How to Craft Iron Axe in Minecraft
At a Crafting Table, an Iron Axe asks for 3 Iron Ingots and 2 Sticks. From the top down: two Iron Ingots in the left and middle columns; then an Iron Ingot in the left column and a Stick in the middle column; then a Stick in the middle column. Each attempt hands back 1 Iron Axe. Durability is 250, and that is how many uses one gets you.
Iron Axe Item ID and Give Command
The item ID for Iron Axe is minecraft:iron_axe. In commands the namespace may be left off, so iron_axe works too. Checked against Minecraft Java 26.2.
- Give yourself one
/give @p iron_axe- Give several at once
/give @p iron_axe 5- Give it to a named player
/give Steve iron_axe 1
Cheats have to be on for Iron Axe to appear this way, and the same command works on Bedrock Edition, where the name is written the same.
Repairing Iron Axe
Those 250 uses are not the end of the road. Feed Iron Axe back onto an anvil with Iron Ingot and it comes back up with its enchantments intact.
Two worn ones can also be merged on a grindstone. That is the cheaper route and it asks no levels, but it strips every enchantment off, so it suits a plain Iron Axe rather than one you have invested in.
Iron Axe takes Mending, and once it does you can stop thinking about repairs: every orb you pick up goes into the item.
Overview
The Iron Axe has 250 durability and deals 9 damage. A solid mid-game tool for both chopping and combat. Iron Axe uses a shaped recipe: the ingredients only work in the pattern shown.
The iron axe was already in the game in Minecraft Beta 1.0, the oldest release with an English language file to read, so this recipe is at least that old. The recipe itself last changed in Minecraft 1.21.2. Guides written before that release show a different set of ingredients for the iron axe, so check the grid above rather than the video.
The materials come together from a few sources: you will be working with iron ingot (smelt iron ore) and stick (craft from planks).
What A Stack Yields
Work a stack down, 64 iron ingots, and you land on 21 iron axes. On top of that: 42 sticks. Left over: just 1 iron ingot.
Which Material Lasts Longest
Durability of every material this item comes in, weakest first. Gold 32 Wood 59 Stone 131 Iron 250 Diamond 1561 Netherite 2031
How Long It Takes
- Blocks before it breaks
- 250 blocks
- Attack damage
- 9
- Attacks per second
- 0.9
- Enchantability
- 14
| Block | Iron Axe | Bare hand | Drops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Log | 0.5s | 3s | yes |
| Oak Planks | 0.5s | 3s | yes |
| Crafting Table | 0.65s | 3.75s | yes |
| Chest | 0.65s | 3.75s | yes |
| Bookshelf | 0.4s | 2.3s | yes |
| Pumpkin | 0.25s | 1.5s | yes |
Everything on this list drops for a iron axe, so the material buys speed and nothing else. Pumpkin is the quickest of them at 0.25s, which is 6 times faster than doing it by hand.
Calculated from Minecraft Java 26.2’s own block hardness and tool speed values, without enchantments, Haste or Mining Fatigue. Bedrock Edition publishes no equivalent figures, so these are Java only.
Materials Needed
A Crafting Table and 3x Iron Ingot (smelt iron ore) and 2x Stick (craft from planks): that is everything Iron Axe asks for.
The Full Chain
Stick, then Iron Ingot, then the Iron Axe. All in: 3 Iron Ore and 2 Planks.
- 1
- 2
- 3
Iron Axethis page
Gather this first
Step-by-Step Instructions
- 1
3x Iron Ingot - 2
2x Stick - 3
Iron Axe
Tips & Notes
- Line up 3x Iron Ingot and 2x Stick before you open the Crafting Table. Iron Ingot: smelt iron ore.
Uses for Iron Axe
- Efficient wood chopping
- Stripping logs
- Strong melee weapon
View detailed item stats, durability and properties for Iron Axe on the Astroworld Items Database.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need to craft an Iron Axe in Minecraft?
What do you need to make an Iron Axe from scratch?
Where do you find the materials for an Iron Axe?
How many Iron Axes do you get from one craft?
What is the item ID for Iron Axe in Minecraft?
What is the give command for Iron Axe?
What version of Minecraft added the Iron Axe?
Sources
- Grid, ingredients and yield
- 3 Iron Ingots and 2 Sticks in, 1 Iron Axe out, Crafting Table. Java 26.2, .
- That Bedrock agrees
- Bedrock 1.26.40.05, same 2 ingredients.
- How far back it goes
- Present in Minecraft Java Beta 1.0, the oldest release that exists to check. From all 163 released Java clients, rd-132211 to 26.2.
- When the recipe last changed
- Walked forward through 50 Java releases from 1.13 onwards; 1.21.2 is the last one that altered it.
- Stack size, durability, enchantments
- The Astroworld Items Database, built from the same jar.
- Break times, damage and wear
- Hardness and tool speed, Java 26.2. Calculated, not timed.
- What it can mine
- Which blocks want this tool, and the tier they refuse below. Java 26.2.
- The recipe book unlock
- What unlocks it in the recipe book. Java 26.2.
- The stack sum
- Counted, not played: 1 Iron Axe per craft against the stack size.
