[MC-173833] Certain gold and iron blocks can be mined with a minimum of a wooden tool

Certain blocks that are purely made out of gold or iron (and that do not require support beneath them) can be mined with a minimum of a wooden tool despite iron & copper needing stone and above and gold needing iron and above to mine.

Affected Blocks:

[media]

Iron Bars
Iron Trapdoor
Cauldron
Anvil, Chipped Anvil & Damaged Anvil
Hopper
Chain
Blast Furnace

Steps to Reproduce:

Place down one of the blocks above
Get a wooden tool (in most cases, a pickaxe)
Mine the block and notice it drop

Notes:

Since the 24w44a snapshot, this issue has changed so that some of the previously listed blocks no longer apply. In cases where an iron+ block requires support beneath it, the player can mine the block with any tool, even their hand. This disqualifies things like lanterns or the iron door from being affected by this issue.

Linked issues

is duplicated by 2

MC-177515 Wooden pickaxe will drop broken iron doors, trapdoors and bars, and heavy weighted pressure plates, cauldrons, anvils and hoppers, despite these being made out of iron Resolved

MC-177519 Light weighted pressure plates can be obtained with any pickaxe despite being made of gold Resolved

relates to 2

MC-177516 Iron and below pickaxes will drop enchanting tables and ender chests when broken, despite being made out of obsidian Resolved

MC-204483 Copper Ore Doesn't Drop When Mined With Gold Pickaxe Resolved

Attachments

MC-173833.mp4

Comments 20

robbage 2020-03-05T08:24:45Z

Intentional. According to the wiki, all of these items can be broken with any pickaxe.

violine1101 2020-03-05T08:26:34Z

The wiki is not a valid source for whether something is intentional behaviour or not.

robbage 2020-03-05T23:48:40Z

Where is a valid source if it's not the Official Minecraft Wiki.

violine1101 2020-03-05T23:49:59Z

The wiki is edited by community members, not Mojang. Also it just documents the status quo, and not how the game is intended to behave.

A valid source would be a dev saying whether this is intended or not.

Avoma 2021-01-21T16:09:46Z

Can confirm in 21w03a.

10 more comments

Avoma 2022-08-10T18:15:35Z

Can confirm in 1.19.2.

Minecraft386882 2024-11-20T02:06:58Z

Confirmed in 1.21.3

Minecraft386882 2024-11-26T16:51:28Z

Confirmed in 1.21.4 prerelease 2

Minecraft386882 2024-12-04T02:58:42Z

Confirmed in 1.21.4

himazinn_Japan 2024-12-05T12:15:18Z

In 1.21.4, some blocks can be mined with any tool, so I think it would be better to change this to "Certain gold and iron blocks can be mined with a minimum of a wooden tool." Currently, the blocks that still require a pickaxe are Cauldron, Anvil, Hopper, Chain, and Blast Furnace.