How to Make Tools in Minecraft

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: May 12, 2023 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to create tools like pickaxes and shovels in Minecraft. You can craft tools in all versions of Minecraft, including the computer, mobile, and console editions. To craft tools, you will first need to build a crafting table.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Preparing to Craft Tools

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1
Gather one block of wood. Find a tree, point your cursor at a block of wood below it, and hold down your mouse button until the wood breaks and appears in your inventory.
- In Minecraft PE, tap and hold the block of wood until it breaks.
- In Minecraft for consoles, point your cursor at the wood and hold the right trigger until the wood breaks.
2
Open the crafting menu. Press E on a computer to open your inventory. You should see a small grid in the top-right side of the inventory below the "Crafting" heading.
- In Minecraft PE, tap ⋯ in the lower-right side of the screen, and tap the crafting table tab on the left side of the screen.
- On consoles, press X (Xbox) or square (PlayStation).
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3
Turn the wood block into wood planks. Click the wood block to grab it, then click a square in the "Crafting" grid to place the block; you'll see four wood planks appear in the square to the right of the crafting grid.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the wood planks icon, then tap 4 x on the right side of the screen.
- On consoles, select the wood planks icon, then press A or X.
4
Turn the wood planks into a crafting table. Click the stack of wood planks, then right-click each square in the crafting grid (four total). You'll see the crafting table appear in the square to the right of the grid.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the crafting table icon, then tap 1 x on the right side of the screen.
- On consoles, select the crafting table icon, then press A or X.
5
Move the crafting table into your inventory. Press ⇧ Shift while clicking the crafting table to transfer it directly into your inventory's quick-access bar.
- In Minecraft PE and console editions, crafting the wood planks automatically transfers them into your inventory quick-access bar.
- If your quick-access bar is full, you can replace one of the quick-access items with another item from your inventory (in this case, the crafting table).
Select the crafting table in your quick-access bar to place it in your hand.
7
Place your crafting table on the ground. Face the ground, then right-click it. This will place the crafting table on the ground in front of you.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the ground.
- On consoles, face the ground and press the left trigger.
8
Gather your tools' resources. The resources needed for specific tools are as follows:
- Pickaxe - Two sticks and three wood, stone, iron, gold, or diamonds.
- Shovel - Two sticks and one wood, stone, iron, gold, or diamonds.
- Axe - Two sticks and three wood, stone, iron, gold, or diamonds.
- Sword - One stick and two wood, stone, iron, gold, or diamonds.
- Hoe - Two sticks and two wood, stone, iron, gold, or diamonds.
9
Craft sticks. You'll need at least one stick for each tool, though most tools mandate two. To craft four sticks, open your crafting menu, place one wood plank in the bottom row of the crafting grid, and place one wood plank directly above the first wood plank. You'll see a stack of four sticks appear to the right of the crafting grid; move them to your inventory before continuing.
- In Minecraft PE, tap ⋯, tap the crafting table tab, tap the stick icon, and tap 4 x on the right side of the screen.
- On consoles, press X (Xbox) or square (PlayStation), then select the stick icon and press A (Xbox) or X (PlayStation).
Right-click the crafting table on a computer, tap the crafting table on Minecraft PE, or face the crafting table and press the left trigger on consoles. You are now ready to begin crafting your tools.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Crafting Basic Tools

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1
Craft a pickaxe. Place one stick each in the bottom-middle and center squares of the crafting table grid, then place the wood, stone, iron, gold, or diamond in the top three squares in the crafting grid.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the pickaxe icon, then tap 1 x.
- On consoles, press RB or R1 to select the "Tools" tab, select the pickaxe icon, scroll down to your selected material (e.g., wood), and press A or X.
2
Craft a shovel. Place one stick each in the bottom-middle and center squares of the crafting table grid, then place one wood, stone, iron, gold, or diamond in the top-center square in the crafting grid.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the shovel icon, then tap 1 x.
- On consoles, press RB or R1 to select the "Tools" tab, select the shovel icon, scroll down to your selected material (e.g., wood), and press A or X.
3
Craft an axe. Place one stick each in the bottom-middle and center squares of the crafting table grid, then place the wood, stone, iron, gold, or diamond in the top-middle, top-left, and left-middle squares of the crafting grid.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the axe icon, then tap 1 x.
- On consoles, press RB or R1 to select the "Tools" tab, select the axe icon, scroll down to your selected material (e.g., wood), and press A or X.
4
Craft a sword. Place one stick in the bottom-middle square of the crafting grid, then place the wood, stone, iron, gold, or diamond in the middle and top-middle squares of the crafting grid.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the sword icon, then tap 1 x.
- On consoles, press RB or R1 to select the "Tools" tab, select the sword icon, scroll down to your selected material (e.g., wood), and press A or X.
5
Craft a hoe. Place one stick each in the bottom-middle and center squares of the crafting table grid, then place the wood, stone, iron, gold, or diamond in the top-middle and top-left squares of the crafting grid.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the hooked hoe icon, then tap 1 x.
- On consoles, press RB or R1 to select the "Tools" tab, select the hoe icon, scroll down to your selected material (e.g., wood), and press A or X.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Crafting Advanced Tools

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Advanced tools require additional items, such as iron bars or string, that you may not have if you only just created your first round of basic tools.
2
Craft a bucket. You can use buckets to gather water and lava. Place one iron bar each in the left-middle, bottom-middle, and right-middle squares of the crafting grid. You can get iron by mining iron ore with a stone pickaxe or higher, and then smelting it in a furnace.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the bucket icon, then tap 1 x.
- On consoles, press RB or R1 to select the "Tools" tab, select the bucket icon, and press A or X.
3
Craft a bow. Place one stick each in the top-middle, left-middle, and bottom-middle squares of the crafting grid, then place one string in each of the squares in the far-right column. You can get string by killing spiders.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the bow icon, then tap 1 x.
- On consoles, press RB or R1 to select the "Tools" tab, select the bow icon, and press A or X.
4
Craft arrows. Place a feather in the bottom middle square, a stick in the center square, and a flint in the top square. Flint is an occasional drop from mining gravel, and feathers come from chickens and other birds.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the arrow icon, then tap 1 x.
- On consoles, press RB or R1 to select the "Tools" tab, select the bow icon, scroll down to select the arrow icon, and press A or X.
5
Craft shears. Shears can be used to gather wool from sheep. Place an iron ingot each in the middle-left square and the bottom-middle square of the crafting grid.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the shears icon, then tap 1 x.
- On consoles, press RB or R1 to select the "Tools" tab, select the shears icon, and press A or X.
6
Craft flint and steel. You can use flint and steel to start fires. Place an iron ingot in the middle-left square of the crafting grid, then place a flint in the center square.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the flint and steel icon, then tap 1 x.
- On consoles, press RB or R1 to select the "Tools" tab, select the shears icon, scroll up to the flint and steel icon, and press A or X.
7
Craft a fishing rod. Fishing rods are used for catching fish in any body of water. Place a stick each in the bottom-left, center, and top-right squares, then place string in the right-middle and bottom-right squares of the crafting grid.
- In Minecraft PE, tap the fishing rod icon, then tap 1 x.
- On consoles, press RB or R1 to select the "Tools" tab, select the fishing rod icon, and press A or X.

Community Q&A

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Question

Why do I need a hoe when I can just get meat?

Community Answer

You may want to keep chickens alive for eggs, cows alive for milk, etc., so you can make cake or pumpkin pie, which you will also need a hoe for (wheat/pumpkins).

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How many minutes till nighttime? How minutes till daytime?

Community Answer

A day in Minecraft is only ten minutes, so if you are in survival, get coal and food quickly!

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Is the elytra in Minecraft 19.0 craftable?

Banana Head

Top Answerer

No, it is found in end cities.

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Tips

Once you've created a tool, you can enchant it to increase its effectiveness.

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Torches are made by using one stick and one piece of coal or charcoal.

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You can generally guess the crafting recipe by looking at the shape and color of the tools.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

When you find diamonds, first make a pickaxe. You can use this to mine other diamond ores, but make sure you use up the other pickaxes to save your new pickaxe. Craft all of the tools, and then when you have more diamonds, make armor. It requires 24 diamonds for full armor and tools. Sticks are for tools as always.
To craft a double chest, you will need 2 chests which are made up of 6 wooden planks each.
Avoid using gold for tools, use it for clocks and rails instead.

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Warnings

Some resources cannot be mined without a certain type of pickaxe. For example, you can't mine diamond with a cobblestone pickaxe.

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