What Fortune does
Fortune is an enchantment that increases the number of items certain blocks drop when you mine them. It works on tools (pickaxes, axes, shovels, and hoes) and it only affects specific blocks. On a diamond pickaxe at level three, you can pull up to four diamonds from a single block of diamond ore. That is the main reason most players want it.
Fortune has three levels: I, II, and III. Each level raises the chance of extra drops or raises the cap on the bonus, depending on the block. Fortune is also mutually exclusive with Silk Touch, so a single tool cannot have both.
The enchantment only triggers when the block is mined by the right tool for the job. A pickaxe mining diamond ore gets the bonus. A hoe mining diamond ore does not, because a hoe is not the proper tool for that block.
What Fortune affects
Ores that drop raw items
The clearest payoff comes from ores that drop a small item instead of the block itself. Mining any of the following with a Fortune pickaxe rolls for extra drops:
- Coal ore (drops coal)
- Diamond ore (drops diamond)
- Emerald ore (drops emerald)
- Lapis lazuli ore (drops lapis lazuli)
- Redstone ore (drops redstone dust)
- Nether quartz ore (drops nether quartz)
- Nether gold ore (drops gold nuggets)
- Copper ore (drops raw copper, since Java 1.17)
- Iron ore (drops raw iron, since Java 1.17)
- Gold ore (drops raw gold, since Java 1.17)
- Amethyst cluster (drops amethyst shards)
For most of these, Fortune III can yield up to four drops from a single block. The actual roll is uniform between one and the maximum, so the average sits at around two and a quarter at level III. The deepslate variants of each ore behave the same way as the regular versions.
Decorative and light-emitting blocks
Fortune also affects blocks that shatter into smaller items, but these come with a hard cap on the maximum drop:
- Glowstone (max 4 dust per block)
- Sea lantern (max 5 prismarine crystals per block)
- Melon (max 9 slices per block)
Fortune does not push you past these caps. It just makes hitting them more likely. A glowstone block mined with bare hands averages around 2.5 dust, while Fortune III brings the average up close to the maximum of 4.
Crops on a hoe
Fortune on a hoe affects mature crops. Each level raises the chance of bonus seeds and produce from wheat, carrots, potatoes, and beetroots. The boost is small per block, but it adds up over a big farm. For a serious crop operation, a Fortune III diamond or netherite hoe pays back quickly.
Leaves and other plant blocks
Mining leaves with a Fortune tool raises the chance of saplings, sticks, and apples. Fortune III makes saplings much faster to collect when you are clearing a tree farm. The same idea applies to ferns and grass for seeds.
Gravel into flint
One of the most useful and least-known Fortune tricks works on a shovel. Mining gravel with a shovel has a low base chance to drop flint instead of gravel. Each level of Fortune raises that chance, and at Fortune III, every block of gravel drops flint. That is huge for arrow farms and for early-game crafting where flint is the bottleneck. A Fortune III shovel turns a gravel patch into a flint patch.
What Fortune does not affect
Some blocks ignore Fortune entirely. Anything that drops itself as a block (cobblestone, deepslate, andesite, granite, diorite, ancient debris) gets no benefit, because there is nothing to multiply. The drop is one block, no matter what tool you use.
Fortune also does not stack with Silk Touch. If you want the original block in one piece (a block of diamond ore for display, or a glowstone block to move) use Silk Touch on a different tool. You cannot have both enchantments on the same item.
Mob drops are also outside Fortune’s reach. The mob-drop equivalent is Looting, a separate enchantment for swords.
How to get Fortune
Enchanting table
The most common way to get Fortune is the enchanting table. With 15 bookshelves placed one block away from the table, you have a real shot at Fortune III when you enchant a diamond or netherite pickaxe at level 30. The enchanting table rolls randomly, so any single attempt may give you a different enchantment instead. Many players prefer to enchant books, which is cheaper per try and lets you keep the useful results until they roll the one they want.
Villager trades
A librarian villager can offer Fortune as an enchanted book trade. Place a lectern next to an unemployed villager and check what they offer. If the trade isn’t Fortune, break the lectern, wait for the villager to lose the job, and place it again. Repeat until they lock in a Fortune trade. Once a villager has gained experience past the novice tier, their trades stop refreshing, so set this up before leveling them up. Higher tiers unlock Fortune II and III.
Loot chests and fishing
Enchanted books with Fortune turn up in loot chests across the world. Dungeons, mineshafts, strongholds, ancient cities, and pillager outposts all have a chance to roll one. Fishing also occasionally pulls in enchanted books, but it takes a lot of casts and is slow compared to a librarian setup.
Anvil combining
Once you have a Fortune book, take it and the tool you want to enchant to an anvil. The first slot is the tool, the second is the book, and the result appears in the third slot. The cost in experience levels depends on how many other enchantments are already on the tool, and on how often that tool has been combined before (the prior-work penalty). Two Fortune III books combined together do not produce Fortune IV. Three is the maximum level.
Best ways to use Fortune
For most players, the best home for Fortune is a diamond or netherite pickaxe used for mining. Pair it with Unbreaking III, Mending, and Efficiency V, and you have a tool that will last for thousands of blocks and pay for itself in extra drops on every diamond, emerald, and redstone vein you hit.
If you run a melon or pumpkin farm, an axe with Fortune III pushes the melon block to its full 9 slices per mine, which roughly doubles your output. For wheat, carrots, potatoes, and beetroots, a Fortune III hoe is a steady upgrade once you have a stable diamond or netherite supply.
Save Silk Touch for a separate tool. A common loadout for a serious miner is one diamond pickaxe with Fortune III for ore mining and one diamond pickaxe with Silk Touch for moving glowstone, sea lanterns, ice, and lapis blocks intact. Most players hold both in their hotbar.
Java vs. Bedrock differences
Fortune works the same way on both editions for everyday use. The exact drop formulas have minor differences in how the random roll is calculated, but the caps, the exclusions, and the overall feel match up. Both editions cap Fortune at level III and both block it from coexisting with Silk Touch. There is nothing platform-specific that should change how you use the enchantment day to day.
Frequently asked questions
Does Fortune work on iron and gold ore?
Yes, since Java 1.17 (and the equivalent Bedrock update). Iron and gold ores drop raw iron and raw gold, and Fortune multiplies those drops. Before 1.17, those ores dropped the ore block itself (so you had to smelt them), and Fortune did nothing.
Does Fortune work on ancient debris?
No. Ancient debris drops itself as a block, so there is nothing for Fortune to multiply. You then smelt the block into netherite scrap in a furnace.
Can you combine Fortune and Silk Touch?
No. The two enchantments cancel each other out at the anvil and cannot coexist on the same tool. Pick one and use it on that tool.
What is the max level of Fortune?
Level III. There is no Fortune IV or higher in vanilla Minecraft, even by combining books at an anvil.
Is Fortune III worth it for coal?
Yes, if you mine a lot of coal. Fortune III pushes the average drop from coal ore to over two pieces per block, and the bonus adds up fast on a long mining session.
Does Fortune affect mob drops?
No. Fortune only affects blocks. Looting is the sword enchantment that boosts mob drops.
What tool should I put Fortune on first?
A diamond or netherite pickaxe. Diamonds, emeralds, and deepslate ores are where Fortune pays back the fastest, and a pickaxe is the most-used tool for mining.
Is a Fortune shovel worth it?
Yes, for one reason: guaranteed flint from gravel at Fortune III. If you make a lot of arrows or run a redstone setup that needs flint, a single Fortune III shovel pays for itself within a stack or two of gravel.
If you only have time to grind one enchantment to level III, Fortune is one of the cheapest decisions you will ever make. The extra drops pay for the enchantment in a single afternoon of mining, and the tool keeps paying every time you load the world.