How to Make a Pickaxe in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Craft a pickaxe with 3 of your material (planks, cobblestone, iron, gold or diamond) across the top row and 2 sticks down the center column. It is the first tool every survival world needs: without it you cannot mine stone or ores.

What you need

3 of one material (planks, cobblestone, copper, iron ingots, gold ingots or diamonds)
2 sticks

Step by step

Craft 2 sticks from planks.
Gather 3 of your material: planks for wood, cobblestone for stone, or iron/gold/diamond ingots and gems for higher tiers.
Open a crafting table.
Fill the entire top row with the 3 material pieces.
Place 1 stick in the center slot and 1 stick in the bottom-center slot.
Take the pickaxe. Upgrade tiers as you go: wood mines stone, stone mines iron, iron mines diamond.

Java vs Bedrock

The pickaxe recipe is the same shape in Java and Bedrock for every tier: wooden, stone, copper, iron, golden and diamond. Netherite is not crafted directly; upgrade a diamond pickaxe at a smithing table with a netherite ingot and a Netherite Upgrade template. The tier gates matter: you need stone for iron ore, iron for diamond and gold ore, and diamond or better for obsidian and ancient debris. Golden pickaxes mine fastest of all but break almost immediately, and copper pickaxes (since 1.21.9) sit between stone and iron. Carry a spare: pickaxes break without warning deep in a cave.

Versions: javabedrock

Frequently asked questions

What pickaxe do you need to mine diamonds?

An iron pickaxe or better. Stone and wooden pickaxes break the diamond ore block without dropping anything. The same rule applies to gold ore, redstone, lapis and emerald ore: iron tier minimum.

How do you make a netherite pickaxe?

Upgrade a diamond pickaxe at a smithing table with 1 netherite ingot and 1 Netherite Upgrade smithing template from a bastion remnant. Enchantments and the name carry over for free.

Is a gold pickaxe better than iron?

Only in speed: gold mines faster than any other tier and has the best enchantability, but its durability is terrible (32 uses). Iron is the practical workhorse; use gold only for throwaway speed jobs.