In Minecraft, repairing items using an anvil comes with a cost that increases with each repair. This is known as the “prior work penalty.” The question of how many times you can repair an item before it becomes too expensive is a common one among players.
The Repair Cost Increase
The repair cost for an item increases exponentially with each repair. The exact formula is:
Repair Cost=2×Previous Cost 1\text{Repair Cost}=2\times \text{Previous Cost} 1Repair Cost=2×Previous Cost 1
So, the repair costs for an item are:
- First repair: 2 levels
- Second repair: 2 × 2 1 = 5 levels
- Third repair: 2 × 5 1 = 11 levels
- Fourth repair: 2 × 11 1 = 23 levels
- Fifth repair: 2 × 23 1 = 47 levels
- Sixth repair: 2 × 47 1 = 95 levels
The Anvil’s Limit
In survival mode, the anvil has a limit of 39 levels for a single repair operation. If the cost of a repair exceeds 39 levels, the anvil will reject the repair with the message “Too Expensive!”.
This means that in survival mode, you can only repair an item a maximum of 6 times before it becomes too expensive to repair further. After the sixth repair, the cost will exceed 39 levels.
It’s important to note that renaming an item alone does not count towards the repair limit and has a separate cost cap of 39 levels.