Updated 25 October 2026. Facts on this page come from minecraft.wiki, minecraft.net and the live Artemis PvP server; sources are listed at the bottom.
Aqua Affinity Enchantment in Minecraft: What It Does
Aqua Affinity removes the underwater mining penalty: normally blocks break five times slower with your head underwater, and Aqua Affinity makes it normal speed. It has one level and goes on helmets.
Aqua Affinity at a glance
| Max level | I |
| Goes on | Helmets |
| Cannot combine with | None. |
| Where to get it | Enchanting tables, librarians, fishing and loot. |
Get enchantments from an enchanting table with bookshelves, from enchanted books on an anvil, from librarian villagers, or as loot (a few, like Wind Burst, only come from special loot such as ominous vaults); see enchanting and anvils.
What does Aqua Affinity do?
It only fixes the underwater penalty; being off the ground while swimming is a separate five times slowdown, so stand on a block while mining. More: mining speed.
More about Aqua Affinity
It is essential for clearing ocean monuments and building underwater bases. Haste or Conduit Power speeds things up even more.
Enchanting tables use lapis lazuli and experience levels, anvils combine books and gear, and librarians sell books. Treasure enchantments only come from loot, trading and fishing, never the table, and higher levels cost more experience to apply and repair.
An enchanted book combines with an item of the right type at an anvil, and two books or items with the same enchantment at the same level merge into the next level up. Each anvil use raises the item's repair cost, so plan the order of your combinations and add Mending early.
Tips for Aqua Affinity
Combine it with Respiration so you can both breathe and mine underwater. Every enchantment: every enchantment.
Does ArtemisPvP have custom enchants too?
Frequently asked questions
What does Aqua Affinity do?
Removes the underwater mining slowdown.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.