Overview
A Diamond Shovel is what large-scale landscaping actually runs on: 1,561 uses, a mining multiplier of 8, and enough durability to justify a full enchantment set on a tool most players treat as disposable. On a serious project — a flattened build site, a drained ocean floor, a mountain removed — the shovel does far more work than the pickaxe, and running out mid-job is the most annoying way to break flow. Efficiency V and Unbreaking III together mean whole chunks of terrain disappear in seconds; Mending keeps it topped up from ambient experience so it never sees an anvil. The enchantment worth thinking hardest about is Silk Touch, because a diamond shovel with it is the only practical way to collect gravel as gravel rather than flint, and to move snow blocks and sea pickles intact. Most builders keep two: a Fortune III shovel for flint and clay farming, and a Silk Touch one for terrain they want to relocate rather than convert. Diamond is where owning both stops being extravagant. A build site that took an afternoon with iron takes half an hour with this and a full enchantment set.
Terraforming at scale, moving gravel and snow intact with Silk Touch, and farming flint and clay with Fortune — the tool that does most of the work on any large build.
Diamond Shovel is one of the 6 variants of this shape in the game. What changes between them is the material, and with it the hardness, the drops, the durability and the recipe — so every figure on this page is this variant's own. Stone Shovel is the same shape in a different material.
Diamond Shovel is a tool item in Minecraft 1.21.4. It has 1,561 points of durability. Use Diamond on an anvil to repair it.
Enchanting it is possible and generally recommended. It does not stack — each one takes its own slot. You make it with Diamond and Stick.
The one thing it makes is Netherite Shovel.
About the diamond tool set
How to get it
Craft 1 from 1 Diamond and 2 Sticks. One diamond for 1,561 uses is the best durability-per-material ratio of any tool in the game. Enchant it once and it outlives the project.
Tips
- Silk Touch on a shovel collects gravel as gravel — the only way to relocate a gravel beach without losing it to flint.
- One diamond for over 1,500 blocks dug is the cheapest tool in the game measured per use.
- Pair Efficiency V with a Haste II beacon and sand breaks instantly, which halves the time on a big excavation.
- Keep the Fortune shovel and the Silk Touch shovel clearly named on an anvil so you never dig with the wrong one.
Damage and attack speed
Diamond Shovel deals 5.5 damage per hit and swings 1 times a second, which works out at 5.5 damage per second when every swing is fully charged.
A swing that lands before the cooldown bar refills deals a fraction of that, so waiting for the bar is worth more than clicking faster.
That is 4 hits to kill a zombie or a creeper, the same for a skeleton, and 3 hits for a spider.
Properties
Diamond Shovel lasts 1,561 uses before it breaks, and Diamond repairs it on an anvil. Two worn copies can also be merged, on an anvil or a grindstone. Unbreaking III roughly quadruples the lifespan, and Mending replaces the repair cost with experience. Its enchantability of 10 decides how good the enchanting table's offers are: the higher the number, the more often a level-30 table offers the top-tier enchantment rather than a weak one. Diamond Shovel does not stack — each one occupies an inventory slot of its own.
- Damage per second
- 5.5
- Enchantability
- 10
- Repaired with
- Diamond
- Category
- Tools
How it compares to the rest of the set
Every tier of shovel in the game, side by side, so the trade-off is visible in one place: Diamond Shovel sits 5 of 6.
Gold is the outlier: it enchants better than anything else (enchantability 22) and breaks almost immediately, which is why gold gear is enchanted and then upgraded rather than used.
| Item | Durability | Attack damage | Attack speed | Enchantability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden Shovel | 59 | 2.5 | 1 | 15 |
| Stone Shovel | 131 | 3.5 | 1 | 5 |
| Iron Shovel | 250 | 4.5 | 1 | 14 |
| Golden Shovel | 32 | 2.5 | 1 | 22 |
| Diamond Shovel | 1,561 | 5.5 | 1 | 10 |
| Netherite Shovel | 2,031 | 6.5 | 1 | 15 |
Crafting recipe
Crafting Table
Diamond Shovel
Enchantments it can take
5 enchantments can be applied to Diamond Shovel: Efficiency, Fortune, Mending, Silk Touch, and Unbreaking.
Mending is a treasure enchantment and never appears at an enchanting table — they come from loot chests, fishing or villager trades only.
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you make Diamond Shovel in Minecraft?
Diamond Shovel is crafted from Diamond and Stick.
What is the stack size of Diamond Shovel?
Diamond Shovel does not stack at all. Every one you carry takes an inventory slot of its own, which is the practical limit on how many you take on a trip.
How much damage does Diamond Shovel do?
5.5 damage per fully charged hit, at 1 attacks per second — 5.5 damage per second. Strength II adds 6 damage on top of that.
How much durability does Diamond Shovel have?
Diamond Shovel has 1561 durability, and can be repaired on an anvil with Diamond.
Can Diamond Shovel be enchanted?
Yes — 5 enchantments apply to it, at an enchanting table with fifteen bookshelves, or from an enchanted book on an anvil. Mending is usually the one worth hunting for, because it removes the repair cost entirely.
The rest of the set
Diamond Shovel is one of 6 variants of the same shape. The others are made from different materials, so their numbers differ:
