Pickaxe

"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 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.

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

Natural generation

 * Notes

Trading
$$, 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.

$$, 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.

$$, 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.

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.

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:

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

Enchantments
A pickaxe can receive the following enchantments:

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

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 data
Pickaxes item data is used to determine the damage of the pickaxe. All pickaxes have a data value of 0 when they are fully repaired, and the value increases every time it takes damage. If a pickaxe has one use remaining, it breaks upon the next use instead of increasing the damage. The data value of a pickaxe with only one use is different based on the type: Any higher value acts as having only one use left.
 * Golden: 32
 * Wooden: 59
 * Stone: 131
 * Iron: 250
 * Diamond: 1561

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.