Valheim: How to Make a Stone Axe in the Meadows

The Stone Axe is the first real tool a new Viking makes in Valheim, and it is the only thing standing between bare fists and a proper wood supply. It chops Beech, Fir, and Pine trees, and it doubles as a passable early weapon against Greylings.

Quick answer: Pick up 5 Wood and 4 Stone in the Meadows, press Tab to open the inventory, select Stone Axe under the crafting list, and press Craft. No Workbench is needed.

Stone Axe recipe and requirements

The recipe is short, and both ingredients sit on the ground in the starting biome. The axe is crafted straight from the inventory menu, so you can make it within a minute of spawning.

Detail	Value
Materials	Wood x5, Stone x4
Crafting station	None (inventory crafting menu)
Type	Axe, one-handed
Weight	1.5
Durability (quality 1)	100
Repair level	1
Internal ID	AxeStone

There is one gate people miss. The recipe stays hidden until you have picked up both ingredient types at least once. Grabbing your first Stone triggers the “New crafting recipe” notification, and the Stone Axe appears in the list from that moment on.

Where to find Wood and Stone in the Meadows

Everything you need is in the Meadows, the green starting biome you wake up in. Nothing here requires a tool, which is the point.

Viking character running through the grassy Meadows with the biome name shown on the minimap — The Meadows starting biome, with the minimap in the top-right corner. Image: Iron Gate Studio

Punch the small beech saplings and bushes scattered around the Meadows. Each one drops Wood, usually in batches of one to three at a time. Your fists are enough for these, so ignore the full-size trees for now.

Look for loose branches lying on the ground. Walk up to one, wait for the “[E] Pick up” prompt to appear over it, and press E to collect the Wood. This is often faster than punching saplings.

Player aiming at a loose Wood branch on the ground with the E Pick up prompt showing — A loose Wood branch with the pickup prompt active. Image: Iron Gate Studio

Collect four Stone from the ground. Small grey stones sit in the grass and along the tree line, and they use the same pickup prompt. Greydwarves also drop stone if you happen to kill one, though you will not need to hunt them for four.

Tip: sprinting between pickup spots levels your Run skill, so the gathering trip is not wasted time.

Skill improved Run notification appearing while sprinting through the Meadows — Sprinting between resources raises the Run skill. Image: Iron Gate Studio

Crafting the Stone Axe from the inventory menu

Press Tab to open your inventory and switch to the Crafting tab. You will see a short list of hand-crafted items, including the Club, the Hammer, and the Stone Axe.

Valheim crafting tab with the Club highlighted and the Craft button below the item stats — The inventory crafting list, where the Club, Hammer, and Stone Axe all live. Image: Iron Gate Studio

Select the Stone Axe. Its description reads “A crude axe for tree-felling,” and the material line will show your Wood and Stone counts against the 5 and 4 needed.

Press Craft and wait a couple of seconds for the crafting bar to finish. The axe drops into your inventory as a “New item,” and you can drag it to a hotbar slot and equip it.

You know it worked when the axe appears in your inventory and the equipped tool shows in your hand. Swinging it at a Beech tree will also trigger a “Skill improved Wood Cutting” message, which only happens with a proper axe equipped.

If the Stone Axe is missing from the crafting list

Two things block it, and both are easy to check.

You have never picked up Stone. Recipes unlock once you have held every ingredient, so grab a single stone off the ground and the entry appears immediately.
You are short on materials. The recipe greys out until you carry the full 5 Wood and 4 Stone at the same time.

Stone Axe upgrade costs and stats by quality

Upgrades happen at a Workbench, and each quality level needs a Workbench of the matching level. The material cost is pure Stone, which makes the axe cheap to keep current through the early game.

Quality	Upgrade cost	Slash / Chop	Durability
1	5 Wood, 4 Stone	15 / 20	100
2	2 Stone	20 / 23	130
3	4 Stone	25 / 26	160
4	6 Stone	30 / 29	190

Repairs are free and only need a level 1 Workbench, so there is no reason to let the axe break. Press the hammer icon on the Workbench menu with the axe in your inventory.

What the Stone Axe can and cannot cut

It handles the softer woods only. Beech, Fir, and Pine trees all fall to it, which covers the Meadows and the Black Forest. Tougher trees need a stronger axe later.

In combat the primary attack is a three-hit combo, with the final hit dealing double damage and extra knockback. The secondary attack is a slower overhead swing that hits harder and is the reliable way to clear tree stumps sitting too low for a normal swing. Blocking is weak at 3 block armor, but the 2x parry bonus works fine against a lone Greyling.

Passively, carrying the axe equipped costs 5% movement speed. That is negligible early on, and swapping to fists while travelling long distances is rarely worth the inventory fiddling.

Valheim Viking with red hair standing in the Meadows after crafting the first stone tool — The Stone Axe is the first tool most players craft after landing in the Meadows. Image: Iron Gate Studio

Once the axe is in hand, the sensible next move is felling a few Beech trees for the 10 Wood a Workbench needs. That unlocks repairs, upgrades, and the rest of the early crafting tree, and the Stone Axe stays useful right up until Flint or Bronze replaces it.