The enchantment table never offers any enchants for a diamond sword. I've enchanted countless other items. I often put in my diamond sword and see that there are no enchants available, then enchant a book to reset the enchantment seed, then put the sword in again, and still no enchants are available. This is in an enchanting table with the maximum number of bookshelves and at least level 30 experience.

Is there something wrong with my world, or is this normal? I don't see anything in the wiki that would suggest this behavior.

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3 Answers

Any tool can only be enchanted once. If the tool has been previously enchanted, or you have used an enchanted book on it in the anvil, then it can not be re-enchanted regardless of how much experience you have.

In addition to the Diamond Sword, you also need Lapis Lazulli (3) to enchant.

source

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As of 1.8, Lapis is a required part of Enchanting in Minecraft

Enchanting procedure

In order to enchant, the player needs an Enchantment Table, several Experience Points and the item they wish to enchant. As of 1.8 The Bountiful Update, Lapis Lazuli is required as well.

Note: this is the Lapis Lazuli Item, not the ore, or the block.

Additionally, you also require a minimum of 15 bookshelves, placed 1 block away from the Enchanting Table, to gain access to the tier 3 enchantments. If you do not have 15 bookshelves, you cannot enchant your equipment with tier 3, regardless of how much experience you have, or how much Lapis.

Finally, you need at least 30 levels of experience, to gain access to tier 3 enchantments. Successfully enchanting an item will cost experience, and could drop you below level 30, which will lock out access until you once again gain more experience.

So, to recap: To access tier 3 enchantments in the enchanting table, you need a minimum of

  • 15 bookshelves, placed 1 block away from the enchanting table
  • 3 Lapis
  • 30 levels of experience

If you do not meet all 3 of these requirements, you cannot access tier 3 enchantments.

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