Woodcutting

(F2P) (P2P)

Woodcutting (often abbreviated as WC or WCing) is a skill that involves players chopping down different types of trees and vegetation. It is one of the most popular non-combat skills for free play users. For each tree, a minimum Woodcutting level is required, and a hatchet that is used to cut it. With each level up, a player will be able to cut trees faster than previously. Woodcutting is one of the easiest skills to get the 99 level after the choking Ivy and the Sawmill update.

Many players use this skill to cut yew trees, which is one of the few logs that are profitable. It can also be used for Firemaking and Fletching. There are a wide range of trees ranging from normal trees to magic trees.

In comparison to Mining, Woodcutting is a much easier skill for players to train and get level 99. Mining becomes more profitable as it is trained to higher levels, but requires more user input (clicking on rocks), while also being slow to train. Woodcutting is not profitable at low levels, but requires much less user input to train, and is incredibly profitable at high levels. Unfortunately, according to the free-to-play Money making guides on this wiki, cutting Yews generates half of the profit that mining Runite ore does. Keep in mind that Woodcutting is still a lower input and faster training skill than Mining, sparing a player an enormous amount of effort for a decent profit.

As a player chops down a tree of a certain type, the corresponding type of logs will appear in their inventory. The player can then light the logs with a tinderbox (or with a bow if the player is a member who has completed Barbarian Training) to raise their Firemaking skill, cut them with a knife and make them into bows using the Fletching skill in members, or sell them to other players for money. This makes Firemaking and Fletching highly related to and dependent on woodcutting.

In order to chop a tree, a player will need to have a hatchet that they can use (which was previously known as an axe but was changed in 2009 to help distinguish between battleaxes, pickaxes and Woodcutting axes.) Hatchets can be wielded in the weapon slot, in order to gather more wood in the inventory provided players have a high enough Attack level to use the type of metal the hatchet is, as it is still considered a weapon.

Hatchets can be bought from Bob's store (located in Lumbridge), bought from the Grand Exchange, or smithed by players using the Smithing skill (except for black, sacred clay, and dragon hatchets, as well as the Inferno Adze, which cannot be smithed). However, Bob only sells bronze, iron, and steel hatchets. Bronze hatchets are actually given for free as a demo. Players will have to buy better hatchets from other players, buy them from the Grand Exchange, or smith the hatchets themselves. The Inferno Adze is a reward from the All Fired Up activity. Sacred clay hatchets may only be obtained from the Stealing Creation activity. Currently, the Dragon hatchet and the Inferno Adze are the best hatchets in the game.

To chop down a given variety of tree, players will need a certain Woodcutting level and a hatchet which they are able to use(this depends on Attack level and Wood Cutting level). For example, a player will need a Woodcutting level of 75 to cut a Magic tree. A certain Woodcutting level is also required to use each hatchet. For example, a player will need a Woodcutting level of 41 to use a rune hatchet. Also, if a player wants to wield a hatchet, then an Attack level is required. For example, a player will need an attack level of 40 to wield a Rune hatchet. In most cases, it requires 1 less level to wield a hatchet than it is to use it for chopping wood. An exception is the Inferno Adze, which requires level 92 Firemaking and level 61 Woodcutting to use, but it requires level 1 Attack to wield. It is recommended that players with the required attack level wield their hatchet so that they have one more space in their inventory, allowing them to carry more logs.

Trees are easy to find, as they are located throughout RuneScape. (The exceptions to this are Morytania, Karamja and The Wilderness, where many of the trees cannot be chopped down, only examined.) A high level tree, such as a Yew tree, will have its position indicated on the mini map with a tree icon. To cut a tree, players have to find one and then left-click on it. When the player is done cutting, they can then set the logs on fire with a tinderbox to obtain Firemaking experience, fletch them if they are a member, or sell them to other players.

Free players can only cut regular, oak, willow, maple, and yew trees. Previously, the Maple trees were members-only, but the log itself was nonmembers. The Dungeoneering update of 19 July designated a hidden dungeon where free players with a Dungeoneering level of 30+ could cut them. These different types of trees are listed below.

Tree types
The "(m)" signifies "members-only" trees.

Machetes
To cut a jungle, players cannot use a hatchet. Instead, they need a machete, which must be wielded. There is no attack or woodcutting level required to wield any kind of machete.

Ordinary machetes can be bought from the general stores in Tai Bwo Wannai or Shilo Village. Opal, jade, and red topaz machetes are somewhat rarer, and can only be bought from Gabooty with trading sticks. All machetes are tradeable as well, and can be bought or sold on the Grand Exchange.

Jungle
There are three different kinds of jungles. There are light jungles, medium jungles, and dense jungles. When players hack a jungle, they receive thatch spars and initiate the Tai Bwo Wannai Cleanup activity. Jungles are members-only.

Canoes
Canoes are used to travel on the River Lum, which goes from Lumbridge all the way to level 35 Wilderness. However, a certain woodcutting level is needed to carve the canoe tree into certain types of canoes. Canoes are useful when wanting to go from Edgeville to Lumbridge, etc. On February 15 2011, canoes became free to play.

How to make canoes
To make a canoe, players have to find a canoe tree and have with them a hatchet they have the required woodcutting level to use. (With the February 15, 2011 canoe update, it is no longer necessary to have a hatchet to make a canoe; the canoe tutor will lend you a hatchet for free. When you are done constructing the canoe, you automatically return the hatchet you borrowed to the canoe tutor.) Canoe trees can be found at canoe stations. These stations are located along the River Lum, in the following places.


 * Lumbridge: On the west side of the river near the furnace.
 * Champions' Guild: On the east side of the river west of the wheat field.
 * Gunnarsgrunn (AKA Barbarian Village): South of the eastern bridge on the east side of the river.
 * Edgeville: On the east side of the river near the guard post.
 * Level 35 Wilderness: At the lake south of the Moss Giants. Players cannot make a new canoe from this station.

When the player has found a canoe tree at one of these stations, they can cut the tree down. The player then has to click on the fallen tree and select what type of canoe they want to make. When the player has made the canoe they want, they then can click on the canoe to push it in the river. When in the river, the player can then click on the canoe and select where they want to go.

Canoes can only go to a certain number of stations away. Higher level canoes can go farther than the lower level canoes.

Saw mill
The Sawmill is a members-only area in which players with a Woodcutting level of 80 or more can produce planks from logs, but when you're done, you can't leave with the logs. The logs are obtained from log piles nearby, then converted into planks using the nearby machine. Then the planks must be cut by using the planks on a cutting table, a saw is required to do this. Using a crystal saw gives double the experience in comparison to using a regular saw. Using a crystal saw will only double the xp gained from making each plank, NOT the xp reward given for completion of each task. It is not suggested to use sawmill training unless you have the crystal saw, while using the crystal saw in the sawmill training area-NOTE-it will not lose charges. Sawmill training can be a more efficient way of gaining xp, up to 100k an hour, it will only be better than ivy when using the crystal saw. Still, some players prefer the AFK style of ivy and some players have not done the quest for the crystal saw. This method however, can earn up to 1 million experience points in 10 hours of play time.

Special Logs
Special teak logs and Special mahogany logs can be sold to the Sawmill Operator, north-east of Varrock or exchanged for a completely free conversion of the logs in your inventory into planks.

The free conversion requires 2 of the same type of special log.

2 special teak logs can be used to convert up to 26 teak logs into teak planks.

2 special mahogany logs can be used to convert up to 26 teak logs and/or mahogany logs into teak/mahogany planks.

If you have 1 special or 1 of each, the sawmill owner will only offer to buy your special logs.

Other
The woodcutting stumps on Neitiznot can be used to make special items out of the arctic pine logs native to the island. Players must have gotten to this part in the Fremennik Isles quest to use them.

Nests


If the player is a member, a bird's nest may fall out of the tree they are cutting. Wearing a strung rabbit foot (rabbit-foot necklace) gives a better chance of getting a bird's nest drop while woodcutting however this requires completion of the 'Eagles' Peak' quest and with atleast 24 Hunter. He or she can either pick up the nest and search it or just leave it on the ground, though it is highly recommended that the player search it. When the player searches it, they will be given a random item, either a plain gold or a sapphire, emerald, ruby, or diamond ring; a red, green, or blue bird's egg (can be hatched in an incubator with 70 summoning); a raven egg (can be hatched in an incubator with 50 summoning) the higher summoning level you have from any bird egg found in a nest reduces the chance of getting the egg or a tree seed that can be used for farming. These seeds can be worth quite a lot of money on the Grand Exchange such as Magic Tree seeds and papaya tree seeds, which are 45,000 coins. The empty nest can be used with a pestle and mortar to get a crushed nest, an ingredient in the Saradomin brew. This means that players training for a Woodcutting Skillcape may accumulate some profit, even if they are using ivy to train.

Discontinued Woodcutting Random Events

 * These events were removed as part of the 25 February 2009 Random Event Update.


 * Lost Axe Head: While cutting trees, a player's axe might split, causing the axe head to fly off. The head would land somewhere nearby, usually 3 to 10 squares away. When this happened, the player had to find the axe head quickly before someone else saw it and took it. (Dragon axe heads were often targets for other players due to their large value.) When the player had found the axe head, he or she could then use it with their handle to put the axe back together. This random event was discontinued due to player complaints and the addition of the Surprise Exam! random event. Jagex determined that loss of the axehead was unfair to players and the event was discontinued around the time of the trade limiting and wilderness changes.
 * Dr. Ford: While cutting trees, a piece of wood could fall on a player causing them to get dizzy. With their vision blurred, they had to guess how many fingers Dr. Ford was holding up, to get a fruit. Otherwise, they would be taken away. This event was removed due to various glitches it caused. This event also used to exist in Mining. These events were discontinued after a very short run. A problem arose in its performance, as it did not always work correctly.
 * Ents: A tree may turn into an Ent at any time. Players can tell if the tree they are cutting is an Ent if the tree starts shaking, has an angry face somewhere on its trunk, a yellow dot on the mini-map where the tree is, the name of the tree will be in yellow instead of a teal colour, and the tree is bigger than normal. As soon the tree starts showing the symptoms of an Ent, players must walk away and wait for the tree to transform back into its original state. If the player keeps cutting the tree, the Ent will break the axe. To fix it, players will have to take the axe back to Bob of Bob's Axes, located in Lumbridge, to get it fixed for a price. However, the Inferno Adze and Sacred Clay axe, obtained from the Stealing Creation activity, cannot break. (Ents have been superseded by Evil Trees as a Distraction and Diversion [members-only]).
 * Tree spirits: While cutting trees, a Tree Spirit would appear and begin attacking a player. The combat level of the spirit depended on the combat level of the player it was attacking, but it would always be higher than that of the player. The Tree Spirit's combat level varied from level 14 to 159. The player could either kill it or run away from it. If a player killed a Tree Spirit, it could drop some axes, herbs and seeds for members, bananas, runes, various miscellaneous items, or nothing at all (usually, the level 80+ ones gave rune axes). (Tree Spirits are still available in RuneScape, but only to members attempting to cut trees in the Enchanted Valley.)

Making money
The logs gathered through Woodcutting can be sold for profit, with higher-level logs usually selling for more. The most popular logs for money are Yew which sell for around and Magic for around  coins each (Cutting Magic Logs is not recommended those trying to get 99). While far from a spectacular income (even with a maxed Woodcutting level, it is unusual to make more than about 150k gp per hour —even less for free players). Depending on the seeds from nests that you get, however, it still is a good way to make gold. The most common place to buy or sell logs is the Grand Exchange. A list of prices for logs can be found at the Grand Exchange Market Watch. You can also get nests from trees, which contain items like tree seeds, rings, and bird's eggs.

For advice on making money by Woodcutting, see the Woodcutting section of the Money-making guide.

Temporary boosts

 * An Axeman's Folly increases Woodcutting by one. This is brewed using the Cooking skill.
 * A Mature Axeman's Folly increases Woodcutting by two. This is also brewed using the Cooking skill.
 * A brown Spicy stew randomly increases Woodcutting, Herblore, Farming, Fishing, Mining and Firemaking up to 6 or decreases up to 6, these can be made using the Cooking skill, only by P2P players who have beaten the Evil Dave section in the Recipe for Disaster Quest.
 * Equipping the Woodcutting Cape of Accomplishment or operating the cape while it is worn will temporarily boost your Woodcutting level to 100. To obtain this cape, 99 Woodcutting is required.
 * A Beaver, a Summoning familiar, invisibly boosts Woodcutting by two levels.

Other items

 * Lumberjack clothing increases woodcutting experience by 2.5% when you have the entire outfit set equipped.
 * A Strung Rabbit foot increases the chance of a bird nest falling out of tree while cutting.
 * A Sacred clay hatchet, from the Stealing Creation activity, doubles experience per log (200%).
 * A Volatile clay hatchet, also from Stealing Creation, gives 2.2 times experience per log (220%).
 * When using a Sacred clay hatchet in conjunction with Lumberjack clothing players receive 140 exp per Willow logs that they chop down.
 * When using the Inferno adze to chop, and wearing the Flame gloves and Ring of fire, Firemaking experience increases by 5 percent. About 35 percent of the experience players get from Woodcutting is gained in Firemaking as well, due to the Inferno adze burning some logs. The Inferno adze will not burn anything when you chop Ivy, because there is nothing to burn; therefore it acts like a normal Dragon hatchet.
 * A Seer's Headband 3 may give players an extra log while woodcutting.

Trivia

 * In early history, only regular trees could be cut. The experience given was based on the player's Woodcutting level: $$28.25 + 1.75 * (Woodcutting \ level)$$. After the Fletching skill was added, it was briefly reduced to 12.5 experience, then doubled to 25 experience, per regular log. While Jagex compensated for this by adding one-click woodcutting, many players (especially free users) were upset that training Woodcutting would take much longer.
 * Players who use a herring with a tree will get a message saying, "This is not the mightiest tree in the forest." This is a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Players who use a herring on the doors of the Grand Tree get the following message: "It can't be done", referencing another line in the film.
 * There was a glitch if a player used the clap emote and then quickly tried to cut a normal tree, it would appear that they are clapping the tree away. Whether this was intentional or accidental is unknown. This is now replaced with another glitch: after you are done clapping, you do not cut the tree at all, and it disappears. This also applies to other emotes.
 * Woodcutting animations were updated on 11 November 2008, so the chopping appears much faster and smoother.
 * Hatchets were referred to in-game simply as axes until an update on the 1 April 2009. The change was made to reduce confusion with battleaxes and pickaxes.
 * If you have any sort of shield on while you chop wood, it will appear as if you have no shield at all.
 * When standing between two trees, after you have chopped one down and are turning to the other, it can happen that the message "You swing your hatchet at the tree." does not show up.
 * A glitch starting on 16 February 2010, allowed players to chop ivy with bare hands, or with whatever weapon they were wielding. This was performed by having a dragon hatchet in your inventory, and the item of choice wielded. This glitch has been fixed as of 22 February 2010. Another glitch still happens having the same effect but not having a dragon hatchet with you.
 * A very common glitch occurs when a player is chopping a tree, and trades with a player standing in an adjacent space. The player will start chopping the person for a few seconds after initiating the trade. This glitch has not been fixed.
 * A glitch witnessed in early July 2010, a player who clicks on an Ivy halfway through stroking their cat can click on an Ivy adjacent to from where they stand, approach it and cut it indirectly, either facing left, right, or diagonally. It is unknown if there are other ways to cut the Ivy indirectly with other pets. This glitch has not been fixed.
 * A presumed graphical glitch is found when a player is wearing trimmed armour and when cutting a tree, finds that the equipped hand that holds the axe, the whole shoulder plate turns the colour of the trim. It is unknown whether this is a glitch or not, but to date Jagex has not confirmed or fixed this graphical glitch.
 * In the emote for the Woodcutting skillcape, the player is seen using a make-shift Steel hatchet, which is only used in the emote.
 * Woodcutting was the first skill in which a player achieved level 99, specifically a player named Empty Stare.