Talk:Tool/Archive 1

Iron is most efficient
Should we say that Iron is the most efficient? It is most common, and has second most durability, making it a cheap, and durable substitute for Diamond.

76.27.210.111 07:44, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

Yeah yeah yeah. I know iron isn't as rare as diamond. But who cares? Well, NOT ME! Yeah, I'm so rich on Minecraft that I have enchanted diamond tools and armor. except for my flint & steel, which is iron and flint, my sheers, which are just iron, and my bow, which is wooden. Of course. --Noa-constrictor 20:26, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Unnamed section
What was the purpose of changing out the image of a table for an actual table on the page? It only seems to make it easier to edit and is generally less friendly on the eyes compared to the simple, more compact, and color-coded image. -KinoftheFlames 04:50, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I noticed in the table there is no entry for some newer blocks, but the one most obviously missing is redstone. A suggestion that I thought of is that the tool efficiency may want to be split by the type of tool used to provide more information since a diamond shovel might as well be hands when cutting a tree or mining. --NeoNMD 13:20, 4 September 2010 (CDT)

What do you even mean?--Noa-constrictor 21:14, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Durability?
Where is the durability equation at? I though I had seen that in here somewhere before.

Something like 2^n+1 where n changes with material? I remember wood gets 33 uses, I just measured stone at 65 uses, and I recall diamond being 1025 uses (though I'm not about to test that ;D) --Ibutton77 09:28, 2 October 2010 (UTC)


 * It's in Crafting. – ultradude25 ( T 10:00, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

You can repair tools by combining them in either crafting or using an anvil. They also give you a 5% bonus in durability. =)--Noa-constrictor 21:17, 25 August 2013 (UTC)


 * You do realize this was from 2010... right? Anvils were released in 2012. Meeples10 t ~  c 21:36, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

TNT
What blocks does TNT yeild? Just thought that relevent. –The preceding unsigned comment was added by Megadog (Talk . Please sign your posts with   !
 * I'm not sure, but I know that TNT has a chance of preventing block drops. I blew up some coal ore and I didn't get very much coal. –The preceding unsigned comment was added by PurpleKiwi (Talk . Please sign your posts with   !
 * same goes for creeper explosions. if they blow up your creations, you dont get all blocks back. i would say something between 33% and 50% is destroyed, but that may just be me. --BlueLegion 12:01, 12 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I was about to edit the page with TNT with information on this. I've been using a lot of TNT, and in my experience, any ore that produces a block you can place will be destroyed, but the others will not. So iron ore and gold ore will be lost in the blast, but coal, redstone and diamond will not. This needs more experiments for verification, though. If you have more knowledge, please add it to the TNT page. LTK 70 17:39, 16 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Actually, I think that 33% of blocks destroyed by explosions are dropped as resources. It was probably just luck that all your iron and gold was destroyed and everything else was spared. Ary31415 15:21, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Yeah. I agree with Ary31415.--Noa-constrictor 21:20, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Recipes section
Should this just be a link to the tools section on the crafting page? Doesn't make sense to have the same information presented twice on two different pages, especially as new recipes are added in future updates. It could lead to one page being more up to date than the other.
 * What? That doesn't even make sense. How can one page possibly get out of sync from the other? – ultradude25 ( T 23:18, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
 * There's a crafting section on the tools page, and it's repeated on the crafting page. If a new tool is introduced into the game, both pages need to be updated, leading to unnecessary work and potential for error to creep in. They can get out of sync because each page is edited separately. DannyF1966 00:04, 12 October 2010 (UTC)
 * The only way that would be possible is if you actually put the table on the page, which is why we don't do that... – ultradude25 ( T 01:17, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

Redstone not listed
In the table where mining times for different blocks are listed, Redstone is missing. If someone has this data, please add it for completeness' sake –The preceding unsigned comment was added by LTK 70 (Talk . Please sign your posts with   !

Well, if you want to be technical, I might as well mention that the blocks from the Nether isn't there, which would be very useful. 99seconds 00:23, 17 November 2010 (CST)


 * Well you could have signed it for him :D --Scykei 07:12, 17 November 2010 (UTC)


 * I started filling this in but it didn't look any good with "? secs". I'm not far enough yet to test things like diamond tools, but how do you get the #secs down to 2dp?? The Swords list can be expanded too, see File:Use-sword.png --ChewChew 12:36, 25 November 2010 (UTC)
 * A simple trick to get accurate numbers is to use a map editor or /give to create a large number of the blocks in question. You chop through them, counting the time to get through them; When done, you divide the time by the number of blocks. The more blocks you test, the more accurate the time. Assuming a counting human to be accurate to within 2 seconds, you'd need to cut through 100 blocks for a .02 second margin of error. Blocks should be placed in a 2x50 strip, and attacked end to end. If you synch your counting to a counter running in the background, you can reduce the variance by about half thus requiring fewer blocks.Ghost2 05:27, 15 January 2011 (UTC)
 * I'll go ahead and do this right now, expect the results within a couple of hours. Alphap 01:23, 31 January 2011 (UTC)

Other uses for swords (or other tools)
It is worth mentioning that a Diamond Sword can be used to quickly pick up minecarts. It's fast (1 hit) and does not damage the sword, making it the perfect tool for this job. Does anyone know if this also applies to other swords? Also, what other uses the other tools have? --CrazyTerabyte 03:06, 2 November 2010 (UTC)
 * All swords instantly destroy minecarts.--PurpleKiwi 03:22, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Saying minecarts and boats are entities, they will get damaged by a sword. I noticed the same thing when I was mineing the other day, too. I wish primed TNT would be damaged by swords... Or anything. Swords are also the tool to obtain the most melon slices from melons. And they're best tool (other than shears) to mine cobwebs.--Noa-constrictor 21:33, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Harvesting data out of date
Swords can be used to harvest more blocks than simply glass and leaves faster, but nowehere is this mentioned. It's also strange to note that axes are still listed as the correct tool to use on a workbench even though it does nothing to speed up the harvesting process, while a sword does. Could we get some data on this, please? DoomRater 21:33, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

Saddle = tool?
Does the saddle count as a tool? Deathgleaner 21:09, 17 January 2011 (UTC)
 * I'd say yes, since it has a unique use. Alphap 02:27, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Mostly an easter egg in my opinion, tools should be useful. Calinou 17:00, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Irrelevant Edit
Sorry, I confused the original page with the Japanese page when I edited "Tools" on 5 December 2011, and I've not noticed. I'll be extra careful not to do that again. Lmj 12:38, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

Gold tools?
It says gold tools are the fastest at mining blocks, but I used my gold pickaxe to mine cobblestone and it took like a minute. It wasn't in a stronghold, so from my understanding it probably wasn't Block 97. Explain?

What version are you using?

(sorry, but im new and dont fully understand how to comment...) i don't use gold tools, but I'll note back when i have... BazzarLarry 21:54, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

Gold is weaker than wood. Signed, ppaxson. –Preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.136.231.238 (Talk) 03:29, 1 February 2013‎ (UTC). Please sign your posts with

Item Durability
I changed this to match the info on Item Durability. The tool you use to mine a block doesn't affect the durability. This thread at Reddit has a relevant discussion about the misconception that using the wrong tool type will break those tools quicker. Razorsoup 04:52, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Thank you for trying to improve this strangely long-standing misleading section (and both YouTube channels and commenters appear to have propagated the myth). I have now reworded it to spell out precisely what actions count as two, one or zero uses. I tested this on survival 100% vanilla 1.2.3 and 1.3.1 (that's no cheats, no mods, no invedit whatsoever) with wooden tools on various blocks: wood logs, wood planks, sandstone blocks, cobble stone blocks, netherrack. The Item Durability talks of "useful actions" which does not clarify - I found no difference in number of uses between breaking a block with a shovel and with a pickaxe. I notice others have tested this with Creative or various mods, and it is likely worth trying to repeat these in pure vanilla multiplayer server and for other materials in case there are some differences (I recall testing a difference from beta days). -Aurelius 05:44, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
 * On the Xbox 360 (which is basically Beta 1.7.3), I tested mining dirt with a golden pick, shovel and axe. All three tools had 33 uses before breaking, but the shovel did do the work significantly faster than the other two tools. I didn't test anything else yet but I will try to next time I play. Razorsoup 18:27, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Just tried the gold hoe and sword on the Xbox version. The hoe does not lose any durability when used to mine blocks. The sword loses durability twice as fast as the tools when used to mine. So it seems like the Xbox version works the same as what you found on 1.2.3 and 1.3.1. Razorsoup 19:26, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

I know, curiosity killed the cat but....
I was wondering, just how many even use gold tools... i dont, nor do any of my friends, but is this common, or is it worth the 1-3 gold needed? and what even is the uses of a gold sword, it just wears out after you use it anyways... BazzarLarry 21:50, 24 August 2012 (UTC) I use gold tools, especially when enchanted :)                                               ~(No account)

I like diamond better =D --Noa-constrictor 21:37, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Breaking time table
In older revisions of this article, there was an enormously helpful table showing how long each tool took to break each block. Are any of these tables still around and up-to-date?  LB ( T 01:40, 9 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Digging has the most complete list, though it was last updated for 1.3 blocks. -- Orthotope 02:31, 9 January 2013 (UTC)


 * See tables on Axe, Pickaxe, Shears, and Shovel pages. These should be should be correct for 1.4.5. --mgr 10:01, 9 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Digging is now up-to-date :). --mgr 23:57, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Stone Tools a better choice?
Of course, Diamond tools are epic, and should only be used when necessary. That puts Iron tools next on the choice list of most players. But if you think about it, Iron should also be saved and used for 'useful' things, too. I mean, sure, Stone Tools may be slower, and have about 1/2 the durability of Iron, but with the amount of Cobblestone you get, Stone Tools are really a better choice. Think of all the Iron you could save over a few days!(After all, an Anvil costs 31 to make, and Armour costs 24)Try it; it works!! PrinceCooshie101 00:07, 27 May 2013 (UTC)