The Eternal Debate: Mending vs. Infinity
Ever since the Combat Update reshaped Minecraft’s mechanics, players have been locked in a friendly but fierce argument. On one side, the Mending enchantment keeps your tools alive forever by siphoning experience orbs. On the other, Infinity lets you fire a bow endlessly with a single arrow in your inventory. For years, these two enchantments were mutually exclusive — you couldn’t have both on the same bow. Mojang’s decision was deliberate, meant to force a meaningful choice between sustainability and convenience. But what if you never agreed with that limitation? What if you believe a god-tier bow deserves both? That’s exactly where the Mendfinity datapack steps in, quietly rewriting the rules of enchanting.
What Exactly Is Mendfinity?
Mendfinity is a lightweight, vanilla-friendly datapack that removes the exclusivity between Mending and Infinity. Once installed, the anvil becomes your best friend again. You can combine a Mending book with an Infinity bow, or merge two enchanted items directly, and the game won’t throw that frustrating “Too Expensive!” or incompatibility error. The datapack doesn’t add new items, blocks, or biomes — it simply tweaks a single enchantment conflict that has divided the community for ages. It’s perfect for survival purists who want a small quality-of-life change without overhauling the core experience.
How It Works Behind the Scenes
Technically, Mendfinity modifies the game’s loot table and anvil mechanics at the data level. In vanilla Minecraft, the enchantment_compatibility tag prevents Mending and Infinity from coexisting. This datapack overrides that tag, allowing the two enchantments to sit side by side on a bow. Because it’s a datapack, it doesn’t require mod loaders like Forge or Fabric. It runs on pure command functions and JSON files, making it incredibly stable across updates and versions. Even better, it doesn’t break achievements or disable advancements, so your hardcore world stays legitimate.
Why Players Crave This Combination
The appeal is immediate once you’ve spent hours in a late-game world. A bow with Infinity saves inventory space — you never need to craft or carry stacks of arrows. But without Mending, that bow will eventually break, forcing you to craft a new one and re-enchant it, losing all the hard-earned levels. Mendfinity solves that dilemma elegantly. Your trusty bow now repairs itself with every mob kill while still firing infinite arrows. It’s the ultimate tool for exploring sprawling biomes, raiding end cities, or defending your base during a pillager raid. The combination feels so natural that many players argue it should have been the default all along.
Installation: Simple and Straightforward
Getting Mendfinity running takes less than a minute. You don’t need to mess with server files or complicated mod folders. Just download the datapack, drop it into your world’s datapacks folder, and reload the world. For those who prefer an even smoother experience, this mod can be easily installed via the foxygame.net launcher — a convenient, flexible, and modern Minecraft launcher where you can download mods right from the menu. Once activated, the change applies globally, so every anvil in your world instantly respects the new rule. If you’re on a multiplayer server, only the server owner needs to install it, and all players benefit automatically.
Balancing and Community Reactions
Whenever a datapack touches core mechanics, the question of balance pops up. Some argue that combining Mending and Infinity makes bows overpowered, removing the resource management aspect of arrows. However, the datapack doesn’t affect crossbows, tridents, or other weapons. Arrows still take up an inventory slot (even if it’s just one), and you still need an experience farm to feed the Mending effect. In practice, it’s a minor convenience that respects the grind you’ve already put into enchanting. The Minecraft community has largely embraced Mendfinity as a sensible fix, especially for builders and explorers who spend more time in creative-adjacent survival than in hardcore combat challenges.
Compatibility With Other Mods and Updates
Because Mendfinity is a datapack, it plays nicely with most mods and custom maps. It doesn’t alter core game code, so texture packs, shaders, and even larger modpacks won’t clash. It’s been tested across multiple versions, from 1.16 through the latest updates, and the simple structure means it rarely breaks when Mojang releases a new snapshot. If you’re running a server with plugins, Mendfinity sits at the world level, so plugins like Essentials or WorldGuard remain unaffected. This makes it a safe addition to almost any setup.
Who Should Use Mendfinity?
This datapack isn’t for everyone. If you enjoy the scarcity and tough choices of vanilla survival, you might prefer the original exclusivity. But if you fall into any of these categories, Mendfinity will feel like a breath of fresh air:
- Long-term world builders who want a permanent, reliable bow without constant repairs.
- Explorers trekking thousands of blocks through different biomes, where arrow crafting stations are scarce.
- Server admins looking to reduce player frustration without installing heavy mods.
- Nostalgic players who remember the days before the enchantment conflict was introduced.
Even casual players will appreciate the seamless anvil experience, no longer needing to double-check enchantment guides before combining books.
Conclusion
Mendfinity doesn’t reinvent the wheel — it simply removes a restriction that many players have questioned for years. By letting Mending and Infinity coexist, it brings a touch of classic freedom back to the enchanting system. The datapack is lightweight, easy to install, and compatible with nearly every Minecraft setup. Whether you’re a lone wolf in a singleplayer world or managing a bustling server, this small tweak can make your gameplay smoother and more enjoyable. In a game built on creativity and personal choice, having the option to craft the perfect bow feels like a natural evolution. Give it a try, and you might just wonder why you ever settled for less.