How Mending Works
Mending repairs items by converting experience points into durability. When a player collects XP orbs, the game checks for items with the Mending enchantment and attempts to repair them. However, the mechanics of how Mending chooses which item to repair have changed over time.
Offhand vs. Main Hand
In current versions of Minecraft, Mending works equally well for items in the offhand and main hand. The game no longer prioritizes one hand over the other when deciding which item to repair. This means that a damaged item with Mending in the offhand has an equal chance of being repaired as one in the main hand.
Prioritizing Damaged Items
As of Minecraft version 1.16, the Mending enchantment prioritizes repairing damaged items over fully repaired ones. If a player has a damaged item with Mending in their offhand and a fully repaired item with Mending in their main hand, the game will attempt to repair the damaged item first.
Maximizing Mending Efficiency
To ensure that a specific item gets repaired, players should:
Equip only the item they want to repair
Unequip other Mending items that are fully repaired
Collect XP while holding the damaged item
This strategy works for both main hand and offhand items.
XP Sources for Mending
Players can use various XP sources to repair Mending items:
Mob farms
Smelting items in furnaces
Trading with villagers
Fishing
Mining ores
When using these methods, remember that having the item you want to repair as the only equipped Mending item will ensure it receives all the XP for repairs.
Bedrock Edition Considerations
It’s worth noting that Bedrock Edition has limited offhand functionality compared to Java Edition. While Mending still works on offhand items in Bedrock, players can only place certain items like shields, maps, and totems in the offhand slot.