How to Make a Bookshelf in Minecraft: How Many for Level 30
Six planks and 3 books make a bookshelf; 15 around an enchanting table unlock level 30. How to make a bookshelf, place it and move it with Silk Touch.
Fill the top and bottom rows of a crafting table with 6 planks and put 3 books across the middle row. That makes one bookshelf. Planks can be any wood and can be mixed. The main reason to build them is enchanting: 15 bookshelves around an enchanting table unlock level 30 enchantments.
The cost
Each bookshelf needs 3 books, and each book is 3 paper plus 1 leather. For the full 15 shelves that’s:
- 45 books
- 135 paper, from 135 sugar cane
- 45 leather
- 90 planks
Leather is usually the slow part. A cow pen you breed every day or two fixes that. If you’re short, break bookshelves you find in village libraries and strongholds; each drops 3 books.
Setting up for level 30
The enchanting table counts bookshelves that are:
- exactly one block away from the table, with an empty air gap between them
- on the same level as the table or one block higher
- within the 5×5 ring around the table
Fifteen shelves is the maximum that counts. The usual layout is a ring of shelves one block out from the table, leaving a gap for the door, stacked two high. Anything in that one-block gap (a torch, carpet, even a snow layer) blocks the shelf behind it, so keep the gap completely clear.
When it’s working, you’ll see glyphs float from the shelves into the table. Then the bottom enchantment slot shows level 30 offers. The enchanting table guide explains the costs and how the slots work.
Fewer shelves on purpose
You don’t always want level 30. Lower levels cost fewer levels and lapis, and sometimes you just want Efficiency on a stone pickaxe. Some players put a few shelves behind blocks they can remove, or use torches in the gap to switch shelves off, so they can choose the level.
Moving bookshelves
Breaking a bookshelf without Silk Touch gives you 3 books, not the shelf. You can recraft it, so nothing is lost except the planks, but a Silk Touch axe saves the trouble.
Other uses
- Lecterns. A bookshelf plus four wooden slabs makes a lectern, the librarian’s workstation. See all villager jobs.
- Decoration. Libraries, studies and wizard towers. Chiseled bookshelves, which actually store books, are a separate block.
- Fuel. A bookshelf burns in a furnace, though that’s a waste of books.
Once you have level 30 working, check the full enchantments list to see what you’re rolling for.
Common questions
How many bookshelves do you need for level 30 enchantments?
Fifteen. Each one has to be exactly one block away from the enchanting table, with air in between, on the same level as the table or one block higher.
What does a bookshelf drop when broken?
Three books. You need a Silk Touch tool to pick up the bookshelf itself.
Why aren't my bookshelves working?
Something is blocking the gap between them and the table. Torches, carpet, snow and other blocks in that one-block gap cut off the shelf behind them.
Sources & verification
Facts on this page are checked against these references and in-game behavior for the stated edition(s). how we verify.
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