Curated pick
Best Pickaxe for Mining
Minecraft 1.21.8. Hand-picked recommendation, not auto-generated.
Top pick
Netherite Pickaxe with Efficiency V, Fortune III, Unbreaking III, Mending.
Efficiency V + Haste II + Netherite lets you insta-break stone, which compounds across branch mining. Fortune III on diamond/emerald ore averages ~2.2 drops per block — doubles your loot. Unbreaking III + Mending makes the pickaxe practically eternal.
See Netherite Pickaxe item details →Enchantments
Loadout: Efficiency V, Fortune III, Unbreaking III, Mending I
/give command (enchanted)
Alternatives
Budget builds, playstyle variants, or situational swaps.
Silk Touch variant
Netherite PickaxeSilk Touch and Fortune are mutually exclusive, so you need a second pickaxe for blocks you want to harvest intact (glass, ice, ender chests, glowstone, leaves).
- Efficiency V
- Silk Touch I
- Unbreaking III
- Mending I
Diamond budget
Diamond PickaxeDiamond pickaxe with the same enchantments is ~12% slower than Netherite but mines exactly the same ores. Use until you've farmed enough ancient debris.
- Efficiency V
- Fortune III
- Unbreaking III
- Mending I
Common pitfalls
- Don't put Fortune on a Silk Touch pickaxe — they're mutually exclusive at enchanting, and even if you could, Silk Touch overrides Fortune drops.
- Don't enchant pickaxes with Sharpness or weapon enchantments — pickaxes have low attack speed and damage.
- Don't break ancient debris with a Silk Touch pickaxe expecting bonus drops — Fortune doesn't affect ancient debris.
FAQ
- Fortune or Silk Touch for mining?
- Fortune for most ores (diamond, emerald, coal, redstone, lapis, copper). Silk Touch for intact blocks you want to keep whole (glass, ice, glowstone, ender chests, leaves with Spruce/Birch saplings inside).
- Is Netherite worth it over Diamond for mining?
- Marginally. Mining speed is ~12% faster (9× vs 8× multiplier), durability is 30% higher. Save the Netherite scrap for armor (where the knockback resistance matters more) and use Diamond + Unbreaking III + Mending for mining.
- What level of Efficiency do I need for instant-mining?
- Efficiency V + Netherite + Haste II = instant-break stone. With Haste I you need Efficiency V; without Haste you need Efficiency V + Aqua Affinity + standing in water (Aqua Affinity helmet) for many soft blocks.