Minecraft wiki entry for Combat, associated text: Overall, the usefulness of an axe depends on your version. In Java Edition, even though the damage is higher, the sword of the same material does more Damage Per Second (DPS). However, axes can be used to deal more damage in a single blow, and are useful in certain cases, like starting out in a survival world, or in player-versus-player (PvP) combat. In Bedrock Edition, axes are completely inferior to the sword, because they do 1 less damage than a sword of the same material and have no benefits.