enchant something. To reset the options:

1. Enchant any cheap item (wooden shovel, book, or iron tool)
2. The enchanting table generates 3 new options
3. Check if the new options are what you want
4. Repeat if needed

Books are the most efficient item to enchant for resets since they can receive any enchantment and are useful for anvil combining later.

Using the Enchantment Order Calculator

Once you have your enchanted books and gear, the order you combine them on the anvil matters enormously. Each anvil operation increases the “prior work penalty” on the resulting item. Combining in the wrong order can make the final combination “too expensive” and impossible.

Use our enchantment order calculator to find the optimal combination sequence. Input all the enchantments you want on your final item, and it calculates the cheapest total XP path.

For a full breakdown of which enchantments to prioritize on each piece of gear, see our best enchantments guide.

Bedrock vs Java Differences

The enchanting table works identically on both platforms with one exception: enchantment seed behavior. On Java Edition, each player has a personal enchantment seed that changes when they enchant. On Bedrock, the seed is tied to the world. This means Bedrock players see the same options at the same level regardless of which player opens the table.

The bookshelf placement rules, distance requirements, and air gap rules are identical across both editions.

Quick Reference Checklist

• 15 bookshelves placed in a ring 2 blocks from the enchanting table center
• 1 block of air between every bookshelf and the table
• No torches, carpet, snow, rails, or any block in the air gap
• Bookshelves at table level and/or one block above
• Third enchanting slot shows level 30
• Lapis lazuli in inventory
• At least level 30 XP before enchanting top slot