What does the Smite enchantment do in Minecraft?

As you are traveling your world in Minecraft, you are likely at some point to come across an enchantment called Smite. This is one of the more common enchantments in the game that you can find already attached to specific items. While you may already have a book or item with Smite, you should probably know what the enchantment does so you are not wasting it. Here is what Smite does and how you can get it in Minecraft.

Related: How to get the Sweeping Edge enchantment in Minecraft, and what it does

What is the Smite enchantment?

Smite is an enchantment that can only be placed on a sword or axe. When applied to one of these items, that weapon will now deal increased damage to undead mobs like Zombies, Skeletons, Phantoms, Drowned, etc. There are five total levels of Smite available in Minecraft, with each level dealing an increase of two and a half hearts damage to the undead. Smite can not be combined with a sword or axe with the Bane of Arthropods, Sharpening, or Cleaving enchantments.

How to get the Smite enchantment

Now you know that items with Smite send the undead back to where they came from, so how do you go about getting it? Unfortunately, like other enchantments in Minecraft, it will take a little bit of luck. Our recommended way of trying to get enchantments is through fishing with the Luck of the Sea enchantment. Just keep fishing and hoping to get better loot as you pull items in. You can also potentially find Swords or Axes with Smite on them in the wild, although they are usually lower level.

Besides that, you can level up yourself by collecting experience orbs and try getting Smite using an Enchantment Table. Though, with this method, you will not know precisely what enchantment you are paying for when you use it. The only way to guarantee that you are putting Smite on an item is to use an enchantment book.