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Axes are tools used to ease the process of collecting logs, planks, chests and bookcases, but are not required to gather them. They can also be used on mobs as a weapon, but do less damage than swords of the same material.

Usage

The axe is used to break wood and wooden items faster. It is less necessary than the pick to advance in the game as the axe is not needed to collect items for which it is suited to breaking or, in the case of bookcases, does not help in collecting it. Most items the axe is rated for can also be broken reasonably quickly by hand. However, given most players expend fairly large quantities of wood through gameplay and the use of axes for logging and renovation will save a great deal of time in the long run.

An axe can also be used as a weapon in which role it deals less damage then a sword but more than any other tool in melee. Broadly speaking, axes require one more hit than the equivalent sword to kill a hostile mob and cannot be used to parry. Players that can reliably launch critical hits can nevertheless make axes compelling weapons, especially should a sword not be handy. They can be useful to kill passive mobs while logging.

Usage of the axe as a weapon will deal double durability damage to the axe. Moreover, axes cost more resources per tool than swords do to begin with. Hence, the axe's use as a weapon should be limited to last resort.

Crafting

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

Ingredients Input » Output Description
Sticks +
Wood or
Cobblestone or
Iron Ingots or
Gold Ingots or
Diamond Gems
Template:Grid/Crafting Table Used to chop wood-related

blocks faster than by hand.

Speed and Durability

The following table summarizes the speed at which different quality axes perform.

Axes Bare hands Wood Stone Iron Diamond Gold
Durability 60 132 251 1562 33
Chest 3.75 secs 1.9 secs 0.95 secs 0.65 secs 0.5 secs 0.35 secs
Wood 3 secs 1.5 secs 0.75 secs 0.5 secs 0.4 secs 0.25 secs
Wooden
Plank
3 secs 1.5 secs 0.75 secs 0.5 secs 0.4 secs 0.25 secs
Bookshelf 2.25 secs 1.15 secs 0.6 secs 0.4 secs 0.3 secs 0.2 secs

Notes

  • A wood block can be chopped until it almost breaks then switched to a non-tool item to complete breaking, saving a use of the axe (not recommended for gold or diamond axes, because they cut so fast that switching is almost impossible).
  • After 1.2 Beta update, gold tools, including axes, remove blocks faster than diamond tools.
  • Axes, as of Minecraft Beta 1.5, deal more damage to mobs and players than by hand, which means of all non-weapon tools, axes deal the most damage.
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