The Mace is one of the most unique weapons in all of Minecraft. Aside from how challenging and time consuming it is to get one for yourself, it offers some of the most unique enchantments in the game!
But with multiple unique enchantments and Minecraft's tendency to not explain how they work, it can be hard to tell which ones are the best for your Mace. After all is said and done, odds are you will only have one of these applied to your weapon, so you need to make it count. To make that decision easier, we've organized every enchantment for the Mace into a list, starting with the best.
1. Wind Burst
Despite not actually increasing damage output, Wind Burst is easily the most beneficial enchantment for the Mace. It's also the most fun! When you successfully strike a target with a Smash Attack, a gust of wind will explode at the point of contact, pushing back mobs and pushing you high into the air.
Depending on the enchantment level, you'll be respectively launched either 8, 16, or 24 blocks up. Why is this so important? Because you can use that height to perform another Smash Attack! That, in turn, activates Wind Burst, launching you up. With this enchantment, you can constantly chain Smash Attacks until you no longer have a target. Best of all, you'll most likely be too far away from the ground for the mob to hit you back.
2. Density
There's not a lot of complication to Density. This enchantment increases the damage of Smash Attacks With five enchantments levels, each one adds an extra 0.5 damage for every extra block fallen.
For example: Density V will add 2.5 damage per block fallen, so a Smash Attack from ten blocks up will deal 25 more damage on top of the base damage of 30.
What makes Density really special is the lack of height scaling. Smash Attacks deal less damage per block after three and eight blocks up, whereas Density is constant. This means that it's especially powerful when making tremendously high-up Smash Attacks.
3. Breach
Breach has the potential to be the most dangerous enchantment on the Mace, but only against other players. With four enchantment levels, each one reduces how effective the target's armor is. Fully maxed out, Breach can make Netherite Armor as weak as Leather Armor.
What holds it back is the lack of use it has outside of PvP. The only mobs to naturally wear armor are Piglins and Shulkers. And while it's pretty good against Shulker armor, it doesn't have enough use outside of that to beat out the other unique enchantments.
4. Mending
The classic king of all enchantments, Mending will never rank low on a list like this. When held, items with this enchantment consume EXP orbs on the ground to repair itself. And with how much effort getting a Mace is, you certainly won't want yours to break on you.
Repairing a Mace without the enchantment isn't hard. You just need to combine it with Breeze Rods at an Anvil, but the cost will become greater after every repair.
5. Unbreaking
Unbreaking is like Mending, but not quite as effective. This enchantment makes your Mace last longer by reducing how much durability damage it takes per attack. This means more action and less time spent repairing your Mace.
This is especially helpful if your mace is at low durability on long fights against boss mobs, like the Warden. They'll require countless attacks before dropping any EXP orbs, which renders Mending useless until the fight is over. Unbreaking ensures it makes it that far.
6. Smite
When it comes to mob-specific enchantments, Smite reigns supreme. Dealing extra damage to undead mobs, it affects the most common hostile mob type. And with up to five levels, each attack could deal up to 12.5 more damage.
What holds back Smite the most is enchantment exclusivity. It's not compatible with Density, Breach, or Bane of Arthropods. Cutting off access to the two best enchantments for the Mace makes his one remarkably less appealing.
7. Fire Aspect
Is there anything more hardcore than a flaming Mace? And while it's bested out by other enchantments, Fire Aspect still delivers. When striking a mob, this enchantment lights them on fire for four seconds. The first level deals a total of three damage, while the second deals seven.
A small boost of damage is nice, but generally overshadowed by more effective spells or switching to the right weapon. Fortunately, this is not an exclusive enchantment, so you can have Density AND Fire Aspect.
Beside pure effectiveness, this enchantment has an amusing use case as well: cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens that die while on fire will drop the cooked version of their meat, making this an easy way to "pre-cook" your farm animals.
8. Bane of Arthropods
Bane of Arthropods is, in short, a less appealing version of Smite. With a total of five levels available, it deals up to 12.5 damage to arthropods, which covers spiders, bees, cave spiders, endermites, and silverfish.
Spiders are the most common mob on that list, and they still pale in comparison to zombies and skeletons. This makes the usefulness of this enchantment pretty limited, especially since it's exclusive.
Mods that Enhance Mace Enchantments
The Mace might have some interesting enchantments. But with the different limitations of vanilla Minecraft, it sometimes feels a bit limited. If you're looking to expand on what's available, consider giving modding a try, starting with these mods.
Dis-Enchanting Table
This straightforward mod is an absolute game changer for anyone wanting to craft the perfect weapon or armor. It introduces a new item, the titular Dis-Enchanting Table.
When given an enchanted item, the table allows you to remove the enchantments and place them onto a book instead. This way, you can stockpile the important enchantments you want to keep, even if it's on a different item. When you want it back on something, just combine them with an Anvil like usual.
Incantationem
Incantationem aims to expand on the default enchantment pool. This mod introduces 13 new enchantment effects for tools, weapons, and armor. Most can be found as random effects at an Enchanting Table, while others are only found as loot.
The new enchantments follow the themes of the vanilla game, granting effects like higher jump height, increased speed, or even more unique effects like increased item magnetism. It also adds four new curses, with effects ranging from giving you bad luck to increasing the risk of being struck by lightning.
Merge Enchantments
One of the most frustrating things about enchanting in vanilla Minecraft is the exclusivity system. Certain enchantments blocking others from being added to the same item can completely throw off your tool or armor plans.
This back-end mod gets rid of that limitation, allowing you to combine previously conflicting enchantments, like Smite and Sharpness. In the case of Maces, this means you could have Density and Wind Burst on a single weapon.
How to Install Minecraft Mods
You can install the above mods automatically using the CurseForge app or manually by placing the mod files within your game’s mods folder. Both methods allow you to easily add custom features and enhancements into your vanilla Minecraft experience.If you want to learn more, you can read our detailed guide on how to install Minecraft mods.
Common Issues and Quick Fixes
Combining two items on an anvil is "Too Expensive."
Minecraft has an exponential limitation on combining enchantments. Every time you do it, it gets more expensive. If the cost ever exceeds 40 levels of Experience, the game will label it "Too Expensive" and refuse to combine the items.
Unfortunately, once this happens, there's no way to reduce that built up cost on that item. To avoid it, try to have as few Anvil combinations on an item as possible when combining enchantments.
I'm not getting the enchantment I want from an Enchanting Table.
Not every enchantment is equally likely to appear at the Enchantment Table. Some are rarer. So rare, in fact, that you may need a stronger table before it will even appear.
The solution to this is easy: build more bookcases around the Enchanting Table. You'll know it works when you see runes floating between them. When enchanting, be sure to pick the higher, more expensive option.
My Smash Attacks aren't triggering.
The Smash Attack mechanic of the Mace only activates when you hit a qualifying target. This includes any "entity," like players, mobs, or armor stands.
A few things will also prevent a valid Smash Attack from triggering. Be sure none of these apply to your attacks:
- You haven't fallen by at least 1.5 blocks before attacking.
- You are actively using an Elytra.
- You are under the Slow Falling effect.