Do you give names to your tools in Minecraft? For instance, I have a shovel named Doug, a pickaxe called Michael, an axe referred to as Nenesy, and a sword known as Courvoisier Choppaton III.
In October 2012, a rather frightening update introduced anvils into the game, along with witches, carrots, flower pots, pumpkin pie, and a carrot on a stick. Initially, crafting an anvil required six iron blocks and one iron ingot, which was quite expensive. Over time, the crafting recipe was simplified, and now it consists of three iron blocks and four ingots.
There are five primary actions you can perform with anvils. First, they can be used to rename items. The more frequently you alter an item’s name, the higher the cost becomes. Therefore, it is advisable to rename items while simultaneously repairing or enchanting them. Secondly, you can repair items. This process requires basic materials that correspond to the tool’s composition, such as iron ingots and iron pickaxes. Each of these items will restore 25% of its durability.
The third option is to merge two items. This process requires that you use only identical objects (meaning you cannot combine a wooden pickaxe with an iron one). When merging two items, their durability and enchantments are combined. A professional tip: repairing tools through merging often proves to be more cost-effective than using basic materials. For instance, fixing a diamond shovel typically needs four diamonds, but you can achieve the same result by combining a broken shovel with a new diamond one made from two diamonds.
The fourth method involves enchanting tools using enchantment books. This process consumes significantly less health compared to merging two enchanted tools together. However, when dealing with high-level enchantments, it can become quite costly.
Lastly, the most exciting feature in Minecraft Bedrock is the ability to drop anvils on players and objects. Anvils will fall if there is no block beneath them, inflicting damage to anything below (up to 20 hearts). They also crush any items, so be cautious about what you leave lying around. To protect yourself from falling anvils, consider wearing a helmet, which reduces damage by 25%.
Another aspect worth mentioning is that each time an anvil is used, there is a 12% chance it may sustain damage. After three instances of such damage, it will be completely broken. On average, an anvil can be utilized about 25 times, but this largely depends on your luck. Unfortunately, anvils cannot be repaired, and what would you even use to fix them? In the real world, anvils are older than humans. Many animals utilize hard surfaces as anvils for cracking nuts and shells.
The first anvils created by humans were made from stone, but as metalworking advanced, bronze versions emerged, followed later by wrought iron ones with steel coatings. Nowadays, most anvils are simply crafted from solid steel.
Throughout their history, the design of anvils has undergone continuous evolution, starting from a simple solid mass and evolving through various transformations to meet different needs. The most common style today is the “London pattern,” which features a tool hole at one end, a flat surface with a rounded edge on top, a step, and a horn for shaping curved pieces.
In the past, there was an intriguing activity known as shooting at anvils. In British Columbia, during Victoria Day in 1860, a salute of 21 anvils replaced the traditional 21-gun salute. Additionally, there was a custom of heating anvils on St. Clement’s Day, honoring the patron saint of blacksmiths and metalworkers.
