Minecraft's Stripped Wood: A Complete Guide

In Minecraft, trees can be stripped to produce stripped log and stripped wood blocks. While these blocks can be used in crafting recipes in place of their regular counterparts, like when crafting wooden planks, smokers, and campfires, they are most useful for building. Stripping a tree’s log and wood blocks changes their color and texture, which helps players to create builds with more color and contrast than regular wood alone.

This guide will provide you with step-by-step instructions to chopping trees and stripping wood. It will also tell you where to find every type of tree that can be stripped and show you what the tree’s regular and stripped blocks look like.

Chopping Down Trees

All trees in Minecraft can be chopped by hand. However, they are chopped down much faster by using an axe.

Crafting an Axe

An axe can be crafted in a crafting table using the following recipe:

The crafting recipe for an axe using wooden planks.

Just place one stick in the center of the third row and one above that in the center of the crafting grid. Then put one wooden plank in the center of the first row, one in the top right corner, and one in the second row to the right of the center block.

The wooden planks can be replaced with cobblestone, iron, gold, or diamonds to create stronger axes. Additionally, the diamond axe can be upgraded to netherite using a smithing table; a netherite axe is the strongest.

Chopping A Tree

Trees spawn all over the Minecraft world, so it should be pretty easy to find one. When you see one you’d like to chop down, equip your axe if you have one. Otherwise, you can hit it with your fist.

When a tree is being chopped down, the block being cut will grow cracks until it breaks and drops to the ground.

To begin chopping down the tree, you must look at the log you’d like to break and hold down the button used to break blocks. This is different for all of the Minecraft versions, so each button is listed below:

Minecraft Java Edition / Bedrock Edition / Education Edition (PC versions) – hold left-click on the log.
Xbox edition – hold down the RT button on the log.
Playstation Edition – hold down the R2 button on the log.
Pocket Edition (PE) – tap and hold down on the log on the log.
Nintendo Switch – hold down on the ZR button on the log.

After breaking the logs of a tree, the leaves will begin to decay naturally. Decaying leaves will drop items like saplings, apples, and sticks for the player to pick up.

Stripping Tree Logs

Stripping wooden logs removes the bark from them, often making them lighter in color and smoother in texture.

Tree logs can be stripped either before or after chopping a tree down. It can be easier to do it before, as you won’t have to move blocks in and out of your inventory.

Logs can be stripped directly on a tree by holding an axe and using the interact button specific to your version of Minecraft.

To strip a log, you must look at it while holding an axe and press the button used for interacting with blocks. Just like the button for breaking blocks, this button changes depending on the game version you use.

Java Edition / Bedrock Edition / Education Edition (PC) – right-click on the log.
Xbox Edition – press the LT button on the log.
Playstation Edition – press the L2 button on the log.
Pocket Edition (PE) – tap on the log.
Nintendo Switch Edition – press the ZL button on the log.

If you have logs in your inventory that you would like to strip, you can just place them down and follow the above instructions.

Logs can also be stripped after cutting down a tree by placing them on the ground and interacting while holding an axe.

After stripping logs, you can mine them by hand or with the axe and pick them up like you would with regular logs!

Obtaining Stripped Wood

Wood blocks are like wood logs but with the wood grain pattern all over the block instead of having rings on the top and bottom. They are super handy for building when you want to avoid having the rings of regular logs showing

This shows the difference between oak logs [left] and oak wood [right] — Logs (left) have rings on the top and bottom of the block; wood blocks (right) are identical on every side.

Stripped wood is a variation of the regular wood of each tree type. Stripped wood for cherry trees, for example, is a soft pink color, while regular cherry wood has a darker, purple sort of outer color.

Stripped wood can be made in two ways:

Crafting Using Stripped Logs

To craft stripped wood using stripped logs, start by gathering and stripping four logs. To craft the stripped wood, place the four logs in a square in either your inventory’s crafting area or on a crafting table’s crafting interface.

Placing four stripped logs in a square in a crafting interface produces three stripped wood blocks. — Stripped wood crafting recipe using four stripped logs.

This will produce three stripped wood blocks! If you’re planning to gather a lot of stripped wood, it would be fastest to strip trees directly and use this method.

Stripping Regular Wood Blocks

The other method for crafting stripped wood requires crafting regular wood blocks first. The crafting recipe is identical to the one using stripped logs; simply place four regular logs in a square in the crafting menu in either your inventory or a crafting table.

Placing four logs in a square in a crafting interface produces three wood blocks. — Wood crafting recipe using regular logs.

This crafting recipe creates three oak wood. These can then be placed on the ground and stripped by hand using the same method outlined above.

Interacting with a wood block while holding an axe strips it. The wood on the right is stripped.

Stripped wood can be mined as normal by left-clicking and holding to break the block. This method is best if you have wood lying around unused.

Types of Stripped Wood

Every overworld tree has a stripped version of their regular wood and log blocks. This also extends to the nether, as the crimson and warped fungus have stripped versions of their stems and hyphae.

This section will outline the appearance of each type of wood, both their regular and stripped versions, as well as where to find the trees.

Oak

Oak trees grow all over the overworld, from Plains biomes to Savannah and Dark Forest biomes.

This image shows oak trees growing in a Bamboo Jungle biome. — Oak trees in Bamboo Jungle biome.

Stripped oak wood and logs have a lighter color and softer texture than their regular counterparts.

Birch

Like oak trees, birch trees can be found all over the world. They grow in Forest, Hills, Plains, and Birch Forest biomes. There is even a rare Old Growth Birch Forest biome, where birch trees with extremely tall trunks grow.

Stripping birch wood gets rid of its white and black motif, instead giving the block a tan color palette similar to the colors on top of regular birch logs.

Birch tree logs and wood have no black and white, and are instead a yellowed, tan color all over. — From left to right: birch log, stripped birch log, birch wood, stripped birch wood.

Spruce

Spruce trees are found in the different Taiga biomes, including the Old Growth Spruce, Old Growth Pine, Snowy, and regular Taiga biomes. They can also be found in the Snowy Plains, Windswept Forest, and Grove biomes.

Stripped spruce is a slightly darker, warmer-toned version of stripped oak. It is lighter than regular spruce with a less prominent pattern.

Stripped spruce wood and logs are slightly lighter in color than the regular versions. — From left to right: spruce log, stripped spruce log, spruce wood, stripped spruce wood.

Dark Oak

Dark oak trees are found only in one biome; depending on your game version, it is called either the Dark Forest or the Roofed Forest biome. The Dark Forest biome is characterized by its prevalence of dark oak trees and giant mushrooms.

Stripping dark oak actually doesn’t change it too much. It lightens the wood slightly, but that’s about it.

Stripping dark oak logs and wood only seem to soften the color, as doing so lightens them slightly and removes the shadows from the bark. — Left to right: dark oak log, stripped dark oak log, dark oak wood, stripped dark oak wood.

Jungle

Jungle trees grow in all variants of the jungle biome.

Stripped jungle wood turns a lighter, peachy color. It keeps the green undertones that regular jungle wood has.

Stripping jungle wood gives it a peachier color while keeping the green undertones. — Left to right: jungle log, stripped jungle log, jungle wood, stripped jungle wood

Acacia

Acacia trees are only found in the Savannah biome.

When stripped, acacia wood turns a bright red-orange color.

Stripped acacia wood turns a brighter orange color, a stark contrast to its grey wood. — Left to right: acacia log, stripped acacia log, acacia wood, stripped acacia wood.

Mangrove

Mangrove trees grow abundantly in Mangrove Swamps.

Stripped mangrove wood turns the same deep red as the tops of the regular mangrove logs.

Stripping Mangrove wood turns it a deep red similar to the color of mangrove planks. — Left to right: mangrove log, stripped mangrove log, mangrove wood, stripped mangrove wood.

Cherry Blossom

Cherry trees can only be found in the Cherry Grove biome, which is typically located on the top or sides of large hills.

Cherry trees with beehives in a Cherry Grove biome. — A Cherry Grove biome.

Stripped cherry wood turns a warm-toned pink more similar to cherry wood planks than the original cherry wood.

Stripping cherry wood turns it a lovely pink color. — Left to right: cherry log, stripped cherry log, cherry wood, stripped cherry wood.

Bamboo

While it is not a typical overworld tree, bamboo blocks can be stripped as well! Bamboo can be found growing all over bamboo jungles.

The crafting recipe for bamboo blocks requires 9 bamboo. In a crafting table, place one bamboo in each box of the crafting grid. This recipe will produce one bamboo block.

Crafting a block of bamboo requires placing one bamboo in every block of a crafting table's 3x3 crafting grid.

After crafting, the bamboo block can be placed on the ground and interacted with while holding an axe to strip it.

Stripped bamboo (right) looks like a yellow, dried version of regular bamboo (left). — Left to right: bamboo block, stripped bamboo block

Stripped bamboo looks like a yellow, dried version of regular bamboo.

Crimson Fungus

Crimson Fungus can be found exclusively in the Nether. They typically spawn in the Crimson Forest biome, but one may occasionally spawn in the Warped Forest.

Crimson fungi growing in the Crimson Forest biome.

Instead of logs, the crimson fungus has stems. When combining four crimson stems in a crafting interface, three crimson hyphae are produced.

Crafting three crimson hyphae requires placing four crimson stems in a 2x2 square in a crafting menu. — Crimson hyphae recipe.

While it seems like stripped crimson wood should be bright red, it actually turns a red-magenta sort of color.

Stripping crimson hyphae turns them into a color somewhere between magenta and red. — Left to right: crimson stem, stripped crimson stem, crimson hyphae, stripped crimson hyphae.

Warped Fungus

Warped fungus is the other “tree” that grows solely in the Nether. It can be founded in Warped Forests.

Warped Fungi growing in a Warped Forest biome. — A Warped Forest.

Like the crimson fungus, the warped fungus has stems instead of logs. Combining four warped stems produces three warped hyphae.

Crafting three warped hyphae requires placing four warped stems in a 2x2 square in a crafting menu. — Warped hyphae recipe.

Stripping warped stems and hyphae turns them a cool blue color identical to the veins on the original warped fungus stems.

Stripping warped stems and hyphae turns them into a bright blue color that has a hint of green. — Left to right: warped stem, stripped warped stem, warped hyphae, stripped warped hyphae.

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Minecraft’s Stripped Wood: A Complete Guide

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