XP Tome adds a single, elegantly designed item to Minecraft that solves a common problem: losing experience points when you die. Created by bl4ckscor3, this mod lets you store XP in a portable book and retrieve it whenever needed. With nearly 70 million downloads, it has become an essential quality-of-life addition for players who want to protect their hard-earned levels.
The XP Tome holds up to 1395 XP by default, which equals exactly 30 levels on the experience bar. This guide covers how to craft and use the XP Tome, explains all its configuration options, and provides tips for integrating it into your gameplay.
Crafting the XP Tome
The XP Tome requires a Book surrounded by four Ender Pearls in a cross pattern. Place the Book in the center of the Crafting Table with Ender Pearls above, below, and on both sides. The recipe reflects the item’s purpose as a magical container for something as intangible as experience.
Ender Pearls can be obtained by killing Endermen or trading with Cleric Villagers. Each crafting yields one XP Tome. The item does not stack, so you cannot carry multiples in a single inventory slot. However, you can craft and carry multiple XP Tomes to expand your total storage capacity.
How to Use the XP Tome
Storing Experience
Hold the XP Tome and press Sneak + Right-click to store your experience. By default, this transfers all your XP into the book until it reaches capacity. The tome displays a durability-style bar showing how full it is, color-coded green when under 90% full, yellow between 90-99%, and red when completely full.
When the XP Tome contains any experience, it displays an enchantment glow effect. The tooltip shows the exact XP stored compared to maximum capacity in the format “X/1395 XP stored”. You can continue adding XP to a partially filled tome until it reaches maximum storage.
Retrieving Experience
Right-click while holding the XP Tome to retrieve stored experience. By default, this empties the entire book and adds all XP directly to your experience bar. A level-up sound plays when you retrieve XP, with pitch scaling based on your current level.
The retrieval system can be configured to dispense XP as orbs instead of adding it directly. This matters for Mending enchantments, which require XP orbs to repair items. Without the orb setting enabled, retrieved XP bypasses Mending entirely.
Configuration Options
XP Tome offers five configuration settings that customize its behavior. The config file appears in your world’s serverconfig folder for Minecraft versions 1.14.4 through 1.20.1. For newer versions, you can override these settings through custom recipes with data packs.
Maximum XP Storage
The max_xp setting controls how much experience the tome can hold. The default value of 1395 corresponds to exactly 30 levels. You can set this anywhere from 1 to 2,147,483,647, allowing anything from a single-point token to effectively unlimited storage.
Retrieval Percentage
The retrieval_percentage setting creates an XP cost for using the tome. Setting this to 0.75 means retrieving 100 stored XP only gives you 75 XP back. The default value of 1.0 returns 100% of stored experience. This setting ranges from 0.0 to 1.0 and adds a balancing mechanism for servers that want XP storage to have a cost.
XP Orb Retrieval
Enable retrieve_xp_orbs to spawn experience as orbs when retrieving instead of adding it directly to your bar. This makes the XP Tome compatible with Mending enchantments. When enabled, XP orbs spawn at your position and can repair equipped Mending items before the remaining experience adds to your level.
Level-by-Level Transfer
Two settings control gradual XP transfer. Enable store_until_previous_level to store only enough XP to drop you to the previous level with each use. Enable retrieve_until_next_level to retrieve only enough XP to reach your next level. These options give finer control over XP management instead of all-or-nothing transfers.
Practical Uses and Strategies
The most obvious use is death protection. Before exploring dangerous areas like the Nether, End, or Deep Dark, store your levels in an XP Tome and leave it in a safe chest. Even if you die and lose your inventory, your stored XP remains secure at home.
Enchanting preparation becomes more efficient with XP Tome. Accumulate 30 levels worth of experience over multiple play sessions, then retrieve it all at once for a high-level enchanting session. This prevents the frustration of reaching level 28 and dying before you can enchant.
For Mending users, enable the XP orb setting and use the tome as an instant repair station. Store excess XP during normal gameplay, then retrieve it as orbs while holding damaged Mending gear. The orbs repair your equipment before any leftover experience adds to your bar.
Servers can use the retrieval percentage setting to balance XP farming. A 75% return rate means players lose some experience when banking it, discouraging unlimited safe storage while still providing the convenience factor.
Conclusion
XP Tome elegantly solves experience management with minimal complexity. One item, one recipe, and intuitive controls make it accessible to any player while the configuration options provide flexibility for different playstyles and server environments. Whether you want death insurance, convenient enchanting preparation, or Mending compatibility, the XP Tome delivers exactly what its name promises.
