Understand Golden Hoe
Useful when…
- Turn eligible grass or dirt into farmland when the block above is clear.
- Convert coarse dirt or rooted dirt, or break suitable hoe-mineable blocks.
- Use Efficiency for mining speed or Unbreaking and Mending to support continued use.
Tilling and block transformations
Using the hoe on grass or dirt turns it into farmland; the space above the target must be empty. Mycelium and podzol cannot be tilled directly, but can first be turned into dirt paths with a shovel. Using the hoe on coarse dirt turns it into regular dirt; using it on rooted dirt turns it into dirt and yields hanging roots. Tilling is effectively instantaneous and costs 1 durability. For block breaking, the component lists speed 12 for hoe-mineable blocks and separately marks blocks incorrect for gold tools as not correct for drops; check the applicable rule for each block.
Harvesting and upkeep
Hoes break certain plant-based or organic blocks more quickly. Breaking one of those blocks costs 1 durability; other blocks cost none if they break instantly by hand, or 1 otherwise. Maximum durability is 32. An anvil repair with a gold ingot restores 8 durability, and combining hoes in an anvil preserves enchantments.
Enchantments
Efficiency increases mining speed. Fortune increases drops, while Silk Touch causes blocks to drop themselves; the two enchantments are mutually exclusive. Unbreaking can negate some durability consumption, and Mending repairs the hoe when experience is obtained.
Java combat behavior
In Java, hoes deal 1 HP as a weapon. The Golden Hoe has an attack-speed modifier of -3, and attacks use 1 durability. The supplied reading gives a 1-second refill time but does not tie that time to the modifier, so the modifier alone does not establish attack recovery.
Limitations and tradeoffs
- Suitable for fast block work and farming, but it has only 32 durability.
- Tilling is effectively instantaneous but costs 1 durability per use.
- Fortune and Silk Touch offer mutually exclusive drop behavior.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Trying to till with a block above the target.
- Expecting to till mycelium or podzol directly.
- Assuming every hoe-mineable block is correct for gold-tool drops.
- Treating the -3 attack-speed modifier as evidence of a 1-second refill.
- Trying to combine Fortune with Silk Touch.