Iron Axe

Iron Axe
Rarity tier	; Common
Mining efficiency	6
Attack damage	JE: 9HP; BE: 6HP
Attack speed‌[JE only]	0.9 (1.111 seconds)
Attack range	3 (3 blocks)
Hitbox margin	0
Durability	JE: 250; BE: 251
Enchantability	14
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	No

An iron axe is a variant of axe and can be crafted from iron ingots. It can be used to cut down trees faster, to strip logs and scrape copper-based blocks, and as a melee weapon that disables shields. It is the third-highest tier of axe, having higher mining efficiency, attack speed, durability, and enchantability than a copper axe.

Obtaining

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Iron Ingot + Stick

Generated loot

In addition to the loot chests listed below, an iron axe enchanted with Efficiency I is always found in the chest in the "tree-chopping room" in woodland mansions.

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition
Iron Axe	Abandoned Camp	Secret chest	1	12.5% { "item": "Iron Axe", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.125, "structure": "Abandoned Camp", "container": "Secret chest" }
	Cold Ocean Ruins	Cold ruins suspicious gravel	1	6.7% { "item": "Iron Axe", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.06666666666666665, "structure": "Cold Ocean Ruins", "container": "Cold ruins suspicious gravel" }
	Warm ocean ruins	Warm ruins suspicious sand	1	6.7% { "item": "Iron Axe", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.06666666666666665, "structure": "Warm ocean ruins", "container": "Warm ruins suspicious sand" }
Enchanted Iron Axe^[A]^[B]	Trial Chambers	Corridor chest	1	10.2% { "item": "Enchanted Iron Axe", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.101618311707246, "structure": "Trial Chambers", "container": "Corridor chest" }
Enchanted Iron Axe^[C]	Trial Chambers	Vault and reward chest	1	7% { "item": "Enchanted Iron Axe", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.06956521739130439, "structure": "Trial Chambers", "container": "Vault and reward chest" }
Enchanted Iron Axe^[A]^[B]	Trial Chambers	Corridor chest	1	10.2% { "item": "Enchanted Iron Axe", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.101618311707246, "structure": "Trial Chambers", "container": "Corridor chest" }
Bedrock Edition
Iron Axe	Abandoned Camp	Secret chest	1	12.5% { "item": "Iron Axe", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.125, "structure": "Abandoned Camp", "container": "Secret chest" }
	Cold Ocean Ruins	Cold ruins suspicious gravel	1	6.7% { "item": "Iron Axe", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.06666666666666665, "structure": "Cold Ocean Ruins", "container": "Cold ruins suspicious gravel" }
	Warm ocean ruins	Warm ruins suspicious sand	1	6.7% { "item": "Iron Axe", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.06666666666666665, "structure": "Warm ocean ruins", "container": "Warm ruins suspicious sand" }
Enchanted Iron Axe^[A]^[B]	Trial Chambers	Corridor chest	1	10.2% { "item": "Enchanted Iron Axe", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.101618311707246, "structure": "Trial Chambers", "container": "Corridor chest" }
Enchanted Iron Axe^[C]	Trial Chambers	Vault and reward chest	1	1.7% { "item": "Enchanted Iron Axe", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.017391304347826098, "structure": "Trial Chambers", "container": "Vault and reward chest" }
Enchanted Iron Axe^[A]^[B]	Trial Chambers	Corridor chest	1	10.2% { "item": "Enchanted Iron Axe", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.101618311707246, "structure": "Trial Chambers", "container": "Corridor chest" }

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d All enchantments are equally probable, including treasure enchantments (except Soul Speed, Swift Sneak, and Wind Burst), and any level of the enchantment is equally probable.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d The item has between 40% and 90% of its total durability.
↑ ^a ^b Enchantment probabilities are the same as a level-5 to level-15 enchantment would be on an enchanting table that was able to apply treasure enchantments (except Soul Speed, Swift Sneak, and Wind Burst), and where the chance of multiple enchantments is not reduced.

Mob loot

Equipment

A vindicator spawns with an iron axe and has an 8.5% chance (9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II, and 11.5% with Looting III) of dropping it upon death by the player. It is usually heavily damaged and is sometimes enchanted.

Raids

In Bedrock Edition, vindicators and pillagers that spawn in raids have a 4.1% chance (5.12% on hard) to drop a badly-damaged iron axe, which is sometimes enchanted with a random enchantment. A vindicator can drop 2 iron axes, one from natural equipment and one from raid drops.

Trading

Villager		Probability		Villager wants	Player receives	Trades in stock	Villager experience	Price multiplier
Villager		JE	BE	Villager wants	Player receives	Trades in stock	Villager experience	Price multiplier
Weaponsmith	Novice	67%	100%	3 × Emerald	Iron Axe	12	1	0.2

Villager gifts

Weaponsmith villagers occasionally throw iron axes at players with the Hero of the Village status effect.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Usage

Breaking

Iron axes can break wood-related blocks faster than other tools. Breaking a block costs 1 durability.^{[note 1]}

↑ Blocks that break instantly don't use up durability.

Stripping

Using an iron axe on a log, wood block, or block of bamboo turns it into a stripped log, stripped wood, or block of stripped bamboo, respectively. This uses 1 point of the axe's durability.

Scraping

Using an iron axe on a waxed or oxidized copper block removes the wax if it has any, or otherwise removes a level of oxidization. This uses 1 point of durability.

Weapon

When used as a weapon, an iron axe loses 2 durability points.

Java Edition

Attacking a shield user with an axe disables the use of the shield for 5 seconds. Vindicators, piglin brutes, or other mobs with commands always disable the player's shield. Damage done when using an axe as a weapon is more than that of a sword of the same tier, though they take longer than a sword to recover, resulting in lower DPS.

Attack Damage	Attack Speed	Recovery time	DPS	Lifetime damage inflicted^{[note 1]}
9HP	0.9	1.11 seconds (22.2 game ticks)	8.1	1125HP × 562.5

↑ The formula to find the total lifetime damage is ceil(durability ÷ 2) × damage per hit. The durability is halved then ceiled because axes take double durability when used as a weapon, and the last 1 durability can also deal damage. The formula also ignores enchantments and critical hits, and assumes each attack is performed at maximum charge.

Bedrock Edition

Iron axes attack instantly with no cooldown and deal 6HP damage.

Repairing

Combining

Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Notes
Damaged Iron Axe		The durability of the two axes is added together, plus an extra 5% of durability.

Ingredients	Grinding recipe	Notes
2× Damaged Iron Axe		The durability of the two axes is added together, plus an extra 5% of durability.

Unit repair

Ingredients	Anvil recipe
Damaged Iron Axe + Iron Ingot	Iron Axe

An iron axe can be repaired in an anvil by adding iron ingot, with each ingot restoring 25% of the axe's maximum durability, rounded down. Two iron axes can also be combined in an anvil. Both methods preserve the axe's enchantments.

Enchantments

An iron axe can receive the following enchantments:


Name	Description	Max Level	Method	Weight
Efficiency	Increases the mining speed.	V	Enchanting Table Anvil	10
Fortune^{[note 1]}	Increases the amount of drops when mining.	III	Enchanting Table Anvil	2
Silk Touch^{[note 1]}	Causes blocks to drop themselves when mined.	I	Enchanting Table Anvil	1
Sharpness^{[note 2]}	Increases the damage dealt.	V	Enchanting Table‌^{[BE only]} Anvil	10
Smite^{[note 2]}	Increases the damage dealt to undead.	V	Enchanting Table‌^{[BE only]} Anvil	5
Bane of Arthropods^{[note 2]}	Increases the damage dealt to arthropods.	V	Enchanting Table‌^{[BE only]} Anvil	5
Cleaving^{[upcoming: JE Combat Tests]}^{[note 2]}	Increases the damage and shield cooldown time dealt.	III	Enchanting Table Anvil
Looting^{[upcoming: JE Combat Tests]}^{[note 3]}	Increases the amount of drops when killing an entity with the axe.	III	Anvil	2
Knockback^{[upcoming: JE Combat Tests]}^{[note 3]}	Increases the knockback dealt.	II	Anvil	5
Fire Aspect^{[upcoming: JE Combat Tests]}^{[note 3]}	Ignites any targets hit by the axe and lights unlit candles, campfires, and Block of TNT when used.	II	Anvil	2
Sweeping Edge^{[upcoming: JE Combat Tests]}^{[note 3]}	Increases the sweeping damage dealt.	III	Anvil	2
Unbreaking	Grants a chance to negate durability consumption.	III	Enchanting Table Anvil	5
Mending	Repairs the axe when obtaining experience.	I	Anvil	2
Curse of Vanishing	The axe vanishes on death, not dropping as an item.	I	Anvil	1

↑ ^a ^b Silk Touch and Fortune are mutually exclusive
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sharpness, Smite, Bane of Arthropods, and Cleaving^{[upcoming: JE Combat Tests]} are mutually exclusive.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Fire Aspect, Looting, Knockback, and Sweeping Edge currently exist, but they can be used only for swords.

Smelting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Smelting recipe
Iron Nugget	Iron Axe + Any fuel	0.1

[enchant-randomly-1] All enchantments are equally probable, including treasure enchantments (except Soul Speed, Swift Sneak, and Wind Burst), and any level of the enchantment is equally probable.

[damaged-0.4-0.9-2] The item has between 40% and 90% of its total durability.

[enchant-with-levels-5-15-3] Enchantment probabilities are the same as a level-5 to level-15 enchantment would be on an enchanting table that was able to apply treasure enchantments (except Soul Speed, Swift Sneak, and Wind Burst), and where the chance of multiple enchantments is not reduced.

[4] Blocks that break instantly don't use up durability.

[5] The formula to find the total lifetime damage is ceil(durability ÷ 2) × damage per hit. The durability is halved then ceiled because axes take double durability when used as a weapon, and the last 1 durability can also deal damage. The formula also ignores enchantments and critical hits, and assumes each attack is performed at maximum charge.

[exc-6] Silk Touch and Fortune are mutually exclusive

[exc2-7] Sharpness, Smite, Bane of Arthropods, and Cleaving^{[upcoming: JE Combat Tests]} are mutually exclusive.

[sword-8] Fire Aspect, Looting, Knockback, and Sweeping Edge currently exist, but they can be used only for swords.

[A]

[B]

[C]

[note 1]

[note 1]

[note 1]

[note 2]

[note 3]

Sounds
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Axe strips	Blocks	When an axe strips a log or wood block	`item.axe.strip`	`subtitles.item.axe.strip`	0.9	1.0/0.85	16
	Wax off^{[sound 1]}	Blocks	When an axe unwaxes a block of copper	`item.axe.wax_off`	`subtitles.item.axe.wax_off`	1.0	0.9/1.1/1.0	16
	Axe scrapes	Blocks	When an axe deoxidizes a block of copper	`item.axe.scrape`	`subtitles.item.axe.scrape`	1.0	1.0/0.9/1.1	16
	Item breaks	Players	When an axe's durability is exhausted	`entity.item.break`	`subtitles.entity.item.break`	0.8	0.8–1.2	16

Sounds
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch
	Axe strips	Blocks	When an axe strips a log or wood block ^{[sound 1]}	`use.wood`	`subtitles.item.axe.strip`	1.0	0.8
	Block placed	Blocks	When an axe strips a stem or hyphae block ^{[sound 1]}	`use.stem`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	0.8
	Footsteps	Players	When an axe strips a block of bamboo ^{[sound 1]}	`step.bamboo_wood`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	1.0	0.8
	Footsteps	Players	When an axe strips a cherry log or cherry wood block ^{[sound 1]}	`step.cherry_wood`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	1.0	0.8
	Wax off	Friendly Mobs	When an axe unwaxes a copper blocks and copper golem	`copper.wax.off`	`subtitles.item.axe.wax_off`	1.0	0.8–1.2
	Axe scrapes	Friendly Mobs	When an axe deoxidizes a copper blocks and copper golem	`scrape`	`subtitles.item.axe.scrape`	1.0	0.8–1.2
	Item breaks	Players	When an axe's durability is exhausted	`random.break`	`subtitles.entity.item.break`	1.0	0.9


Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
		MOAR Tools	Construct one type of each tool.	Construct one pickaxe, one shovel, one axe, and one hoe with the same material.	15	Bronze

Java Edition Indev
0.31	20100110	Added iron axes.
		An axe is used to gather wood 400% faster than by hand.
		When starting in a new world, the player is given an axe.
	20100122	The texture of axes has been changed. Half of the axe head has been removed.
	20100124-2119	The texture of axes has been changed again. The other axe head is now used instead.
	20100124-2119	A complete toolset is no longer given to the player on starting a new world, therefore axes are no longer given. Instead, there are multiple chests in the later called "Indev House" containing a stack of most accessible blocks/items including tools.
	20100128-2200	The texture of iron axes has been changed.
	20100129-1447	Iron axes can now be crafted.
	20100131-2156	Iron axes now have durability which is 129 points.
Java Edition Beta
1.2		Iron axes' durability has been increased from 129 to 251.
Java Edition
1.3.1	12w16a	Iron axes are now found in the new bonus chests.
1.3.1	12w21a	Blacksmith villagers now sell 1 iron axe for 6–7 emeralds.
1.6.1	13w21a	Instead of replacing the barehanded damage (1HP), iron axes now add their damage onto the barehanded damage, which results in them doing 1HP more damage than before.
1.8	14w02a	Weapon smith villagers now sell 1 iron axe for 6–8 emeralds.
1.9	15w34a	Iron axes now use the attack speed combat mechanic meter. The time it takes for the meter to fill up for an axe is 1.2 seconds.
	15w34b	Iron axes now have an attack speed of 0.8, taking about 1.25 seconds to fill the attack meter.
	15w34c	Iron axes do 4HP more damage than previously.
		Iron axes now have an attack speed of 0.85.
		Iron axes now have a chance to temporarily disable shield use.
	15w35a	The damage of iron axes has been reduced by 1HP.
	15w35a	The speed of iron axes has been increased to 0.9.
	15w37a	Iron axes now have an attack speed of 0.9.
1.11	16w35a	An iron axe now has a 100% chance of disabling shield use, and the chance is no longer increased by Efficiency level and whether or not the user is sprinting.
1.11	16w39a	An iron axe enchanted with Efficiency I can now be found in the "Tree-chopping room" in woodland mansions.
1.11.1	16w50a	Iron axes now smelt down into one of their respective nuggets.
1.13	18w07a	Using an iron axe on a block of wood or log now turns it into a stripped block of wood or log.
1.13	pre2	Using an iron axe on a bark now turns it into a stripped bark.
1.13.1	18w30b	The durability of iron axes has been reduced from 251 to 250 due to the fixing of a bug.^[1]
1.14	18w43a	The texture of iron axes has been changed.
	19w11a	Weaponsmith villagers now sell 1 iron axe for 3 emeralds.
	19w11a	Toolsmith villagers now sell enchanted iron axes.
	19w13a	Weaponsmith villagers now give iron axes to players under the Hero of the Village effect.
1.17	21w11a	Iron axes can now be used to scrape wax and oxidation off copper blocks.
1.20	23w12a	Iron axes can now be found in suspicious gravel and suspicious sand in cold and warm ocean ruins.
1.20.3 Experiment Update 1.21	23w45a	Enchanted iron axes can now be found in trial chambers reward chests and corridor chests.
1.20.5	24w03a	Iron axes can now receive sharpness, smite, and bane of arthropods through an enchanting table, rather than only through an anvil.
1.20.5 Experiment Update 1.21	24w05a	Enchanted iron axes can now be ejected as loot from vaults.
1.20.5	24w12a	Iron axes can no longer receive sharpness, smite, and bane of arthropods through an enchanting table.
26.3	snap1	Iron axes can now generate as part of abandoned camps in chests.
Java Edition Combat Tests
1.14.3		The attack speed for iron axes has been increased to 2.
1.14.3		Iron axes now deal 1HP more damage than iron swords.
3		The Chopping enchantment has been added for iron axes, which adds 1 damage and 0.5 seconds (10 game ticks) of shield stunning per level and is mutually exclusive with Sharpness.
		Iron axes now always disable shields for 1.6 seconds (32 game ticks), instead of having a 25% to disable them for 5 seconds (100 game ticks).
		Iron axes now take 1 damage when attacking instead of 2.
		The Sweeping Edge enchantment can now be applied to iron axes.
4		Knockback, Looting, and Fire Aspect enchantments can now be applied to iron axes.

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.2.0		Added iron axes. They actually function as tools despite being unobtainable by normal means.
v0.3.2		Iron axes can now be crafted with iron ingots and sticks.
v0.11.0	build 11	Iron axes are now available in the creative inventory.
	build 12	Iron axes have been removed from creative.
	build 13	Iron axes have been re-added to creative mode.
v0.12.1	build 1	Instead of replacing the barehanded damage (1HP), iron axes now add their damage onto the barehanded damage, which results in them doing 1HP more damage than before.
Pocket Edition
1.0.4	alpha 1.0.4.0	Weaponsmith villagers now sell iron axes for 6-8 emeralds as part of their first tier trades.
1.1.0	alpha 1.1.0.0	Iron axes are now smeltable.
		Iron axes with the Efficiency I enchantment can now be found inside chests in woodland mansions.
		Added vindicators, who rarely drop iron axes.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.13	beta 1.2.13.8	Using an iron axe on a log now turns it into a stripped log.
1.10.0	beta 1.10.0.3	The texture of iron axes has been changed.
1.11.0	beta 1.11.0.4	Vindicators and pillagers that spawn in raids can now drop an iron axe.
		Weaponsmith villagers now sell iron axes for 3 emeralds as part of their fourth tier trades.
		Enchanted iron axes can now be bought from toolsmith villagers.
1.16.220	beta 1.16.220.52	Iron axes can now be used to scrape wax off copper blocks.
1.18.30	Preview 1.18.30.27	Iron axes can now temporarily disable shield use. This is not mentioned in the official changelog.^[2]
1.20.60 Experiment Update 1.21	Preview 1.20.60.20	Enchanted iron axes can now be found in trial chambers reward chests and corridor chests.
1.20.70 Experiment Update 1.21	Preview 1.20.70.21	Enchanted iron axes can now be ejected as loot from vaults.
26.40 Experiment Drop 3 of 2026	Preview 26.40.27	Iron axes can now generate as part of abandoned camps in chests.
26.50	Preview 26.50.22	All features from the "Drop 3 of 2026" experiment have been fully implemented.

Iron Axe

Obtaining

Crafting

Generated loot

Mob loot

Equipment

Raids

Trading

Villager gifts

Usage

Breaking

Stripping

Scraping

Weapon

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Repairing

Combining

Unit repair

Enchantments

Smelting ingredient

Sounds

Data values

ID

Achievements

Advancements

Videos

History

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Legacy Console Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

Data history

Issues

References

More in Tools

Rarity tier	Common
Mining efficiency	6
Attack damage	JE: 9HP BE: 6HP
Attack speed‌^{[JE only]}	0.9 (1.111 seconds)
Attack range	3 (3 blocks)
Hitbox margin	0
Durability	JE: 250 BE: 251
Enchantability	14
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	No

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU1	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added iron axes.
TU14	CU1	1.04	1.00	1.00			Blacksmith villagers now sell 1 iron axe for 6–7 emeralds.
TU19	CU7	1.12	1.12	1.12			Instead of replacing the barehanded damage (1HP), iron axes now add their damage onto the barehanded damage, which results in them doing 1HP more damage than before.
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3		Weapon smith villagers now sell 1 iron axe for 6–8 emeralds.
TU36	CU25	1.28	1.28	1.28	Patch 7		The attack damage of iron axes is now shown above the hotbar when switching to it if the item has less than 3 enchantments.
TU53	CU43	1.49	1.50	1.49	Patch 23	1.0.3	Iron axes now smelt down into iron nuggets.
TU54	CU44	1.52	1.52	1.52	Patch 24	1.0.4	An iron axe enchanted with Efficiency I can now be found in the "Tree-chopping room" in woodland mansions.
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		Using an iron axe on a log now turns it into a stripped log.
			1.90				The texture of iron axes have been changed.
			1.91				Vindicators and pillagers that spawn in raids can now drop an iron axe.