Wooden Shovel — Minecraft block

Wooden Shovel

Wooden Shovel is Minecraft's cheapest digging tool, crafted from 1 plank and 2 sticks to break dirt, sand, gravel and snow faster than by hand.

Block ID minecraft:wooden_shovel
Mod Vanilla
Game versions
1.21

Description

Wooden Shovel is the entry-tier digging tool in Minecraft, crafted by placing 1 wood plank on top of 2 sticks in a vertical column on the crafting grid. Any plank type — oak, spruce, birch, jungle, acacia, dark oak, mangrove, cherry, bamboo or crimson and warped — produces the same Wooden Shovel with 59 durability and a mining speed of 2, the slowest of all shovel tiers. Wooden Shovel breaks shovel-affected blocks such as dirt, grass block, sand, red sand, gravel, clay, soul sand, soul soil, mud, snow and snow blocks noticeably faster than mining them by hand.

Beyond digging, Wooden Shovel adds two interactions: right-clicking a grass block, dirt or coarse dirt turns the top surface into a dirt path, and right-clicking a lit campfire or soul campfire puts it out. Because Wooden Shovel is so cheap, most survival players craft one in the first minute to speed up early excavation, then replace it with a Stone Shovel once cobblestone is gathered. As a wooden tool, Wooden Shovel also doubles as furnace fuel, smelting one item before it burns away. Pair Wooden Shovel with a Wooden Pickaxe and Wooden Sword for a complete starter toolkit.

Java & Bedrock Guide

How to craft and use a Wooden Shovel in Minecraft

  1. 1

    Gather planks and sticks

    Punch a tree for logs, craft logs into planks, then turn 2 planks into 4 sticks. You need 1 plank and 2 sticks for one Wooden Shovel.

  2. 2

    Craft the shovel

    Open a crafting table or the 2x2 inventory grid and stack 1 plank in the top cell with 2 sticks directly below it to make one Wooden Shovel.

  3. 3

    Dig faster

    Hold the Wooden Shovel and break dirt, sand, gravel, clay or snow — these blocks come up far faster than with your fist.

  4. 4

    Make a dirt path

    Right-click a grass block or dirt with the Wooden Shovel to convert the top into a dirt path for tidy walkways.

Durability tip

A Wooden Shovel lasts only 59 uses. Upgrade to a Stone Shovel as soon as you mine cobblestone — it digs faster and lasts more than twice as long.

How to craft this block

Crafting
Wooden Shovel
1
Wooden Shovel

Frequently asked questions

How do you craft a Wooden Shovel?

Place 1 wood plank in the top cell of the crafting grid with 2 sticks directly below it. Any plank type works and the recipe yields one Wooden Shovel.

How much durability does a Wooden Shovel have?

A Wooden Shovel lasts 59 uses before breaking, the lowest durability of any shovel tier in Minecraft.

What can a Wooden Shovel dig faster?

A Wooden Shovel speeds up breaking dirt, grass block, sand, gravel, clay, soul sand, soul soil, mud and snow compared to using your hand.

Can a Wooden Shovel make a dirt path?

Yes. Right-clicking a grass block or dirt with a Wooden Shovel turns the top surface into a dirt path.

Can you use a Wooden Shovel as fuel?

Yes. Like other wooden tools, a Wooden Shovel can be burned in a furnace to smelt one item.

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