Aqua Affinity Enchantment in Minecraft – Explained

Much like our real world, the oceans of Minecraft remain unexplored even after a decade after the game’s release. Most players go there to kill mobs or get loot from monuments. But with some planning, you can discover almost all the game’s ores and more in Minecraft’s water bodies. And with the presence of Warden in Minecraft, the caves are no longer safe anyways. However, the only problem is that Minecraft doesn’t allow you to mine correctly underwater. That’s where this handy guide comes in. We have covered the Aqua Affinity enchantment in Minecraft, which is the most reliable countermeasure to mining and exploring the water. We have included details about Aqua Affinity’s unique effects, spawning, and more. So, with further ado, let’s get started!

Aqua Affinity Enchantment in Minecraft (2022)

We will first cover the details and functioning of Aqua Affinity enchantment. But feel free to directly skip to the steps to acquire this useful enchantment using the table below.

Mining Underwater in Minecraft

Mining on the ground is relatively straightforward in Minecraft. You have to use a pickaxe and our Minecraft ore distribution guide to get any ore in the game. And the source material for the pickaxe defines how fast and effectively you can mine a block. But all of that changes when your character enters the water.

When a player’s head goes under the water, their mining speed decreases heavily. As a result, it takes about five times longer to mine underwater than on the ground. No type of pickaxe is exempt from this effect. Similarly, if you are floating in the water, there’s a separate five times decrease in the mining speed. So, it can take up to 25 times longer for you to mine than mining outside the water.

What is Aqua Affinity Enchantment?

Aqua Affinity is Minecraft’s solution to counter the mining penalty underwater. It is a helmet enchantment that increases your mining speed. You can apply Aqua Affinity enchantment on any helmet, including a turtle shell in the game. With it applied, your mining speed underwater becomes as much as your mining speed on land. All the mining penalties applied by the game are automatically ignored.

As the clip above shows, there is no difference in mining speed underwater and on the ground with Aqua Affinity active. Now, many of you might be wondering – are there multiple levels to this enchantment? Is there Aqua Affinity 2? And well, the answer is no. There is only one level of Aqua Affinity and you can’t make your mining speed faster underwater than on the land.

How to Get Aqua Affinity Enchantment in Minecraft

Even with rare functionality, Aqua Affinity is not a treasure enchantment. Instead, you can quickly obtain it using books, enchanting tables, and even chest loot. Feel free to try out each method till you find the one that feels most convenient and easiest to use.

Using Enchanting Table

The quickest way to obtain the Aqua Affinity enchantment is using an enchanting table. You can use our guide to make an enchanting table in Minecraft easily. Then, once it’s ready, you just have to place your helmet on the enchanting table to see the possible enchantments you can apply to it.

You might have to try the same process with different helmets until Aqua Affinity shows up on the table. You will have to use a lapis lazuli to enchant your helmet when the enchantment is available. Alternatively, you can also place books on the enchanting table to find and use this enchantment, but that can take hours.

Enchanted Books

You can find enchanted books in Minecraft with various enchantments, including Aqua Affinity. These books naturally spawn within:

• Dungeons
• Pillager Outposts
• Mineshafts
• Desert Temples
• Underwater Ruins
• Woodland Mansions
• Ancient Cities

You can also get enchanted books by trading with librarian villagers and fishing. But, irrespective of how you find them, you need to use our guide to learn how to use enchanted books in Minecraft. You can easily add Aqua Affinity to your helmets with that linked guide.

Command to Get Aqua Affinity

If nothing else works out, you can use one of the best Minecraft commands to get the job done. Instead of looking for Aqua Affinity, use the following command in your chat box to obtain a helmet with Aqua Affinity already applied.

/give @p diamond_helmet{Enchantments:[{id:aqua_affinity,lvl:1}]} 1

You can change the term “diamond” in the command to get any other type of helmet. We have tested this command in Minecraft 1.18, but it only works with the Java edition. Once you have applied the Aqua Affinity enchantment to your helmet, you need to equip the helmet to use it. You can do so by placing the enchanted helmet in the helmet column in your inventory. You can access the inventory by pressing the “i” key or the dedicated inventory button.

How to Use Aqua Affinity Enchantment

The helmet’s power doesn’t activate until you are in or under water. So, it’s best to equip a helmet with some other enchantments until you have to mine underwater.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is Better? Respiration 3 or Aqua Affinity?

Even though both Respiration 3 and Aqua Affinity enchantments are for helmets and are based underwater, they aren’t comparable. Aqua Affinity helps you mine faster underwater. Meanwhile, respiration allows you to breathe underwater. You can use the one that interests you the most.

Can You Put Aqua Affinity and Respiration Together?

You can use both Aqua Affinity and respiration enchantments on the same helmet. But you might have to use the enchanted book to apply the second enchantment.

‎Is There Aqua Affinity 2?

Aqua Affinity only has one level. There is no Aqua Affinity 2 or 3 in survival Minecraft. Practically, you don’t even need multiple levels of this enchantment as Aqua Affinity’s only job is to cancel underwater mining penalties.

Is Aqua Affinity Enchantment for Pickaxe?

The Aqua Affinity is a helmet enchantment even though it’s related to underwater mining. You don’t need an enchanted pickaxe to use it.

Use Aqua Affinity in Minecraft to Mine Faster Underwater

You are now ready to mine and collect underwater ores in Minecraft. But don’t stop here. The Aqua Affinity enchantment isn’t helpful at all if you can’t breathe underwater. So, make sure to create a Conduit in Minecraft. It’s a beacon-like block that helps you breathe underwater and also gives additional powers. With Aqua Affinity and Conduit on your side, you can be ready to rule the oceans of Minecraft in no time. And while you’re at it, make sure to get the costume of Aquaman from our list of best Minecraft skins to fit the part. You can also use some of the best trident enchantments to increase your attacking power. With that said, what do you want to use Aqua Affinity for? Tell us in the comments!