Pickaxe

Pickaxe

Rarity	Common
Durability	Wood: 59 Stone: 131 Iron: 250 Golden: 32 Diamond: 1561
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	No
Namespaced ID	See Data values

	“	Pickaxes, or picks, are probably the tool that people use the most in Minecraft. You’ll need one to mine stone and ores, as well as to break objects like furnaces, anvils and iron bars. It’s often the first tool that people make in the game, out of two sticks and three bits of wood. Don’t pretend the recipe isn’t burnt into your brain.	„
		— Duncan Geere

Pickaxes are one of the most commonly used tools in the game, being required to mine all ores, rock, rock-based blocks and metal-based blocks. They allow the player to mine blocks at faster speeds, with the speed increasing depending on the material it is made out of.

Obtaining

Crafting

Pickaxes are crafted using 2 sticks and 3 units of a tool material.

Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Description
Any Planks or Cobblestone or Iron Ingot or Gold Ingot or Diamond + Stick
Damaged Matching Pickaxes		The durability of the two pickaxes is added together, plus an extra 5% of the tool type's total durability.

Repairing

Grinding

Ingredients	Grinding recipe	Description
2x Damaged Wooden Pickaxe or 2x Damaged Stone Pickaxe or 2x Damaged Iron Pickaxe or 2x Damaged Golden Pickaxe or 2x Damaged Diamond Pickaxe		The durability of the two pickaxes is added together, plus an extra 5% durability.

Unit repair

A pickaxe can be repaired in an anvil by adding units of the corresponding material, each restores 25% its maximum durability, rounded down.

Natural generation

Wooden pickaxes can be found in 75.0% of bonus chests in groups of 1.

Stone pickaxes can be found in 25.0% of bonus chests in groups of 1.

Iron pickaxes can be found in 12.1% of stronghold altar chests, 41.2% of village toolsmith chests, 4.0% of stronghold storeroom chests, 25.6% of village weaponsmith chests, and 7.0% of chest minecarts in Mineshafts, all in groups of 1.

In Bedrock Edition they can be found in 11.8% of stronghold altar chests and 3.2% of stronghold storeroom chests in groups of 1.

Enchanted iron pickaxes can be found in 13.3% of End city chests in groups of 1.

Enchanted diamond pickaxes can be found in 13.3% of End city chests in groups of 1.

Notes

Trading

In Legacy Console Edition, toolsmith villagers sell enchanted iron pickaxes for 9–11 emeralds as one of their second tier trades, and enchanted diamond pickaxes for 12–15 emeralds as one of their third tier trades.

In Bedrock Edition, novice-level toolsmith villagers have a 25% chance to sell stone pickaxes for one emerald, Journeyman-level toolsmith villagers have a 25% chance to sell enchanted iron pickaxes for 3 emeralds, and master-level toolsmith villagers always sell enchanted diamond pickaxes for 13 emeralds.

In Java Edition, novice-level toolsmith villagers have a 40% chance to sell a stone pickaxe for one emerald, journeyman-level toolsmith villagers have a 40% chance to sell an enchanted iron pickaxe for 7–22 emeralds, and a master-level toolsmith always sell an enchanted diamond pickaxe for 18–35 emeralds.

The enchantments are the same as the ones obtained from an enchantment table at levels 5–19.

Usage

Mining

A pickaxe is used to break stone and metal based materials faster. When a block is broken using a pickaxe, the pickaxe uses 1 durability. For blocks that break instantly, it uses 0 durability. Pickaxes have different amounts of uses based on the type:

• Wooden: 59
• Stone: 131
• Iron: 250
• Golden: 32
• Diamond: 1561

Different qualities of pickaxe are required to successfully harvest certain ores and blocks. For example, while stone can be mined with any pickaxe, gold ore must be mined with an iron or diamond pickaxe, or else the player harvests no ore. Different pickaxes also mine many materials at different speeds:

Speed

The following table shows the time it takes to break each type of block.

• A red background indicates that the block cannot be harvested with that type of pickaxe.
• A yellow background indicates that the block cannot be harvested with that type of pickaxe, but still drops something.
• A green background indicates that the block can be harvested with that type of pickaxe.

Times to break blocks by pickaxe

Block Breaking time Hand Wooden Stone Iron Diamond Golden Obsidian 250 125 62.5 41.7 9.4 20.85 Ender Chest 112.5 16.9 8.45 5.65 4.25 2.85 Anvil 25 3.75 1.9 1.25 0.95 0.65 Block of Coal 25 3.75 1.9 1.25 0.95 0.65 Block of Diamond 25 12.5 6.25 1.25 0.95 2.1 Block of Emerald 25 12.5 6.25 1.25 0.95 2.1 Block of Iron 25 12.5 1.9 1.25 0.95 2.1 Block of Redstone 25 3.75 1.9 1.25 0.95 0.65 Enchanting Table 25 3.75 1.9 1.25 0.95 0.65 Iron Bars 25 3.75 1.9 1.25 0.95 0.65 Iron Door 25 3.75 1.9 1.25 0.95 0.65 Spawner 25 3.75 1.9 1.25 0.95 0.65 Dispenser 17.5 2.65 1.35 0.9 0.7 0.45 Dropper 17.5 2.65 1.35 0.9 0.7 0.45 Furnace 17.5 2.65 1.35 0.9 0.7 0.45 Block of Gold 15 7.5 3.75 0.75 0.6 1.25 Coal Ore 15 2.25 1.15 0.75 0.6 0.4 Diamond Ore 15 7.5 3.75 0.75 0.6 1.25 Emerald Ore 15 7.5 3.75 0.75 0.6 1.25 End Stone 15 2.25 1.15 0.75 0.6 0.4 Gold Ore 15 7.5 3.75 0.75 0.6 1.25 Hopper 15 2.25 1.15 0.75 0.6 0.4 Iron Ore 15 7.5 1.15 0.75 0.6 1.25 Iron Trapdoor 25 3.75 1.9 1.25 0.95 0.65 Lapis Lazuli Block 15 7.5 1.15 0.75 0.6 1.25 Lapis Lazuli Ore 15 7.5 1.15 0.75 0.6 1.25 Nether Quartz Ore 15 2.25 1.15 0.75 0.6 0.4 Redstone Ore 15 7.5 3.75 0.75 0.6 1.25 Brick Stairs 10 1.5 0.75 0.5 0.4 0.25 Bricks 10 1.5 0.75 0.5 0.4 0.25 Cauldron 10 1.5 0.75 0.5 0.4 0.25 Cobblestone 10 1.5 0.75 0.5 0.4 0.25 Cobblestone Stairs 10 1.5 0.75 0.5 0.4 0.25 Cobblestone Wall 10 1.5 0.75 0.5 0.4 0.25 Mossy Cobblestone 10 1.5 0.75 0.5 0.4 0.25 Nether Bricks 10 1.5 0.75 0.5 0.4 0.25 Nether Brick Fence 10 1.5 0.75 0.5 0.4 0.25 Nether Brick Stairs 10 1.5 0.75 0.5 0.4 0.25 Stone Slab 10 1.5 0.75 0.5 0.4 0.25 Shulker Box 3 1.5 0.75 0.5 0.4 0.25 Andesite 7.5 1.15 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 Diorite 7.5 1.15 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 Granite 7.5 1.15 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 Polished Andesite 7.5 1.15 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 Polished Diorite 7.5 1.15 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 Polished Granite 7.5 1.15 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 Stone 7.5 1.15 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 Stone Bricks 7.5 1.15 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 Stone Brick Stairs 7.5 1.15 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 Prismarine 7.5 1.15 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 Prismarine Bricks 7.5 1.15 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 Dark Prismarine 7.5 1.15 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 Terracotta 6.25 0.95 0.5 0.35 0.25 0.2 Colored Terracotta 6.25 0.95 0.5 0.35 0.25 0.2 Block of Quartz 4 0.65 0.35 0.2 0.2 0.1 Quartz Stairs 4 0.65 0.35 0.2 0.2 0.1 Sandstone 4 0.65 0.35 0.2 0.2 0.1 Sandstone Stairs 4 0.65 0.35 0.2 0.2 0.1 Brewing Stand 2.5 0.4 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.1 Stone Pressure Plate 2.5 0.4 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.1 Weighted Pressure Plates 2.5 0.4 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.1 Netherrack 2 0.35 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.05 Rail 1.05 0.55 0.3 0.2 0.15 0.1 Ice 0.75 0.4 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.1 Packed Ice 0.75 0.4 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.1 Stone Button 0.75 0.4 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.1

Weapon

Hiting a mob with a pickaxe is a stronger attack than if barehanded. Pickaxes use 2 durability when used as a weapon.

Java Edition

Pickaxes have an attack speed modifier of -2.8, meaning they take about 0.83 seconds to recover. All pickaxes have an attack speed of 1.2 hits/second. They deal different damage based on the type:

Pickaxe type	Attack damage	Damage/second (DPS)
Wooden Pickaxe Golden Pickaxe	2	2.4
Stone Pickaxe	3	3.6
Iron Pickaxe	4	4.8
Diamond Pickaxe	5	6

Legacy Console, PS4 and Bedrock editions

In the Legacy Console, PS4 and Bedrock editions, pickaxes always attack instantly and do the following damage:

Pickaxe type	Attack damage
Wooden Pickaxe Golden Pickaxe	3
Stone Pickaxe	4
Iron Pickaxe	5
Diamond Pickaxe	6

Enchantments

A pickaxe can receive the following enchantments:

Name	Max Level
Efficiency	V
Fortune	III
Silk Touch	I
Unbreaking	III
Mending	I
Curse of Vanishing‌[JE & LCE only]	I

Fuel

Wooden pickaxes can be used as a fuel in furnaces, smelting 1 item per pickaxe.

Smelting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Smelting recipe
Iron Nugget or Gold Nugget	Iron Pickaxe or Golden Pickaxe + Any fuel

Achievements

Main article: Achievements

Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Availability				Xbox points earned	Trophy type (PS)
				Xbox	PS	Bedrock	Nintendo
	Time to Mine!	Use planks and sticks to make a pickaxe	Pick up any type of pickaxe from a crafting table output.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10G	Bronze
	Getting an Upgrade	Construct a better pickaxe	Pick up a pickaxe from a crafting table output that is not a wooden pickaxe.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	15G	Bronze
	MOAR Tools	Construct one type of each tool (one pickaxe, one shovel, one axe and one hoe).		Yes	Yes	Yes	Wii U, Switch	15G	Bronze

Advancements

Main article: Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Namespaced ID
	Stone Age	Mine stone with your new pickaxe	Minecraft	Have cobblestone in your inventory.	story/mine_stone
	Getting an Upgrade	Construct a better pickaxe	Stone Age	Have a stone pickaxe in your inventory.	story/upgrade_tools
	Isn't It Iron Pick	Upgrade your pickaxe	Acquire Hardware	Have an iron pickaxe in your inventory.	story/iron_tools

Sounds

Sound	Subtitle	Namespaced ID	Subtitle ID	Source	Pitch	Volume	Attenuation distance
	Item breaks	entity.item.break	subtitles.entity.item.break	?	0.9	1.0	16

Data values

Pickaxes have an item data field to determine durability, and use five different IDs

ID

Pickaxes use their ID to determine their grade.

Item	Namespaced ID	Numeric ID‌[BE only]
Wooden Pickaxe	wooden_pickaxe	270
Stone Pickaxe	stone_pickaxe	274
Iron Pickaxe	iron_pickaxe	257
Diamond Pickaxe	diamond_pickaxe	278
Golden Pickaxe	golden_pickaxe	285

History

Java Edition Indev
0.31		January 11, 2010, 1			Added iron pickaxes.
					A pickaxe is used to gather stone materials 400% faster than by hand.
					When starting in a new world, the player is given one of each tools.
		January 24, 2010			A complete tool set is now no longer given to the player on starting a new world. Instead, there are multiple chests in the (later called) "Indev House", which contains a stack of every available block and item, including tools.
		January 28, 2010			A pickaxe held by the player now appears more 3d like.
		January 29, 2010			Tools now have tiers. In addition to iron, pickaxes can now be made from wood, stone and diamond.
					Added crafting recipe for iron pickaxes as well as the newly introduced variants.
		January 30, 2010			Pickaxes can now be made out of gold.
		February 1, 2010, 3			Tools now take damage when being used.
					Better tools now last longer.
					Better pickaxes are now required to mine harder materials.
Indev		February 6, 2010			Golden pickaxe's texture has now been slightly changed.
Java Edition Beta
1.2					Before, the pickaxe had much less durability (usually half as much).
					Gold pickaxes now mine certain materials much faster.
1.8		Pre-release			Iron pickaxes are now found in the new stronghold storeroom chests, and in the new mineshaft chests.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3			Iron pickaxes can now be found in the new stronghold altar chests.
		RC1			Pickaxes and other tools now make a sound when they break.
1.1		12w01a			Iron pickaxes are now found in the new village blacksmith chests.
1.3.1		12w16a			Wooden and stone pickaxes are now found in the new bonus chests.
		12w18a			Wooden pickaxes can now be used as fuel in a furnace.
		12w21a			Blacksmith villagers now sell 1 diamond pickaxe for 10–11 emeralds, and 1 iron pickaxe for 7–8 emeralds.
1.8		14w02a			Tool smith villagers now sell 1 enchanted diamond pickaxe for 12–15 emeralds, and 1 enchanted iron pickaxe for 9–11 emeralds.
					Unenchanted pickaxes are now no longer sold by villagers.
1.9		15w31a			Enchanted iron and diamond pickaxes can now be found in the end ship chests in end cities.
		15w34a			Pickaxes now use the "attack strength" combat mechanic meter. The time it takes for the meter to fill up for a pickaxe is 0.8 seconds.
		15w34c			Pickaxes now do less damage, but recover quicker.
		15w35a			Pickaxes now recover more slowly.
		15w44a			The average yield of wood and stone pickaxes in bonus chests has been decreased.
					The average yield of iron pickaxes in mineshaft chests has been increased.
1.11.1		16w50a			Golden and iron pickaxes can now be smelted down into one of their respective nuggets.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, these items' numeral IDs were 270, 274, 257, 278 and 285.
1.14		18w43a			The textures of all pickaxes have now been changed.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.2.0					Added stone pickaxes.
0.3.0					Added wooden pickaxes.
0.3.2					Added iron, gold, and diamond pickaxes.
0.11.0		build 11			All pickaxes are now available in the creative inventory.
		build 12			All pickaxes have now been removed from creative.
		build 13			Pickaxes have now been re-added to creative mode.
0.14.0		build 1			Iron pickaxes can now be found inside minecart with chests in abandoned mineshafts.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0		alpha 0.17.0.1			Enchanted iron pickaxes and enchanted diamond pickaxes can now be found in end cities.
1.0.4		alpha 1.0.4.0			Toolsmith villagers now sell enchanted diamond pickaxes for 12-15 emeralds as their last tier trades and enchanted iron pickaxes for 9-11 emeralds as their second tier trades.
1.1.0		alpha 1.1.0.0			Iron and golden pickaxes are now smeltable.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0		?			Wooden and stone pickaxes can now be found inside bonus chests.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			Iron pickaxes can now be found in plains village weaponsmith houses.
					The textures of all pickaxes have now been changed.
1.11.0		beta 1.11.0.1			Iron pickaxes can now be found in village toolsmiths chests and in savanna, taiga, snowy taiga and desert village weaponsmith chests.
		beta 1.11.0.4			Trading has now been changed, toolsmith villagers now have a 25% chance to sell an enchanted iron pickaxe for 3 emeralds as part of their third tier trades, and an enchanted diamond pickaxe now costs 13 emeralds.
					Stone pickaxes can now be bought from toolsmith villagers.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1		Added pickaxes (all five types).
TU53	CU43	1.49	Patch 23	Patch s3	Iron and golden pickaxes are now smeltable.
PlayStation 4 Edition
1.90					The textures of all pickaxes have now been changed.

Issues

Issues relating to "Pickaxe" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

Publicity

• Foam Stone pickaxes are official Minecraft merchandise.
• In the game Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise, the player can buy a diamond pickaxe which, according to the game, is made by Kick it up a Notch Pickaxes, referring to Notch.
• In the mobile game Vlogger Go Viral clicker game, after buying the figurine shelf, there is a model of a diamond pickaxe stuck to a grass block.
• In the game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the player can find a pickaxe called the "Notched Pickaxe", evidently an easter egg.
• In the game Offensive Combat, a stone pickaxe can be used as a melee weapon with the name of "The Notch Carver".
• In the game The Binding of Isaac, an obtainable item named "Notched Axe", also with a drawn 8-bit look, can be used to destroy rocks. The Notched Axe also makes a return in the game's remake, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.
• In the game "Borderlands 2", the player can find a secret area hidden away by blocks resembling Minecraft Dirt, also once inside the player can fight Creeper and the Mother Creeper to get rare Minecraft-related weapons.

Gallery

• 

  A naturally generated pickaxe.

References

Items

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