Minecraft pickaxe: the complete guide
The pickaxe is the most important tool in Minecraft. Without one you can't mine stone, iron, diamonds or obsidian. Pickaxes range from the wooden one you craft in your first few minutes to netherite, which can mine anything. Each tier gives you access to new resources and speeds up mining. The right pickaxe enchantments can double your haul or save you hours of digging.
Pickaxe types compared
Here's how the pickaxe tiers stack up. Each step up is faster, more durable and lets you mine more advanced blocks.
| Pickaxe | Durability | Mining speed | Damage | Material |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden | 59 | 2 | 2 | Planks (any wood) |
| Stone | 131 | 4 | 3 | Cobblestone / Blackstone / Cobbled Deepslate |
| Iron | 250 | 6 | 4 | Iron ingots |
| Golden | 32 | 12 | 2 | Gold ingots |
| Diamond | 1,561 | 8 | 5 | Diamonds |
| Netherite | 2,031 | 9 | 6 | Diamond pickaxe upgrade |
The golden pickaxe is the fastest, but its durability is pitiful: 32 uses, fewer than a wooden one. It isn't worth using for regular mining. Diamond and netherite are the endgame pickaxes. A netherite pickaxe also doesn't burn up in lava.
Crafting recipes
Every pickaxe except the netherite one takes 3 units of material and 2 sticks in a crafting table:
- Top row: 3 units of material (planks, cobblestone, iron ingots, gold ingots or diamonds)
- Middle: 1 stick
- Bottom: 1 stick
Netherite pickaxe
You don't craft a netherite pickaxe from scratch. You need a diamond pickaxe and the netherite upgrade (Netherite Upgrade smithing template + netherite ingot) at a smithing table. You'll find the upgrade template in bastion remnants in the Nether.
Mining levels: what each tier can mine
Not every pickaxe can mine every block. If you use a pickaxe that's too weak, the block breaks but nothing drops.
| Block | Minimum pickaxe |
|---|---|
| Stone, cobblestone, sandstone | Wooden |
| Iron ore, copper ore, lapis lazuli ore | Stone |
| Gold ore, diamond ore, emerald ore, redstone ore | Iron |
| Obsidian, ancient debris | Diamond |
| Deepslate blocks (ore variants) | Same as the regular ores |
A classic beginner mistake: trying to mine diamond ore with a stone pickaxe. The block breaks, but no diamond drops. Always carry at least an iron pickaxe when you go below Y=16.
Mining speed
Mining speed depends on the pickaxe tier, the type of block and the Efficiency enchantment. Here are some example mining times (in seconds):
| Pickaxe | Stone | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| Wooden | 1.15 s | - |
| Stone | 0.6 s | - |
| Iron | 0.4 s | - |
| Diamond | 0.3 s | 9.4 s |
| Netherite | 0.25 s | 8.35 s |
Haste II from a beacon combined with Efficiency V on a netherite pickaxe gives you instant mining: blocks break the moment you click. It's the fastest mining setup in the game.
Best pickaxe enchantments
Efficiency (I-V)
Speeds up mining. At level V, combined with Haste II, it enables instant mining. A must-have on every pickaxe you use day to day.
Fortune (I-III)
Increases the drops from ores. Fortune III on diamond ore gives you 2.2 diamonds on average instead of one. It also works on lapis lazuli, redstone, emerald, copper and coal ore. Iron and gold ore drop raw iron and raw gold, and Fortune increases those drops too.
Silk Touch
Blocks drop in their original form instead of as resources. It lets you collect stone (instead of cobblestone), ore blocks (to mine later with Fortune), glass panes and ice. It can't pick up spawners, though: that's a myth. Silk Touch and Fortune are mutually exclusive.
Mending
Repairs the pickaxe with the XP you collect. With Mending, a pickaxe practically never wears out, because mining ores keeps producing XP. It's the most important enchantment for a diamond or netherite pickaxe.
Unbreaking (I-III)
Lowers the chance of losing durability. With Unbreaking III, a pickaxe lasts 4 times longer on average. Combined with Mending, your pickaxe is practically indestructible.
Everyday pickaxe: Efficiency V + Fortune III + Mending + Unbreaking III. Second pickaxe: Efficiency V + Silk Touch + Mending + Unbreaking III. Carry both: Fortune for mining ores for their drops, Silk Touch for collecting blocks in their original form.
Repairs and durability
There are three ways to repair a pickaxe:
- Anvil + material: an iron ingot repairs an iron pickaxe, a diamond repairs a diamond one, and so on. Each unit restores 25% of the durability.
- Anvil + a second pickaxe: combines two pickaxes of the same type. The enchantments are merged. Watch out for the rising XP cost.
- Crafting table: combines two pickaxes, but the enchantments are lost. Only useful early in the game.
With Mending, repairs are automatic. Every point of XP you collect with the pickaxe in your hand repairs 2 durability points. Mining ores produces XP, so a Mending pickaxe repairs itself during normal use.
Mining strategies
Strip mining (Y = -59)
Dig a tunnel at Y = -59, near the bottom of the deepslate layer. It's the optimal height for diamonds in Java Edition. Dig a main corridor with side branches every 2 blocks. An iron pickaxe is enough to mine diamonds, but a diamond one is faster.
Branch mining
A variant of strip mining: dig a central tunnel with side branches every 3 blocks. You cover more ground with less work. It's ideal with Efficiency V, because you dig very fast.
Mining obsidian
Obsidian requires a diamond or netherite pickaxe and takes 9-10 seconds to mine. With Efficiency V on a netherite pickaxe, the time drops to about 2 seconds. If you need a lot of obsidian, make it by pouring water over lava.
