Tutorials/Things not to do

Most tutorials are about what to do. This is about what not to do.

Video
For those of you who don't like to read as much, and would rather learn via visual information, check out this video for most of these things not to do click here for 17 of the most common things you shouldn't do.

Don't dig straight down
This one is fairly straightforward. If you mine the block you're standing on, you're quite likely to fall straight into a cave system and take potentially fatal falling damage, be killed by mobs, dig into lava and lose all your items, or fall into a dungeon and be massacred. Notch has even added a splash text to this effect. It is always safer to mine in a staircase pattern, or simply to find an open-mouth cave on the surface.

A 2&times;1 hole straight down is still not great nor totally safe but it will reduce the problem significantly, since you won't have to stand on the block that you're removing. Another way if you want to dig straight down is mine 4 blocks in a square shape, stand on one and break the one next to it, hop onto that, and do the same for the next. Make sure you don't dig two down from the one you step onto, you have to be able to jump back up. This will take more resources, but will let you dig a hole down that you can go right back up with.

An even safer means is to dig a 3&times;1 hole, with a ladder down the middle. It's worth (re-adding) some side blocks every 5 to 8 levels, in case you fall off the ladder. The wider hole gives you room for both those side blocks and torches, and means you always have someplace safe to stand when digging. Such a shaft is also a good start for shaft mining the area.

Note: If you happen to find a cave this way, it would be wise to go back to the surface and get better supplies if you don't have any with you, as the odds of coming across a dungeon are higher than some would think.

Digging straight down can also lead to getting stuck in the hole you've dug -- Pillar jumping can help there..

A safe way to dig straight down is to get a stack of ladders and dig a pit 3 down (without standing on it!) then build ladders down one side of it. jump in, and hit shift. This will cause you to hold on to the ladder, where you can safely dig under you (if you're still holding shift). If it is still safe to drop down, do so, building more ladders. Repeat until you reach an ore or an obstacle, taking measures to collect ores or removing the obstacle, then continuing your pit. Your mining will be decreased from being on a ladder, but it's a small price to pay for your life.

Be careful not to dig straight down while mining ores! This is a video that illustrates that.

Don't dig straight up
This isn't quite so obvious. However, if you mine the block above you, all sorts of nasty things could fall onto you. Water, lava, or hostile mobs can all kill you by drowning, burning, or attacking you to death. Gravel and sand can also suffocate you, although this has been slightly nerfed. Placing torches underneath where you dig up can prevent suffocation, but you may still drown or burn. Placing ladders, if you have any, will protect against everything but mobs (in a single-block-wide shaft, the ladder may slow the mobs down somewhat). Be extremely wary if you hear noises above you, as you may happen upon a dungeon. As of the 1.9 beta, if there is a fluid one block above you, you will observe a dripping effect (assuming particles are turned on); blue means water, red means lava and green drips mean there's a slime above you. If you see this, be very careful! Remember that you will not see a drip if you're digging up next to the edge of a lava or water lake, but the fluid will still pour out over you. Always have somewhere safe to retreat to....

Don't try to kill Creepers without a Bow
Creepers aren't quite like other monsters, as they explode when they get close to you. This means that you should get a Bow and kill them from a distance. If you are inexperienced or have not developed mob fighting skills, do not attack them with a melee weapon unless there is no other choice. If you do, try critical sprint-hitting them to knock them back and do extra damage. The creeper should be knocked back a fair distance, enough for you to launch a second attack. or build a 5 block tall structure and attack them from there. If you do decide to do this, try to use a sword or tool so you can do more damage to them. If you are fighting close range with a creeper near an area of importance (your house, rare ores etc.), you should lure it away to a safe area before engaging it. If that fails, try hitting the Creeper, then back away. Do this until the Creeper dies. If your sword has Knockback enchanted then you will not have to move back. Similarly, if the Creeper is in water, it will be knocked back further, hopefully enough to cancel the countdown.

Another method is to place obstacles in the path of the creeper, although this doesn't work in the most recent snapshots, which feature enhanced mob pathfinding (As of 12w05a(?), Creepers will find a way through obstacles, so unless you're 12w04a(?) or lower obstacles may not work as intended). Building a pillar at least three blocks higher than the surrounding terrain beneath yourself and remaining on top of the pillar may prevent the creeper from getting close enough to you to detonate, although it may be best to pillar up a few extra blocks for safety. Be careful, though: one skeleton can quickly ruin your fun. Digging a hole at least two blocks deep in front of the creeper can trap it, but since the creeper's AI was improved, creepers will most likely just walk around the hole unless you put a sign in the top-most block, which will trick it into falling in.

The very simplest solution for encountering a creeper if you are ill-prepared is to simply run away. Creepers are slower than the player, even when the player isn't sprinting, making a getaway feasible. You may not have this option in caves or other tight spaces, but this tactic works well in wide-open spaces such as plains or deserts. Be careful, however, not to run into even more trouble, such as other mobs (especially more creepers), deep pits, or pools of lava.

If all else fails, try to get the creeper to explode as far away from you as possible. Ironically, this is easiest to do on the "Hard" difficulty setting, since creepers can "count down" to detonation when they are further away from you than on other settings. It is even possible in some situations to persuade a creeper to explode without causing any damage to the player at all.

If you should ever face a creeper and you only have a wooden sword or axe, just hit it, take one step back and repeat until it is killed. The loot will come in handy for future encounters and, with practice, can even be done with bare fists, which means you can beat one even if you just entered a newly created world.

Don't try to kill Zombies with a Bow
Until you build a mob farm or skeleton dungeon grinder, use your arrows sparingly. They are best saved for more dangerous mobs, such as skeletons, creepers, and spiders. Zombies are easy to kill with a sword, and safer as well, because the high attack speed will keep them away from you. This also applies to passive mobs. Endermen are completely immune to arrows, excepting the Flame Enchantment, so without it avoid shooting them entirely. If you have a wolf or two, why bother wasting your sword's durability on the zombie? Just punch the zombie and the wolves will take care of the rest. Meanwhile you can get on with killing creepers and skeletons.

Don't venture outside during your first night
Unless you are an experienced player or are on Peaceful mode, venturing outside during the night is suicidal. You will easily be killed by Mobs. Deserts and plains are the safest places to be outside at night; forests and jungles can be extremely dangerous.

Don't mine valuable blocks with low level equipment
If you don't have an Iron pickaxe (or Diamond for Obsidian), then Gold, Diamond, Redstone, and other valuable ores won't drop their contents. Instead, they'll just be destroyed. A good indication is the amount of time it takes for them to appear to be destroyed. If you have been mining a block for more than 2 seconds (with the exception of Obsidian, for which it takes 10 seconds with a diamond pickaxe), then it is unlikely to drop resources when destroyed.

Don't mine low-value blocks with valuable equipment
Diamond are worth their weight in... well, DIAMOND! Using your diamond sword to hack through the ground will save you no time at all, and will notch the sword a little more every time. Pretend that every diamond you have is the last one you will ever have - plan for the worst, be pleasantly surprised by everything non-bad that happens.

By the same token, there is no real need for a diamond axe, unless you somehow have a surplus of diamonds. For three diamonds, the axe won't save you enough time to make up for how long it will take to find more diamonds. Never use iron, gold or diamond for hoes either, as they make very little difference, only being more durable than wooden or stone.

Using a diamond shovel on the ground is fine, though. Diamond tools are super-durable, especially if they have the Unbreaking enchantment. Due to this, there is little need to create lower-level tools if you have diamond tools, unless you're going into the Nether. (And even there, a diamond pickaxe can be helpful if you're willing to risk losing it to a bad death.)

Don't play with fire
This is a no-brainer. Fire and Wood results in more fire! Although as of Beta 1.6, forest fires no longer burn indefinitely. This can destroy chunks of forests, as well as accidentally burning down part of your house. As Smokey the bear says: "Only you can prevent forest fires." Also, never carry a bucket of lava in the hotbar unless you're about to use it! You should even avoid carrying flint and steel (or later, a Fire Charge) in the hotbar, at least when you're in a forest or other flammable area. If you are making use of lava or flint and steel, have a bucket of water handy. Then, if you make a mistake (we all do), you can quickly put out the flames. You can also try to punch the fire when it's created, and it will be immediately extinguished (hopefully it hasn't spread already).

Try not to use sprinting in your first days of game
Sprinting depletes the Food Bar at a rate of 1/2 a food unit every 40 meters, or 7 seconds and at the beginning of the game, food is essential. Sprinting with no food can prove lethal.

If you feel up to it, you could hunt zombies during the night, or wait at dawn until all the zombies and skeletons have died and collect the rotten flesh and bones. The rotten flesh will poison you, but it will still heal more than you will lose by poisoning (on Easy & Medium), and the bones can be crafted and used to create your first little wheat patch.

Now that you have a steady food supply it's safer to sprint.

Don't explore caves in Hardcore Mode without a ton of equipment
The moon does not spawn mobs, meaning Mobs can spawn in unlit caves. If you do not have a bow and a bunch of arrows as well as a high-damage sword, don't mine. If you do it, it won't end well. Dig a quarry. You shouldn't be playing Hardcore if you can't fight mobs. Remember that it if you die once in Hardcore the world gets deleted so there is absolutely no point to safe-keeping items far away from dangerous places because you won't be respawning to collect them if you die.

And don't even try Hardcore until you're familiar with the game mechanics by playing a few games on Easy / Medium first.

Don't dig underwater
In survival mode, blocks take a longer time to break while the player is underwater. That`s why there is a great risk of drowning while digging underwater, if you are not close to the surface. Placing Signs, Ladders, Iron Bars, Glass Panes, a Door, or Fences on nearby blocks can be used to produce air pockets where you can catch a breath and recover your air supply. Since all blocks displace a full block of water as long as there is something in the block space, placing a "partial" block (such as an Iron Bar or a Sign) will create a full block air pocket. You can also create air pockets by digging out dirt or sand under an overhang (the block above must not be sand or gravel).

Don't build an unused large wall around your house
If built correctly, walls can be used as excellent defenses and sniping points. However, if not built correctly, they are nearly useless, and Spiders can get over. To deter spiders, make the wall 4 blocks high with an overhang on the outer side. Spiders cannot climb through overhangs and cannot jump higher than 3 blocks. The overhanging blocks (or Signs, if you have a lot of wood) can be spaced one block apart laterally, as spiders are slightly larger than 1 block wide.

Avoid building a weak house
Dirt, Sand, Snow, and Netherrack are weak materials with a low Blast Resistance, so they are quite easily destroyed by creepers. Avoid building your main base out of dirt. Instead, use Cobblestone, which is a cheap, abundant, and tough alternative.

Later on in the game you may wish to make your main base out of Bricks, Stone Brick and Stone. You could also use End Stone if you make an ender chest.

A list of low blast-resistance materials can be found here. Also, if you use an inventory editor, be extremely careful not to use stone, stone bricks, or cobblestone with silverfish in them (also known as Monster Eggs, silverfish blocks, or "Block 97").

Don't build houses exclusively out of wood
Yes, wood may look pretty, and everyone loves the texture. It also, however, has a large number of practical disadvantages, compared with other materials.


 * Wood has half the blast resistance (15) of cobblestone and most stone-based blocks (30). This means that explosions will do far more damage to a wooden structure.


 * Wood is flammable, and other than wool, is the only building material where this is the case.


 * Because wood is flammable, Netherrack can't be used as light sources in a wooden building, and building fireplaces is more dangerous, as well.


 * Wood is however, efficient to collect in large quantities. A stack of wood blocks can be harvested in the same time as a stack of cobble: but yields four times as many wooden planks. For large constructions, such as mob traps, wood planks are a good choice. (But be careful around fire and lava!)

Wooden roofing, if you've built the walls and floor out of something else, will be less labor-intensive, and will also likely look better as well. Even if you do use wood walls, consider buttressing or trim with either smooth stone, sandstone, or obsidian. It will not only look better, but will have better blast resistance against explosions.

Try to avoid using primitive tools
Planks have better uses than tool crafting, and should only be used as such when there is no alternative or when you are just starting. The same applies for cobblestone. You should use golden tools only if you need fast gathering of resources. Gold is a soft metal, so it should only be used if there is nothing else and you need to mine something quick. Gold also enchants very well, so gold tools are useful if you want any enchantment which would otherwise be difficult to obtain, such as silk touch.

When you start, you should make a wooden pickaxe, mine 19 stone blocks, and then you will never need the wooden pickaxe again, since 11 of the 19 can be used for all tools, and the remaining 8 for a furnace.

Don't goof around in the Nether
If you're in the Nether, come well-prepared with a bow, a few stacks of arrows, lightly enchanted iron armor, and iron or diamond sword, unless you're playing on Peaceful. However, unless you're on Hardcore, leave your really valuable equipment at home: an inventory-incinerating death in lava is more likely in the Nether than it is in the Overworld.


 * DO NOT dig straight down-this is even more important in the Nether, where one-block thick overhangs above lava or high drops are the rule, rather than the exception. Be careful on gravel as well—you may dig one block and discover you were standing on a gravel outcrop over a chasm.


 * DO NOT carry full stacks of diamonds or valuable diamond gear in the Nether, unless you've already set up a secure nether base.


 * DO NOT build structures out of anything weaker than Iron Doors (25). Ghasts can and will blow up and set fire to lesser materials.


 * DO NOT mine Glowstone unless it's near the ground without first constructing a cobblestone platform underneath it. Otherwise a Ghast might blow up the Glowstone and send you falling to your death.


 * DO NOT venture into the Nether without a flint and steel. Ghast fireballs can deactivate portals, and you'll need to relight them or suicide will be your only ticket out of the Nether. Ghasts fireballs can also relight it, but this is dangerous and does not work 100% of the time either.


 * DO NOT plan on using a water bucket as your defense against death in a lava pool. Water in any form, except for hacked in water blocks, don't work in the Nether.  Try to gain the necessary materials for Fire Resistance potions as soon as possible and use the potions as your defense instead.


 * DO NOT attack Zombie Pigmen without ample preparation for the consequences. Zombie Pigmen work as a team: attack one, and all the Zombie Pigmen in the area will become aggressive.  They're harder-hitting and faster than regular Zombies, so it's better to kill single, isolated Zombie Pigmen unless you're well-equipped and experienced enough to take on large groups. A building of sorts to retreat in is advisable at all times, preferabely with firing holes in the walls, even if you don't have a bow, you still can see through them.


 * DO NOT try to sleep in the Nether. If you right-click a bed in the Nether, it will explode and possibly kill you. And if you are on an overhang, you could fall into lava. If you die in the Nether (and not on Hardcore mode), you will wake up in the Overworld.  This is a good thing—in single-player or with no other players near where you were, the Nether chunk will unload, and you'll have plenty of time to re-equip yourself and maybe even go back to retrieve your stuff.

Don't build TNT traps out of dirt
It is time consuming to rebuild dirt traps. Instead, try a more explosion-resistant material, such as obsidian. Cobblestone also works, but some blocks will be destroyed. Or you can use water to avoid terrain damage.

Water has the ability to absorb the damage factor of an explosion, but generally not the physics, which means that your target will probably get launched.

Don't use other tools for damaging mobs
Carry a sword with you until you craft a bow. Other tools cause less damage to mobs, and they lose durability faster.

An axe has the added advantage of the ability to chop wood faster as well as being a decent weapon. At some point you WILL want to replace it with a stone or better sword though.

Don't leave gaps in your shelter
You've got a shelter. Shelters protect you from the outside world. Unless your shelter requires the outside to, well, be a shelter, don't leave gaps. Who knows what might get inside?

If you really feel the need to see what's going on outside you can put in a window made from glass or glass panes. A tile (or half a block) can be used as well, as long as it is on top of at least 2 blocks from the floor, or skeletons may hit you. Also be aware of your surroundings, hills and such, for the same reason.

Don't set off TNT from up close
TNT explosions are deadly from close by, especially chains of explosives set up. Whenever possible, use redstone wiring and detonate from a distance to ensure safety. After the Beta 1.7 update, it is no longer possible to set off TNT by using your hand. If you decide to set off some TNT from a distance it is advised to use Repeaters to give more time to get away from the explosion/explosions.

Going around a corner will put said corner between you and the blast, and for underground mining this is the easiest method if you haven't found any redstone yet.

Don't make a fireplace in a wood house
Fireplaces look very nice, especially in homes made of logs or planks. However, you are discouraged to do so, because of the chance of the fire spreading. You can, however, build a fireplace and make sure no flammable blocks are around (at least five blocks away) unless they're well-shielded by non-flammable blocks. However, be aware this is not foolproof and your house may still catch on fire. As of Beta 1.6, fires don't spread forever, but fire can still destroy a good chunk of your home. A great way to prevent it from spreading but still use the wood texture is to build the area around the fireplace with wooden slabs (as of recently, this is no longer true), as they have the same properties as stone.

Hint: Make a fireplace ONLY with blocks of bricks or cobblestone/stone/stone bricks. They look nice and don't burn.

Don't kill passive mobs with a sword if you have flint and steel
If you're already carrying flint and steel while you're hunting, save yourself some time. When hunting a mob that yields meat (pork, chicken, steak), using a flint and steel cooks the meat for you. This is especially useful on chickens, since they are easy to kill, and raw chicken can provide the player with food poisoning. You'll save coal and time you would have spent cooking it, and a flint and steel costs less to make and has fewer uses than your trusty iron or diamond sword. Be careful not to set fire to yourself, or to try it on mobs near water; if the mob extinguishes himself, he will not drop cooked meats when re-lit. Try and set as many on fire at a time to maximize efficiency, and watch out for wooden houses or trees. Lava also works, and it doesn't have durability, but it kills mobs quickly, so be sure to remove it. Plus, remember that lava will destroy any items that fall into it, so be careful if you decide to use lava to hunt mobs. Another alternative is to use the Looting enchantment, as it provides a higher drop rate than regular weapons. Some may deem this far more useful due to the massive amounts of fuel they may possess. Coal is easily obtained anywhere, and blaze rods are easily obtained through a blaze farm. The time required to cook it could be bypassed by farming, mining, etc.

Solution: Fire Aspect.

Be careful using these methods if it concerns a chicken, cow or pigfarm, since you might kill all your flock/cattle and you need at least 2 of each for reproduction.

Don't make too many planks
Think of your stack of logs as a 'compressed' version of a stack of planks. As soon as you make planks, your wood takes up four times the room.

Similarly, don't make too many sticks. If you have extra planks, turning them into sticks will double the amount of space they consume.

Don't run around with a bucket of lava in your hand
Lava is one of the worst ways to die since you usually lose everything you were carrying. It is easy to accidentally right click laying the lava spring right in front of you leading to a horrible death. Even if it doesn't kill you, it may destroy whatever you were working on, or perhaps trash your lair. Do not keep lava in the hotbar unless you are immediately going to use it, for exactly the same reason (perhaps unless you're playing PvP).

Don't forget to carry a bucket of water at all times
Water buckets rarely come into use, but are instrumental as life-saving devices when they do. If a player falls into lava, placing water will extinguish the fire and allow them to climb out. Water can also create obsidian walkways over pools of lava. Water buckets provide a fast method of safely descending cliffs: players may place water, wait, then reclaim the water and fall into the disappearing waterfall. If falling near a wall, players may even save their lives by placing water on that wall and holding the jump key. Reclaim your water after using it, so it can continue to save your life. You can also use them to cross dangerous lava fields in deep caves - just place the water on a surface other than lava (such as stone) and then you can cross the lava field happily! Remember: you only need 1 bucket, just pick the water back up after. You can also use them to place above you to climb up walls. Don't underestimate water's ability to help you out of a tough situation. You can also use water to fill up cauldrons for potion - brewing.

In the end, you'll never need more than 2 buckets at any 1 time and any iron ore spent on creating more is considered a waste by most.

Don't start a sugarcane farm right outside your house
It's hard to identify a creeper hiding in sugarcane in the fraction of the second you have before he starts his timer, and by the time you've gotten your sword out, your house will have a hole in it. However, it is completely safe if you use double fences, light up your farm, close the gate, and remove any high ground near the farm.

Don't forget to bring at least one full stack of gravel or sand if you're mining deep
Lava is the biggest problem when mining. Find yourself trying to mine through a large lava pit? Mine up until you're above it, then sneak to the edge and keep dropping gravel or sand into the pit to fill it. No need to reorder your mine plotting or mess around with obsidian and no worry about accidentally tunneling into a hot spot.

Don't risk your life for Diamond
If you see diamond ore, especially on the ground, mine away the blocks around it. If you see lava, take care to completely remove it and ensure you won't come into danger while attempting to extract the diamond. Though Diamond is rare, it's not worth losing two stacks of iron and half a stack of Gold ore. This goes for Gold, Lapis Lazuli, Redstone, Obsidian, Mossy Cobblestone and to a lesser extent Iron, Coal, and Emerald. Everything else should be gathered where it is safe, on the surface (Dirt, Gravel, Stone), and Lava should be collected 27 at a time from the Nether.

Don't let passive mobs push you around on dangerous terrain
One of the more humiliating ways to die is to be pushed off a cliff by a pig, chicken, or even your own tame wolf. On non-peaceful settings in Superflat mode, villagers may sometimes push you into the middle of the crowd of slimes you were fighting from a doorway. Wolves and cats can be made to sit, but other passive mobs may need to be killed to reduce the danger. An even more reliable protection is to place some temporary blocks behind and around you to cover your back and flanks, and possibly overhead too. This ensures you simply cannot be pushed in an undesirable direction, and is the better method to use whenever you need to stay in a dangerous spot for any significant length of time. This method protects very well against hostile mobs too. Sometimes only one block is needed, but if your location is very exposed you may need up to a dozen blocks to cover all approaches and allow headroom for jumping.

In some cases you should ensure there is space in front to place extra blocks there. Then if a hostile mob appears, you can fend it off if necessary, erect a barrier in front of you, then plan your escape in safety from inside your cocoon.

Don't surround your bed with blocks
If there is not a free space next to your bed, you're gonna wake up standing on your bed. If there is only one block of free space over your bed, you're gonna wake up inside a block. When you are inside of the block, you lose your health. Redstone will kill you too. You can remove the block where you are, but if you are too slow you will die. After death, you will respawn in your original spawn point. A notification comes up when you get there, reading "Your home bed was missing or obstructed".

Don't live near the spawn in multiplayer
If you are in multiplayer, live away from the spawn in a hidden area. It is easy for a newcomer to come in and see your house and just grief it or come into your house, kill you and steal your stuff. Try to remember the way to the spawn and the way to your house. Ideally, you should always build your home underground or underwater on a multiplayer server (when you can't protect your home from griefing using a plugin), especially if you're playing on a server where griefing is allowed.

Don't attack more than one creeper at a time
Even if you have a diamond sword and can get in enough hits before the creeper blows, don't do it! Especially in hard mode where you won't be able to get away fast enough to escape the blast. This isn't especially obvious, but if there's a creeper behind another creeper and you do this, you will most likely be blown up. If you have a sword with knockback, it's safer to fight more monsters at one time. But still be careful!

Don't use Gold as your Tools or Armor
Even though Gold tools do work much faster than diamonds, they have low durability. So rely on Iron Ingot tools and armor. Iron tools and armor are important for Survival Mode until you find enough diamonds to craft diamond tools and armor. Other than that, you can rely on gold for Golden Apple and a Clock.

Avoid eating poisonous foods
When eating Rotten Flesh, it is wise to drink Milk after eating it or you have chances of losing half of your Hunger. Likewise, use Spider Eyes to make splash potions instead of eating them.

Exception: Spider Eyes have a great nourishment value. They will quickly reduce two hearts upon consumption, but the hearts will be quickly restored and your food bar will not deplete as quickly. In non-threatening situations (daylight, at home, well lit mine) eating a spider eye will do more good in the long run. It's not advisable to eat a spider eye while battling mobs.

Don't shoot paintings
If you shoot a painting, the arrow and the painting will disappear.

Don't grief up your spawn place
If you want to play with TNT, please don't use your spawn place for this. If you die and have not made or slept in a bed, you will spawn at this place, so if you dug where you spawn, you may take fall damage when respawning there. And always remember to mark the spawn point when spawning into a new world!

Don't PVP without right equipment
It is dangerous to fight players without armor or weapons. And even worse, they can take your hard earned valuables such as diamond, gold, and iron.

NEVER leave home without a sword.
Zombies like to hide in the shade. Get a sword. Once you have string, craft a bow.

Don't attack Iron Golems
Iron golems sound like a reliable source of iron, right? Think again. Iron golems only drop 3-6 iron ingots when they're killed, have 50 hearts (compared to your 10) and have an attack strength of 7.5 to 11 hearts of damage per attack. Also, attacking iron golems will lower your loyalty by 5 points, and if your loyalty goes below -15, iron golems will permanently be rendered hostile towards you until you trade with villagers.

Don't use an axe on leaves.
Using an axe on leaves is a bad idea, it will drain the uses your axe has. If you use it on all of the leaves on a tree, not even an iron axe will last very long. It is just as fast to use your fists, or any non tool items, so never use an axe on a leaf. However, the one tool that is made for leaves is shears, which can be used to collect placable leaf blocks. However, these leaf blocks could potentially hog up your inventory, so you may not want to do this, unless you want to make a structure out of leaves.

Don't mine TNT with a pick enchanted with Silk Touch
If you mine TNT with a normal pick, it drops TNT. If mined with a silk touch pick, it drops nothing.