Balanced Anvils Mod FAQ

Open a regular anvil, put the damaged item in the first slot, and put its repair material (like diamonds for a diamond sword) or a matching item in the second slot. As long as no enchantment is added or upgraded, the result costs zero XP levels.

No. Put any item in the first slot, type a new name in the text box, and take it from the result slot without spending any XP levels.

Something in the combination added a new enchantment or upgraded an existing one, and those operations keep their normal XP cost. For example, combining two Golden Axes with Efficiency III into Efficiency IV costs XP, and so does adding a Mending book to a Fishing Rod.

Yes, if the result doesn't gain a new or higher enchantment. A broken Iron Sword with Sharpness V combined with a broken Iron Sword with Sharpness IV gives a repaired Sharpness V sword at no cost, because the result keeps the Sharpness V it already had.

Simple repairs and renames no longer increase the hidden anvil work penalty, so you can repair or rename the same item repeatedly without making later anvil work pricier. Adding or upgrading enchantments still raises the penalty as usual.

You still need a repair material or a matching item in the second slot. Only the XP level cost is removed, not the material cost.

No. The mod changes how the normal anvil calculates costs, so you place and use any regular anvil the way you always have.

Yes. It works in singleplayer worlds as well as on dedicated multiplayer servers.

Only enchanting work costs XP and builds up the work penalty, so plan which enchantments you want and add them in as few anvil steps as possible. Repair and rename the item freely whenever you like, since those steps don't cost XP or add to the penalty.