Axe

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

An axe is a tool used to hasten the collection of wood-based items. It is also used as a weapon for melee attack.

Obtaining[edit]

Crafting[edit]

Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Description
Any Planks or Cobblestone or Iron Ingot or Gold Ingot or Diamond + Stick
Damaged Matching Axe		The durability of the two axes is added together, plus an extra 5% durability.

Repairing[edit]

Grinding[edit]

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

Unit repair[edit]

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

Mobs[edit]

Equipment[edit]

Main article: Drops § Equipped items

A vindicator spawns with an iron axe, and has an 8.5% (9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II and 11.5% with Looting III) chance of dropping it upon death by the player. It usually has some amount of damage, and is sometimes enchanted.

Raid[edit]

In Bedrock Edition vindicators and pillagers that spawn in raids have a 4.1% chance (5.12% on hard) to drop a badly-damaged iron axe, which is sometimes enchanted with a random enchantment. It is possible for a vindicator to drop 2 iron axes, one from natural equipment and one from raid drops.

Trading[edit]

Novice-level Toolsmith villagers have a 25% chance to sell a stone axe for one emerald, journeyman-level Toolsmith villagers have a 25% chance to sell an enchanted iron axe for one emerald, and expert-level Toolsmith villagers have a 50% chance to sell an enchanted diamond axe for 12 emeralds.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

Novice-level Toolsmith villagers have a 40% chance to sell a stone axe for one emerald, journeyman-level Toolsmith villagers have a 40% chance to sell an enchanted iron axe for 7-22 emeralds, and expert-level Toolsmith villagers have a ²⁄₃ chance to sell an enchanted diamond axe for 18-35 emeralds.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Novice-level Weaponsmith villagers sell an iron axe for 3 emeralds as one of their trades and master-level Weaponsmith villagers sell an enchanted diamond axe for 12 emeralds.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

Novice-level Weaponsmith villagers have a ²⁄₃ chance to sell an iron axe for 3 emeralds. Master-level Weaponsmith villagers always offer to sell an enchanted diamond axe for 18-35 emeralds.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

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

Natural generation[edit]

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

Stone axes can be found in 30.2% of small underwater ruins chests, 14.7% of igloo chests, and 25.0% of bonus chests, all in groups of 1.

In woodland mansions, a sealed room can appear that has a chest always containing an Efficiency I iron axe.

Usage[edit]

Chopping wood[edit]

An ахе is used to break logs and blocks derived from it faster than by using other tools. An axe uses 1 durability to break a block. For blocks that break instantly, it uses 0 durability.

Durability[edit]

Each different tier of axe has a different durability:

Material	Durability
Wood	59
Stone	131
Iron	250
Diamond	1561
Golden	32

Speed[edit]

The following table summarizes the speed at which axes of different qualities perform.

Block	Breaking time^{[note 1]}
Block	Hand	Wooden	Stone	Iron	Diamond	Golden
Wooden Trapdoors	4.5	2.25	1.15	0.75	0.6	0.4
Wooden Doors	4.5	2.25	1.15	0.75	0.6	0.4
Chest	3.75	1.9	0.95	0.65	0.5	0.35
Crafting Table	3.75	1.9	0.95	0.65	0.5	0.35
Trapped Chest	3.75	1.9	0.95	0.65	0.5	0.35
Fences	3	1.5	0.75	0.5	0.4	0.25
Fence Gates	3	1.5	0.75	0.5	0.4	0.25
Jukebox	3	1.5	0.75	0.5	0.4	0.25
Logs	3	1.5	0.75	0.5	0.4	0.25
Planks	3	1.5	0.75	0.5	0.4	0.25
Wooden Slabs	3	1.5	0.75	0.5	0.4	0.25
Wooden Stairs	3	1.5	0.75	0.5	0.4	0.25
Bookshelf	2.25	1.15	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.2
Banners	1.5	0.75	0.4	0.25	0.2	0.15
Jack o'Lantern	1.5	0.75	0.4	0.25	0.2	0.15
Melon	1.5	0.75	0.4	0.25	0.2	0.15
Pumpkin	1.5	0.75	0.4	0.25	0.2	0.15
Sign	1.5	0.75	0.4	0.25	0.2	0.15
Note Block	1.25	0.65	0.35	0.2	0.2	0.1
Wooden Pressure Plate	0.75	0.4	0.2	0.15	0.1	0.1
Beehive	0.9	0.45	0.25	0.15	0.15	0.1
Ladder	0.65	0.35	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.05
Bee Nest	0.45	0.25	0.15	0.1	0.1	0.05
Bed	0.35	0.2	0.1	0.05	0.05	0.05
Cocoa	0.35	0.2	0.1	0.05	0.05	0.05
Daylight Detector	0.35	0.2	0.1	0.05	0.05	0.05
Mushroom Block	0.35	0.2	0.1	0.05	0.05	0.05
Vines	0.35	0.2	0.1	0.05	0.05	0.05

↑ Times are for unenchanted tools in seconds. For more information, see Haste § Instant mining.

Stripped logs/wood[edit]

Using an axe on a log or wood block causes it to become a stripped log or a stripped wood block, respectively. This consume one point of durability from the axe.

Weapon[edit]

Java Edition[edit]

Damage done when using an axe as a weapon is more than that of a sword, though they take longer than a sword to recover. Axes lose 2 points of durability when used as a weapon, and deal different amount of damage and have different cooldown times based on the type:

Material	Wooden	Gold	Stone	Iron	Diamond
Attack damage	7	7	9	9	9
Attack Speed	0.8	1.0	0.8	0.9	1.0
Recovery time	1.25 s	1.0 s	1.25 s	1.11 s	1.0 s
DPS	5.6	7.0	7.2	8.1	9.0
Lifetime damage inflicted^{[note 1]}	210 × 105	119 × 59.5	594 × 297	1134 × 567	7029 × 3514.5

↑ The formula to find the total lifetime damage is (Durability / 2) × Damage per hit = Lifetime damage minimum. The durability is halved because axes take double durability when used as a weapon. The formula also ignores enchantments and critical hits, and assumes the axe is at maximum charge.

Disabling shields[edit]

Attacking a shield user with an axe has a chance to disable the use of the shield for 5 seconds. The base chance is 25%, plus 5 percentage points per level of Efficiency on the axe, plus 75 percentage points if attacking while sprinting.

Bedrock editions[edit]

In Bedrock Edition, axes always attack instantly (without a cooldown) and do less damage than a sword of the same quality:

Attack damage
4	5	6	7

Enchantments[edit]

An axe can receive the following enchantments:


Name	Max Level
Fortune^{[note 1]}	III
Silk Touch^{[note 1]}	I
Efficiency	V
Unbreaking	III
Sharpness^{[note 2]}^{[note 3]}	V
Smite^{[note 2]}^{[note 3]}	V
Bane of Arthropods^{[note 2]}^{[note 3]}	V
Chopping‌^{[upcoming: JE Tests]}^{[note 2]}^{[note 3]}	III
Mending^{[note 3]}	I
Curse of Vanishing^{[note 3]}‌^{[JE only]}	I

↑ ^a ^b Silk Touch and Fortune are mutually exclusive.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sharpness, Smite, Bane of Arthropods and Chopping are mutually exclusive.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Available only from using enchanted books with an anvil.

Fuel[edit]

Wooden axes can be used as a fuel in furnaces, smelting 1 item per axe.

Smelting ingredient[edit]

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

Sounds[edit]

Sound	Subtitle	Namespaced ID	Subtitle ID	Source	Pitch	Volume	Attenuation distance
	Debarking log	`item.axe.strip`	`subtitles.item.axe.strip`	?	0.85, ?	0.9	16
	Item breaks	`entity.item.break`	`subtitles.entity.item.break`	?	0.9	1.0	16

Data values[edit]

Item	Namespaced ID	Numericic ID‌^{[BE only]}
Wooden Axe	`wooden_axe`	271
Stone Axe	`stone_axe`	275
Iron Axe	`iron_axe`	258
Diamond Axe	`diamond_axe`	279
Golden Axe	`golden_axe`	286

Achievements[edit]

Main article: Achievements

Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Availability				Xbox points earned	Trophy type (PS)
Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Xbox	PS	Bedrock	Nintendo	Xbox points earned	Trophy type (PS)
	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

Video[edit]

Note: This video is outdated, since as of 15w34c axes actually deal more damage than a sword.

History[edit]

Java Edition Indev
0.31		20100111-1			Added iron axes.
					An axe is used to gather wood 400% faster than by hand.
					When starting in a new world the player is given one of each tools.
		20100122			The texture of axes has now been changed. Half of the axe head has now been removed.
		20100124			The texture of axes has now been changed. The other axe head is now used instead.
		20100124			A complete toolset is no longer given to the player on starting a new world. Instead there are multiple chests in the later called "Indev House" containing a stack of every available block/item including tools.
		20100128			An axe held by the player now appears more 3d like.
		20100129			Tools now have tiers, in addition to iron, axes can now be made from wood, stone and diamond.
		20100129			A crafting recipe for iron axes has now been added, as well as the newly introduced variants.
		20100130			Axes can now be made out of gold.
		20100201-1			Tools now take damage when being used. Better tools last now longer.
20100206					The texture of golden axes has now been slightly changed.
Java Edition Beta
1.2					Gold tools, including axes, now remove blocks faster than diamond tools.
Java Edition
1.3.1		12w16a			Wooden and stone axes are now found in the new bonus chests.
		12w18a			Wooden axes can now be used as fuel in a furnace.
		12w21a			Blacksmith villagers now sell 1 diamond axe for 9–11 emeralds, and 1 iron axe for 6–7 emeralds.
1.8		14w02a			Weapon smith villagers now sell 1 enchanted diamond axe for 9–12 emeralds, and 1 iron axe for 6–8 emeralds. Unenchanted diamond axes are no longer sold.
1.9		15w34a			Axes now use the attack speed combat mechanic meter. The time it takes for the meter to fill up for an axe is 1.2 seconds.
		15w34b			Axes now have an attack speed of 0.8, taking about 1.25 seconds to fill the attack meter.
		15w34c			Axes do 4 more damage than previously.
					Axes now have an attack speed of 0.85.
					Axes can now temporarily disable shield use.
		15w35a			The damage of axes has now been reduced by one.
		15w35a			The speed of axes has now been increased to 0.9.
		15w37a			Stone and diamond axes now both do 9 damage, instead of the previous 8 and 10 respectively.
		15w37a			Axes now have attack speed based on the tier, with wooden and stone having a speed of 0.8, iron having a speed of 0.9, and diamond having a speed of 1.
		15w43a			Stone axes may now be found in igloo basement chests.
		15w44a			The average yield of stone and wooden axes from bonus chests has now been decreased.
1.11.1		16w50a			Golden and iron axes now smelt down into one of their respective nuggets.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, these items' numeral IDs were 271, 275, 258, 279 and 286.
		18w07a			Using an axe on bark or a log now turns it into a stripped log.
		18w09a			Stone axes now can generate in the chests of underwater ruins.
		pre2			Using an axe on a bark now turns it into a stripped bark.
1.14		18w43a			The textures of all axes have now been changed.
Upcoming Java Edition
Combat Tests		1.14.3 - Combat Test			Increased attack speed for all axes to 2.
		1.14.3 - Combat Test			All axes now deal 1 more damage than their sword counterparts.
		Combat Test 3			Added the Chopping enchantment for axes, which adds 1 damage and 0.5 seconds (10 game ticks) of shield stunning per level and is mutually exclusive with Sharpness.
					Axes now always disable shields for 1.6 seconds (32 game ticks), instead of having a 25% to disable them for 5 seconds (100 game ticks).
					Axes now take 1 damage when attacking instead of 2.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.2.0					Added stone axes.
0.3.0					Added wooden axes.
0.3.2					Added iron, golden and diamond axes.
0.11.0		build 11			All axes are now available in the creative inventory.
		build 12			All axes have now been removed from creative.
		build 13			All axes have now been re-added to creative mode.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0		alpha 0.17.0.1			Stone axes now can be found inside igloo basement chests.
1.0.4		alpha 1.0.4.0			Weaponsmith villagers now sell iron axes for 6-8 emeralds as part of their first tier trades and enchanted diamond axes for 9-12 emeralds as part of their third tier trades.
1.1.0		alpha 1.1.0.0			Iron and golden axes are now smeltable.
					Iron axes with the Efficiency I enchantment can now be found inside chests in woodland mansions.
					Added vindicators, who rarely drop iron axes.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0		beta 1.2.0.2			Wooden and stone axes can now be found in bonus chests.
1.4.0		beta 1.2.13.8			Using an axe on a log now turns it into a stripped log.
1.4.0		beta 1.2.20.1			Stone axes can now be found inside underwater ruins chests.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The textures of all axes have now been changed.
1.11.0		beta 1.11.0.4			Vindicators and pillagers that spawn in raids can now drop an iron axe.
					Trading has now been changed, weaponsmith villagers now sell iron axes for 3 emeralds and enchanted diamond axes for 12 emeralds as part of their fourth tier trades.
					Stone axes, enchanted iron and diamond axes can now be bought from toolsmith villagers.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added axes (all five types).
TU53	CU43	1.49	Patch 23	1.0.1.0.3	Iron and golden axes are now smeltable.
PlayStation 4 Edition
1.90					The textures of all axes have now been changed.