Silk Touch
Causes mined blocks to drop themselves instead of their usual items — for example, stone drops stone (not cobblestone), glass drops glass, and ice drops ice. Shears with Silk Touch allow collecting items like cobwebs and leaves intact.
Max level
1
Category
Tool
Applies to
Pickaxe, Shovel, Axe, Hoe, Shears
Conflicts with
Fortune
Best uses
Essential for collecting fragile or special blocks: glass, ice, packed ice, coral, sea lanterns, bookshelves, and Ender chests. Keep a separate Silk Touch pickaxe alongside a Fortune one for ores you want to move rather than crack.
How to get Silk Touch
Obtainable from an enchanting table or librarian villager trades. Also found in loot chests in structures. Apply to tools via anvil using an enchanted book.