Pickaxe

Pickaxes are one of the most commonly used tools in the game, being required to mine all ores and many other types of block. Different qualities of pickaxe are required to successfully harvest certain ores and blocks. For example, while coal ore can be mined with any pickaxe, gold ore must be mined with an iron pickaxe or better, or else the player will harvest no ore. Better pickaxes also mine many materials faster (see the Speed and Durability table below).

Uses
The Pickaxe is used in the game to mine blocks. A Pickaxe is not required to go further in the game of Minecraft, only to help you achieve your goals faster. Some Blocks that the Pickaxe can mine, but is not limited to, are:
 * Stone
 * Cobblestone
 * Coal Ore
 * Iron Ore
 * Gold Ore
 * Diamond Ore
 * Redstone Ore
 * Moss Stone
 * Obsidian

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

Speed and Durability
The following table shows the time it takes to break each type of block. A block marked with a red background indicates that it cannot be harvested by that tool type. A green background indicates the quickest tool types for the corresponding block. Note that some blocks, like Ice, will not drop anything regardless of the tool used.

Trivia

 * Before Beta 1.2, the pickaxe had less durability and gold pickaxes acted like wooden ones.
 * Notch said pigmen would hold iron pickaxes in the future, alongside Iron Swords.
 * The Pickaxe is featured in the "Time to Mine!" and the "Getting an Upgrade" achievements.
 * Before Beta 1.6.6, Glowstone acted like a glass type block but now it has been changed to a stone type block requiring a pickaxe.