Anvil in Minecraft: How to Make & Use It

Once you start playing Minecraft, you’ll discover that there are so many new blocks, tools, and other items that you might get overwhelmed at first.

Worry not - each one of the tools in this game has a purpose in your new adventure. In this Minecraft tutorial, we will talk about the anvil in Minecraft, a great tool that has multiple uses to unleash your creativity.

So, brace yourself and let us show you information about:

• What is anvil in Minecraft;
• What can you use this block for;
• The materials you’ll need to create an anvil in the crafting table.

What Is an Anvil in Minecraft?

Anvils are iron tools used to repair damaged items and rename items at your will.

Unlike Grindstones, which also repair items, a Minecraft Anvil can repair enchanted items without losing the enchantments.

If you have played this game before, then you know that repairing items is not optional: your enchanted or ordinary items will eventually break!

Therefore, instead of looking for a new item, just craft or find an anvil in Minecraft and let it do all the work for you.

What Can You Use Anvils For?

Before you get to know how to make an Anvil, it’s necessary to understand the uses you can give to this block.

Keep in mind that anvils can become damaged over time, so it is normal for them to break after a while.

In that case, it’s important to mention that you can repair items with anvils, but you can’t repair an anvil once it has been broken due to excessive use.

Repairing Normal and Enchanted Items

This is the main use that Minecraft players can give to anvils. You can repair weapons (like a sword), a piece of armor, and even an iron pickaxe if you want.

There are two main ways to repair items with an anvil in Minecraft. First, you will need a damaged item. Then, lead to the anvil.

Option 1: Place the item you want to repair + the same undamaged item in the crafting grid as shown in the image below:

You can do this with weapons, turtle shells, pickaxes, and more.

Option 2: Place the item you want to repair + the materials used to create such an item in the crafting grid. For example, imagine you need to fix a diamond axe:

Place the axe plus the diamond in a row, and the axe will be repaired in the blink of an eye!

As you might guess, repairing items with an anvil is not free - it will cost you some experience points depending on the specific item you want to fix.

Renaming Objects

Have you ever wanted to put a specific name for a sword like, let’s say, “Ultimate Sword 2000” or something like that? Well, you can rename items with the help of an anvil! It’s an easy process that will cost you only one level.

Keep in mind that the new name of your item must have a maximum length of 35 characters.

Anvil Projectile and Enchanted Books

You can add enchanted books to armor or weapons using an anvil! What’s more, you can even combine enchanted books with the anvil, creating a powerful item that will surely help you in your adventure.

Finally, you can also make an anvil in Minecraft to use as a heavy projectile. Have you ever seen this happening in cartoons, like Tom & Jerry? Well, it happens in Minecraft too!

This is a massive block - placing it above the sand, or other soft blocks will cause the anvil to fall.

You can create traps with an anvil in Minecraft, but it’s kind of an expensive block to make, so you might want to look at other options.

How to Make an Anvil in Minecraft

Here is step-by-step how to craft anvil Minecraft.

Step 1: Get Required Materials (Anvil Recipe)

Now, it’s time to take a look at the Minecraft anvil recipe. But, just before we proceed, we must mention that anvils can be naturally generated in the Forge Room of the Woodland Mansion.

Still, this will be a damaged anvil, so it might now work for long. Also, if you are playing Minecraft on Creative Mode, you can find anvils as “decoration blocks” in the Creative Menu.

Iron Ore

Anvils are made of iron. Therefore, you need to find Iron Ore that will later be turned into blocks with the help of a furnace.

You can find Iron Ore in caves using a stone or an iron pickaxe.

Once you’ve got Ore, it’s time to smelt it in the furnace. You can use coal as fuel to power up the furnace if you want, but keep in mind that you’ll need 31 pieces of iron!

Iron Ingot

One smelted Ore will turn into one Iron Ingot. You will need lots of iron ingots, so prepare yourself to mine for a while!

Iron Blocks

Now, the Minecraft anvil recipe it’s almost done! Nonetheless, you still need some iron blocks.

In order to make them, you need to place 9 ingots in the crafting table, as shown in the image below:

Step 2: Once Iron Ingots Turn into Iron Blocks, Open the Crafting Table

You are almost ready! Open the crafting table and place the materials in the following order:

• Three blocks of iron in the top row;
• One iron ingot in the middle square (second row);
• Three iron ingots in the bottom row.

There you go! You are now ready to make an anvil. Luckily, this Minecraft anvil recipe is easy to remember, so you won’t have any problem trying to make one in the future.

A Minecraft Anvil is not afraid of a hammer!

That’s basically it! Anvils in Minecraft have lots of fantastic uses to improve your gaming experience.

You now have all the knowledge required to craft an anvil and use it at your will!

Make sure to also check the crying obsidian tutorial and how to make a conduit.

Minecraft’s Anvil FAQ

Is a Grindstone Better Than an Anvil?

It depends. If you just want to fix a certain item, then a Grindstone will do the job.

Nonetheless, if the item is enchanted and you don’t want to lose its enchantment, then use an anvil instead.

How Many Times Can an Anvil Be Used in Minecraft?

Minecraft’s official website says that, on average, you can use an anvil 25 times before it gets destroyed. Still, this number can increase or decrease depending on how lucky you are!