Fortune, Looting and Fishing
How many diamonds Fortune III gives, what mobs drop with Looting, and how Luck of the Sea changes the catch — worked out exactly from the game's loot tables, with the average, range, and chance of every item.
Experience: 3–7 per block.
What drops
- Diamond1 to 42.2on average
Fortune or Silk Touch
- None
1 - Fortune I1.33
- Fortune II1.75
- Fortune III2.2
- Silk Touch
1
- ≈ 141 Diamond · 2 stacks + 13
Where these numbers come from
Everything a block, mob, or fishing rod drops is described by a loot table — a file in the game's data. The calculator reads the same Java 26.3 tables and works them out exactly: not an average over a thousand trials but the distribution of every item — the average, the range, and the chance of getting at least one.
Fortune works differently on different blocks: it multiplies diamonds and iron, adds to redstone and glowstone, gives crops extra seed rolls, and raises the chance of flint and saplings from gravel and leaves. Looting adds to a mob's regular drops and raises the chance of rare ones. Luck of the Sea adds no items but shifts the catch weights towards treasure.
Frequently asked questions
How many diamonds does Fortune III give?
2.2 per ore on average: 1 to 4, with 1 and 2 the most common. Fortune I averages 1.33 and Fortune II 1.75. The loot table formula multiplies the drop by a random number from 1 to the level + 1, with double the chance of 1. Iron, gold, copper, coal, emerald, lapis, and quartz work the same way.
Is Fortune or Silk Touch better for ores?
For resources, Fortune: it yields 2.2 times more diamonds and lapis. Silk Touch brings back the ore block itself, with no experience. It is handy for carrying ore home: a placed ore block, mined later with a Fortune pickaxe, drops just as much as in the mine.
How does Looting work?
For regular drops each level adds 0 to 1 item: with Looting III a zombie drops up to 5 rotten flesh instead of 2. Rare drops — wither skeleton skulls, iron and carrots from zombies — gain 1% chance per level: a skull drops 2.5% of the time, 5.5% with Looting III. Rare drops only happen when a player kills the mob.
What does Luck of the Sea do?
Each level adds one point of luck, and luck shifts the catch weights: treasure +2, junk −2, fish −1. Without enchantments treasure is 5%, with Luck of the Sea III 11.3%, and junk drops from 10% to 4.1%. Treasure only comes from open water: the bobber needs 5×4×5 blocks of water and air around it.
How much does Lure speed up fishing?
Each level takes 5 seconds off the wait for a bite, which lasts 5 to 30 seconds without enchantments. With Lure III the wait can drop to zero, leaving only the time the fish needs to swim to the bobber: on average bites come about three times faster. Lure never goes above III in survival.