How to Get Loyalty in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Loyalty is a trident enchantment (max level III) that makes the thrown trident fly back to your hand after it lands. Higher levels return it faster. Get it from an enchanting table, librarian trades or loot chests. It cannot be combined with Riptide.

What you need

Trident (from drowned)
Enchanting table, or anvil + Loyalty enchanted book
XP levels
Mending (recommended - throws still cost durability)

Step by step

Get a trident. Kill drowned that spawn holding one in rivers and oceans - Looting III raises the drop odds.
Enchant it with Loyalty. Enchanting table roll, or an anvil plus a Loyalty book from a librarian, loot chest or fishing treasure.
Combine two Loyalty I books or tridents for II, then two II for III. Higher levels increase return speed, but the return is not instant and still needs an impact to start.
After hitting a block or entity, the trident returns through blocks toward you in the same dimension. A full inventory makes it circle until a slot opens. Changing dimensions pauses the return; dying while it returns can leave it as a dropped item.
Respect its limits. In Java, a trident thrown into the void is gone forever - there is nothing for it to bounce off, so it never comes back. In Bedrock it returns after about 15 blocks of void. And Loyalty can never share a trident with Riptide.

Java vs Bedrock

Java: throwing into the void destroys the trident even with Loyalty III - this is working as intended. Bedrock: it returns after traveling about 15 blocks into the void, and dispenser-fired tridents do not return at all.

Versions: Describes the current Java and Bedrock releases. See the edition note for differences.

Frequently asked questions

Loyalty or Riptide?

Loyalty is for throwing and return; Riptide is for water/rain movement. They are incompatible. Loyalty can combine with Channeling, but does not guarantee recovery from every throw.

My Loyalty trident never came back - why?

Check whether it hit anything, whether your inventory is full and whether you changed dimensions. A Java trident thrown into the void is lost. If you died during return, it may be a dropped item and can despawn.

Does Loyalty III make it return instantly?

No. III returns faster than I or II, but it still travels back after activation. Distance, inventory space and dimension changes matter.