To craft an anvil in Minecraft, open a crafting table and place three blocks of iron across the top row, one iron ingot in the middle square and three iron ingots across the bottom row.
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That costs 31 iron ingots in total; below are the materials, the exact grid, what the anvil does once placed and why it eventually breaks.
Making anvils in Minecraft: overview
The anvil recipe is shaped, so every item has to sit in its own square, and it is a crafting table recipe that fills the full three-by-three grid.
- Smelt 31 iron ingots, or gather 27 ingots plus three blocks of iron.
- Craft three blocks of iron, each from nine iron ingots filling the whole crafting grid.
- Open a crafting table.
- Place the three blocks of iron across the top row.
- Place one iron ingot in the middle square of the middle row and leave the two squares beside it empty.
- Place three iron ingots across the bottom row.
- Take the anvil from the output slot and move it into your inventory.
What you need to make an anvil
| Item | Amount for one anvil | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Block of iron | 3 | Nine iron ingots in a full crafting table grid |
| Iron ingot | 4 (plus 27 for the blocks) | Smelt raw iron in a furnace or a blast furnace |
| Crafting table | 1 | Four planks of any type in a square |
| Total iron | 31 iron ingots | 27 inside the three blocks, 4 placed as ingots |
The anvil is cheaper to make than it used to be. When it arrived in the Pretty Scary Update in October 2012 it took six blocks of iron and one ingot.
How to make iron ingots and blocks of iron for an anvil
- Mine iron ore to collect raw iron; smeltable ores drop their raw form instead of the ore block.
- Place the raw iron in a furnace or a blast furnace with fuel.
- Collect the iron ingots from the output slot until you have 31.
- Open a crafting table and fill all nine squares with iron ingots, not raw iron.
- Take the block of iron from the output slot and repeat until you have three blocks.
- Keep the remaining four ingots for the anvil recipe itself.
Where each item goes in the anvil crafting grid
Read the grid as three rows of three squares, the same way the crafting table shows it.
| Row | Left square | Middle square | Right square |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Block of iron | Block of iron | Block of iron |
| Middle | Empty | Iron ingot | Empty |
| Bottom | Iron ingot | Iron ingot | Iron ingot |
How to check the anvil crafted correctly
- Look at the output slot after placing the last ingot; the anvil appears there only when the layout matches the shaped recipe.
- Move the anvil to your hotbar and place it on a solid block.
- Check that it stays put: an anvil with nothing underneath falls like sand and gravel.
- Look at the placed block; damage shows on the anvil itself, and a newly crafted one is a plain anvil rather than a chipped or damaged one.
What you can do with an anvil in Minecraft
| Use | What you put in | Cost or effect |
|---|---|---|
| Rename an item | The item, then a new name | One level of XP at first, rising with each rework |
| Repair with materials | The item plus the material it was made from, such as an iron ingot for an iron pickaxe | Each material restores 25% durability |
| Repair by combining | Two copies of exactly the same item | Durability adds together plus a small bonus; enchantments merge |
| Add an enchantment | A tool plus an enchanted book | Less XP than combining two enchanted tools |
| Drop it as a trap | Place it with no block underneath | Damage grows with fall distance, capped at 40 blocks (20 hearts) |
Every rework adds a prior work penalty, so rename an item in the same step as a repair or enchantment. Elytra repair with phantom membranes, turtle shells with scutes and chainmail with iron ingots.
Combining is often the cheaper repair: a diamond shovel needs four diamonds to repair fully, but a fresh diamond shovel costs one diamond and restores it completely.
How long an anvil lasts before it breaks
Each use has a 12% chance to damage the anvil. It can be damaged three times before it is destroyed, the damage shows on the block itself, and it lasts about 25 uses on average.
| Stage | Block ID | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Anvil | minecraft:anvil | Next damage roll turns it chipped |
| Chipped anvil | minecraft:chipped_anvil | Next damage roll turns it damaged |
| Damaged anvil | minecraft:damaged_anvil | Next damage roll destroys it |
| Destroyed | None | Craft a new anvil; a worn anvil cannot be repaired |
Fix an anvil that will not craft or keeps breaking
Nothing appears in the output slot
One item is in the wrong square, or the recipe is not on a crafting table.
- Open a crafting table.
- Check the top row holds three blocks of iron, not ingots.
- Clear the left and right squares of the middle row.
- Fill the bottom row with three iron ingots.
Raw iron in the grid made a block of raw iron, not a block of iron
Raw ore items craft into their own compact block; the anvil needs blocks of iron made from smelted iron ingots.
- Smelt the raw iron in a furnace or blast furnace.
- Craft the blocks of iron from nine iron ingots each.
- Return to the anvil recipe.
The anvil is missing from the Bedrock recipe book
The recipe unlocks only after a block of iron has been in your inventory.
- Craft one block of iron from nine ingots.
- Keep it in your inventory.
- Reopen the crafting table and search the recipe book again.
The anvil fell after placing it
Anvils obey gravity and drop when the block below is missing.
- Place a solid block where the anvil should rest.
- Place the anvil on top of that block.
- Keep items off the floor beneath a raised anvil; a falling anvil crushes them.
The anvil turned into a chipped or damaged anvil
Each use carries a 12% chance of damage, and a worn anvil cannot be repaired.
- Keep using it; it can take three rounds of damage before it is destroyed.
- Save 31 iron ingots for a replacement once it reaches the damaged stage.
- Craft the new anvil with the same recipe.
Minecraft anvil FAQ
How many iron ingots does an anvil take?
An anvil takes 31 iron ingots. Twenty-seven go into the three blocks of iron that fill the top row, and four more are placed as loose ingots: one in the middle square and three across the bottom row of the crafting table.
Can you craft an anvil without blocks of iron?
No. The recipe needs three blocks of iron in the top row, and loose ingots in those squares produce nothing. Craft each block of iron from nine ingots first, then lay out the anvil recipe in the crafting table.
Do you need a crafting table to make an anvil?
Yes. The anvil is a crafting table recipe whose pattern is three squares wide and three rows tall. Make a crafting table from four planks of any type, place it, and lay the blocks of iron and ingots out on its grid.
Can you repair a damaged anvil?
No. A chipped or damaged anvil cannot be repaired. Each use has a 12% chance to damage it, it can be damaged three times before it is destroyed, and on average it lasts about 25 uses before it has to be replaced.
What can you repair with an anvil?
An anvil repairs a tool with the material it was made from, such as an iron ingot for an iron pickaxe, restoring 25% durability per material. Elytra take phantom membranes, turtle shells take scutes and chainmail takes iron ingots. Two identical items can also be combined.
How much XP does it cost to rename an item on an anvil?
Renaming costs one level of XP at first. The cost climbs each time the same item is reworked because of the prior work penalty, so renaming in the same step as a repair or enchantment keeps the total lower.
Do anvils fall in Minecraft?
Yes. Anvils fall like sand and gravel when no block supports them. A falling anvil damages whatever it lands on based on fall distance, up to 40 blocks or 20 hearts of damage, and it crushes dropped items. A helmet cuts the damage by 25%.
Why is the anvil not in my recipe book?
In Bedrock Edition the anvil recipe unlocks once a block of iron has been in your inventory. Craft one block of iron from nine iron ingots, keep it in your inventory, then reopen the crafting table and check the recipe book again.
