The municipality lies in the westernmost part of the Birkenfeld district on the like-named river Meckenbach in a hollow at the edge of the Schwarzwälder Hochwald (forest) in the Hunsrück.

A dig by Prof. Dr. H. Baldes before the First World War at a barrow 500 m southwest of the village in the cadastral area known as “Auf dem Bühl in Sangbösch” yielded objects from early La Tène times (no later than 225 BC).

It may have been that since Meckenbach lay somewhat off the military road that led from Birkenfeld by way of Brücken, Achtelsbach and Sötern to Tholey, it was considered a safe haven of sorts.

On 25 September 1635, when the fleeing Swedish-French army under Duke Bernard of Weimar was using the said military road to retreat to France, Meckenbach escaped calamity.

The municipality of Meckenbach took part in the contest Unser Dorf soll schöner werden (“Our village should become lovelier”) from 1971 to 1975 with great success, as witnessed by several awards on the state level.

This was presented at the Electoral Palace in Mainz amid great festivity, with the municipality's male singing club, Männergesangverein 1896 Meckenbach, participating.

In 2004, in the district contest, now known as Unser Dorf hat Zukunft (“Our village has a future”), Meckenbach managed third place, and the regional commission currently ranks it as second in the main class.

Saarbrücken, Trier and Kaiserslautern can all be reached by Autobahn in roughly half an hour, as can the towns of Idar-Oberstein and Sankt Wendel over Bundesstraße 41.