All tools must be crafted from a Crafting Table. All tools require Wooden Sticks and the main resource you want the tier of the tool to be made from. The order (from lowest to highest) of tiered tools that can be made is: Wooden Planks, Cobblestone, Iron Ingots, Gold Ingots, Diamonds. The higher the tier of resources used to craft the tool, the more efficient it is. Gold is sometimes better than iron but has a significantly lower durability. If you can, avoid using Gold tools.
Pickaxe
Pickaxes are required to harvest ore. If you try to mine a Stone material without a Pickaxe, it won’t be added to the inventory. Pickaxes’ tiers allow certain ores to be harvested and mined at a faster rate. Some blocks mined are destroyed no matter the Pickaxe used (like Monster Spawners).
• Wooden Pickaxes can harvest Stone blocks, Brick blocks, Coal blocks, and Netherrack.
• Stone Pickaxes can harvest all previously mentioned blocks, plus Iron blocks and Lapis Lazuli blocks.
• Iron Pickaxes can harvest all previously mentioned blocks, plus Gold blocks, Diamond blocks, and Redstone blocks.
• Gold Pickaxes can only harvest Stone blocks, Brick blocks, Netherrack blocks, and Coal blocks, but mines some of them faster than other Pickaxes.
• Diamond Pickaxes can harvest all previously mentioned blocks, plus Obsidian.
Axe
Axes are used to harvest Wood faster than using your hand. All Wood blocks can be harvested using your hand, but it’s faster to use an Axe. Axes deal more damage than Swords, but using them for anything other than a Wood chopper has downsides.
An Axe takes double durability damage and has a slower cooldown between hits than a Sword. Since all Axes can harvest the same blocks, they’re sorted by durability and speed (with the exception of Gold):
Gold Axe (lowest durability but faster than a Diamond Axe), Wood Axe, Stone Axe, Iron Axe, Diamond Axe.
Shovel
Shovels allow you to dig up Dirt, Snow, Sand, and Gravel faster. Using a Shovel to dig up Snow also allows you to harvest Snowballs. Again, the only difference in Shovel tiers is durability and how fast they dig. They’re organized accordingly (with the exception of Gold):
Gold Shovel (lowest durability but faster than a Diamond Shovel), Wood Shovel, Stone Shovel, Iron Shovel, Diamond Shovel.
Hoe
Hoes are used for farming. When you tap on Dirt while holding the Hoe, it plows the land, allowing you to plant seeds or Wheat. The only difference in Hoe tiers is the durability of the tool. Hoes are so easy to make that using any rare resource would be a waste. This list orders Hoes from lowest durability to highest:
Gold Hoe, Wooden Hoe, Stone Hoe, Iron Hoe, Diamond Hoe.
