Pickaxe

Pickaxes are one of the most commonly used tools in the game, being required to mine all ores and many other types of blocks. 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 pickaxe or better, or else the player will harvest no ore. Different pickaxes also mine many materials at different speeds (see the Speed and durability table below). To see the durability press and.

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

Natural occurrence


Iron pickaxes can spawn inside chests in Abandoned Mine Shafts, Strongholds, or a Village's blacksmith.

Bonus chest
A bonus chest may contain wooden and/or stone pickaxes.

Trading
Iron and diamond pickaxes can be bought from Tool Smith villagers for Emeralds.

Usage
The pickaxe is used in the game to mine blocks. Blocks mineable by the pickaxe are listed in the table below.

The pickaxe does one full heart less damage to mobs than the sword of the same material.

The pickaxe cannot mine bedrock or the End Portal Frame.

Speed and durability
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 tool.
 * A yellow background indicates that the block cannot be harvested with that tool, but still drops something.
 * A blue background indicates that the block can only be harvested with a tool that has the silk touch enchantment.

Trivia

 * It is sometimes possible to complete the game without using a pickaxe, e.g. by using TNT and creepers for mining (and perhaps getting iron by killing golems), and making the nether portal by casting it in place; but doing all that without using the pickaxe to mine anything, and finding a stronghold without it, is extremely tedious and remarkably dangerous due to limited resources. Some players take this as a challenge to their knowledge of alternative ways to advance in-game.

Publicity

 * Foam Stone pickaxes are official Minecraft merchandise.
 * In the game Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise, you can buy a diamond pickaxe which, according to the game, is made by Kick it up a Notch Pickaxes, referring to Notch.
 * In the game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, you 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.