Minecraft: Here’s What Fortune on a Shovel Does (Is It Really Useful?)

Minecraft is filled with useful tools we need to survive in its sometimes harsh environment. Pickaxes, axes, and shovels are just some of them we will have to craft in order to advance. Like with almost every type of usable item in Minecraft tools can be upgraded as well. Today we’re going to be focusing on one specific tool – a shovel. A shovel is used for digging naturally and it can be upgraded through enchantments as well. One specific enchantment we’re going to be taking a look at is fortune. Let’s see what does fortune do on a shovel in Minecraft and whether it is useful at all. 

What does fortune enchantment do in Minecraft? 

Fortune is among the most useful enchantments for tools in Minecraft. When applied to a tool such as a pickaxe, axe, hoe, or shovel, it gives you increased chances for certain item drops. These increased drop chances do not transfer to experience orbs, as experience drop rates are calculated differently unrelated to item and block drops. If you for example use fortune on a pickaxe, you can expect increased drop rates of whatever ore you are currently mining. When hoe enchanted with fortune is used on crops it gives you more crops. When it comes to axes, fortune does not provide more wood, it helps with apple drop rates as well as melon and watermelon drop rates, but besides that, it’s fairly useless.  

Fortune enchantment has 3 levels, and each level further increases the likelihood of certain items dropping, depending on the tool. 

Like most other enchantments, fortune can be acquired in the following ways:

• by using an enchanting table 
• there’s a chance of fortune enchantment being found while fishing
• fortune can be acquired from librarian villagers
• it can be looted from various structures dotting Minecraft’s world. Primarily in dungeon chests. 

Can fortune enchantment be used with silk touch enchantment? 

No, fortune enchantment cannot be used along with silk touch enchantment. Silk touch enchantment makes your blocks drop in their actual form, and fortune increases the drop rate of items that were supposed to drop from those blocks. You can see how those two enchantments do not mix well. It goes for all tools, not just shovels. 

Even if you try to use both effects on your tool, it won’t work. Silk touch will always take precedence and you will gain nothing from fortune, at least when it comes to blocks that are affected by both enchantments equally. 

Does fortune do anything on a shovel? 

Yes, fortune does have its usage on a shovel. A shovel is primarily a digging tool and can be used to acquire certain materials. Fortune on a shovel mostly increases the likelihood of flint dropping, keep in mind that fortune I and II are not very useful. If you plan on enchanting your shovel with fortune make sure it’s the highest possible level – level 3. Since it increases the likelihood of flint dropping to a whopping 100 %. Other blocks that can be broken with a shovel are not affected by fortune enchantment. That means that digging gravel with a shovel enchanted with fortune is most useful. 

Does fortune on a shovel gives more clay? 

No, fortune on a shovel does not give more clay. As we’ve mentioned before, the only thing affected by shovel enchantment is flint. Digging clay with fortune enchanted shovel will not increase the clay drop rates.

What enchantments can shovel in Minecraft receive?

Shovel in Minecraft can receive 6 enchantments in total. Some are more useful and some are less useful. A shovel can be enchanted by a silk touch that causes some blocks to drop themselves. Silk touch cannot be used along with the fortune as we’ve already discussed. Aside from silk touch and fortune, a shovel can also be enchanted with an efficiency that gives you increased mining speed while you’re using the shovel.

Unbreaking and mending enchantment are related since unbreaking reduces durability damage that your shovel receives, and mending uses experience orbs to repair your shovel. Both of those enchantments are extremely useful not only on shovels but on the rest of your items as well. The last effect you can have on your shovel is a curse of vanishing – which is, of course, a curse. The curse of vanishing causes your item to vanish from the world completely in case of your death.

To summarize everything, fortune is a fairly common enchantment that can be applied to a multitude of tools with a single purpose of increasing the drop rate of certain blocks and items. It’s mostly used on pickaxes and hoes while it’s less useful when applied to axes and shovels. Fortune enchantment cannot be combined with silk touch as the two are mutually exclusive. If you plan on enchanting your shovel with fortune, expect increased drop rates of flint, especially if your shovel is enchanted with fortune 3.

When your shovel has Fortune 3 applied flint drops 100 % of the time. While a shovel is used for digging a variety of blocks in Minecraft worlds, fortune works only with flint. If you expect more clay while you’re using an enchanted shovel on it, we have bad news for you. Fortune on a shovel does not give you more clay, only flint. 

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