You need three wooden planks and two sticks arranged in a specific pattern
A wooden pickaxe is one of the first tools you'll craft in Minecraft PC. To make one, you need three wooden planks and two sticks. You arrange them in your crafting table in a specific pattern: the three planks go across the top row, and the two sticks go down the middle column below them, forming a pickaxe shape. Once you place them correctly, the pickaxe appears in the output slot and you can take it.
Wooden pickaxes are weak — they break stone slowly and can't mine iron, gold, or diamond — but they're essential for getting your first stone pickaxe. Without a wooden pickaxe, you can't break stone blocks at all, even though you can break them with your bare hands, the stone won't drop as an item.
Key Takeaways
- You need three wooden planks and two sticks, arranged with planks across the top and sticks down the middle column of a crafting table.
- Wooden planks come from logs, which you chop from trees with your bare hands; one log makes four planks.
- Sticks come from arranging two wooden planks vertically in your crafting grid, which gives you four sticks per two planks.
- A wooden pickaxe can only mine stone, coal ore, and a few other soft blocks — it cannot mine iron, gold, diamond, or obsidian.
- Once you have a wooden pickaxe, mine stone to craft a stone pickaxe, which is much faster and more durable.
How to get wooden planks from logs
Walk up to any tree and punch the wood blocks (the log blocks) with your bare hands until they break. Each log block you break drops one log item. Pick it up by walking over it. You need at least one log to start, though you'll want several.
Open your inventory by pressing E (or the inventory key you've set). Find the logs in your inventory and click on one. In the small 2×2 crafting grid that appears in your inventory screen, place the log in any slot. It converts into four wooden planks. Repeat this for each log until you have at least three planks. If you need more, go back and punch more trees.
How to craft sticks from wooden planks
Open your inventory again. In the 2×2 crafting grid, place one wooden plank in the top slot and another wooden plank directly below it in the middle-left slot. This creates four sticks in the output slot. Take the sticks and repeat if you need more. You'll need two sticks total for the pickaxe, but it's useful to make extra since you'll use sticks for many other tools and items.
If you don't have a crafting table yet, you can make one from four wooden planks arranged in a 2×2 square in your inventory crafting grid. This gives you a crafting table block that you can place on the ground and use for larger recipes.
The exact crafting pattern for a wooden pickaxe
Place your crafting table on the ground and right-click it (or use your interact key) to open the 3×3 crafting grid. Arrange your materials like this: put one wooden plank in the top-left slot, one in the top-middle slot, and one in the top-right slot. Then put one stick in the middle-middle slot and one stick in the bottom-middle slot. The pickaxe appears in the output slot on the right. Click it to take it.
If the pattern doesn't work, check that you have the right items in the right slots. The three planks must be in a horizontal line across the top, and the two sticks must form a vertical line down the center below them. Rotation doesn't matter — the pattern works the same way no matter which direction you're facing.
What a wooden pickaxe can and cannot mine
A wooden pickaxe can mine stone, granite, diorite, andesite, coal ore, and a few other soft blocks. When you use it on these blocks, they break and drop as items that you can pick up. However, a wooden pickaxe cannot mine iron ore, gold ore, diamond ore, obsidian, or most ores — the blocks break but don't drop anything, so you waste your time.
Mining stone with a wooden pickaxe is slow. Each block takes several seconds. A stone pickaxe is much faster, so your goal should be to mine enough stone to craft a stone pickaxe as soon as possible. Once you have stone, arrange three stone blocks across the top of your crafting table and two sticks down the middle, just like the wooden pickaxe pattern.
Why you need a wooden pickaxe before anything else
Your bare hands can break wood, dirt, sand, and a few other soft blocks, but stone requires a pickaxe. Since stone is everywhere and you need it to build a shelter and craft better tools, a wooden pickaxe is your first priority after gathering logs. Without it, you're stuck with dirt and wood, which limits what you can do.
The wooden pickaxe is temporary. It breaks after mining about 60 blocks, so don't expect it to last long. Use it only to mine enough stone for a stone pickaxe, then move on. Stone pickaxes last much longer and mine faster, making them worth the small effort to upgrade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make a wooden pickaxe without a crafting table?
No. You need a crafting table to arrange items in a 3×3 grid. Your inventory crafting grid is only 2×2, which isn't large enough for a pickaxe. Make a crafting table first by arranging four wooden planks in a 2×2 square in your inventory, then place it on the ground and use it.
What do I do if my wooden pickaxe breaks?
Make another one. You'll have plenty of logs and planks from gathering wood, so crafting a second pickaxe takes less than a minute. Keep making them until you have enough stone to craft a stone pickaxe, which lasts much longer.
Can I mine diamond with a wooden pickaxe?
No. A wooden pickaxe cannot mine diamond ore at all — the ore breaks but drops nothing. You need an iron pickaxe or better to mine diamond. Start with a wooden pickaxe to get stone, then use stone to make a stone pickaxe, then use stone to make an iron pickaxe.
How long does a wooden pickaxe last?
A wooden pickaxe breaks after mining about 60 blocks. The durability bar appears in your inventory, showing how much use is left. Once it breaks, you can't use it anymore and must craft a new one or switch to a different tool.
Do I need to find a crafting table or can I make one?
You can make one from four wooden planks. Arrange them in a 2×2 square in your inventory crafting grid, and a crafting table block appears. Place it on the ground by right-clicking, then right-click it again to open the 3×3 grid for crafting tools and other items.