How to Get Stone in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Stone needs a pickaxe with Silk Touch to drop itself; a normal pickaxe drops cobblestone. The easy way is to smelt cobblestone in a furnace with any fuel. Stone makes up most solid blocks in the Overworld above Y=0.

What you need

Pickaxe
Furnace
Fuel

Step by step

Mine stone with a normal pickaxe to get cobblestone (without a pickaxe it drops nothing).
Smelt the cobblestone in a furnace with any fuel to get stone.
Or enchant a pickaxe with Silk Touch: mined stone then drops itself.
Look for stone under 1-5 layers of grass, dirt, gravel, sand and similar blocks. It makes up most of the Overworld above Y=0 and transitions into deepslate from Y=8 downwards.
Use it: stone bricks, stonecutter (iron ingot + stone), and stonecutting into slabs, stairs, walls and bricks.

Java vs Bedrock

The stonecutter recipe accepts only stone in Java Edition, but also granite, diorite, andesite and their polished variants in Bedrock Edition.

Versions: Stone also generates in igloo basements, some ruined portals, trail ruins and trial chambers.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get stone instead of cobblestone?

Use a Silk Touch pickaxe, or smelt cobblestone in a furnace.

Where does stone generate?

Across the Overworld above Y=0, turning into deepslate from Y=8 downwards.

What is stone used for?

Stone bricks, the stonecutter, and stonecutting into slabs, stairs and walls.