Woodcutting

Woodcutting (commonly called WC amongst players) is a skill that involves players cutting down different types of trees spread throughout RuneScape. For each tree, a Woodcutting level is required, as well as an axe, which is used to cut it. The current minimum to be ranked on the hiscores for woodcutting is 66.

As a player cuts a tree, a certain type of logs will appear in his/her inventory, depending on the type of tree. The player can then light the logs with a tinderbox (or with a bow after a player has completed Barbarian Training) to raise the Firemaking skill, cut them with a knife and make them into bows using the Fletching skill in pay-to-play, or sell them to other players.

Woodcutting is also a very popular skill, as selling the logs given by the higher level trees to other players can make players a great amount of money.

Trees
In order to cut a tree, a player will need to have an axe, also known as a 'hatchet' or a 'woodcutting axe'. Axes are not to be confused with battleaxes, as battleaxes cannot cut down trees and are only used for combat, nor with pickaxes, which are used for mining.

Axes can be bought from Bob's Axes (located in Lumbridge), or smithed by players using the smithing skill (as well as drops, trades, general stores etc.). However, Bob only sells bronze, iron, and steel axes. Players will have to buy the higher level axes from other players or smith the axes themselves. To cut a tree, players will need certain woodcutting levels. 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 an axe. For example, a player will need a woodcutting level of 41 to use a rune axe. Also, if a player wants to wield an axe, then an attack level is required. For example, a player will need an attack level of 40 to wield a rune axe. Players are recommended that they wield their axe so that they have more space in their inventory, allowing them to carry more logs.

To cut a tree, players have to find one and then click on it. Trees are easy to find, as they are located all over RuneScape. (The exception to this is Morytania, where most of the trees cannot be chopped down.) When a player has found a tree, they can then click on it to chop it. When the player is done cutting, they can then light the logs on fire with a tinderbox to obtain some firemaking experience, fletch them if they are a member, or sell them to other players.

Free players can only cut regular trees, oak trees, willow trees, and yew trees. However, even though there are no maple trees in the free world, members can bring maple logs to free worlds and both free players as well as members can trade them and burn them. These different types of trees are listed below.

Tree types
* These trees are identified on the minimap by the icon.

Jungles
Members can also cut small jungles in and around the small village Tai Bwo Wannai. Cutting down jungles is also part of the mini-game Tai Bwo Wannai Cleanup.

Machetes
To cut a jungle, players cannot use an axe. Instead, they need a machete.

Players will often need trading sticks to buy higher-level machetes. There are four different machetes, each one having a different price. The normal machete can be bought from the general store in the village, while the other three have to be bought from the NPC named Gabooty, who is usually located in the centre of the village. A player can trade with him to see his store.

Machetes can be wielded at any attack or woodcutting level.

Jungles
There are three different kinds of jungles. There are light jungles, medium jungles, and dense jungles. When players cut a jungle, they receive no logs, unlike cutting trees. However, cutting jungles for long periods of time will be boring, but players can receive better experience from cutting jungles for an hour than cutting a yew tree for an hour.

Canoes
Members can also make canoes, which 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.

How to make canoes
To make a canoe, members have to find a canoe tree. These trees can be found at canoe stations. These stations are located in the following places.
 * Lumbridge: On the east side of the river a bit south of the house where Goblins respawn.
 * Champions Guild: On the east side of the river west of the wheat field.
 * 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 go south from this station.

When the player has found a canoe tree at one of these stations, he/she must then cut the tree down. The player then has to click on the fallen tree and select what type of canoe he/she wants to make. When the player has made the canoe they want, he/she 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 he/she wants to go.

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

Other
Woodcutting has several other uses as well.

Random events
Random events are events that happen at random times. They were introduced to stop autoers, or people who use a program to do their work. Some random events include NPCs wanting players to do a task for them and rewarding them if they are successful or a monster that will attack the player. In woodcutting, there quite a few of random events.


 * Tree spirits: While cutting trees, a Tree Spirit may appear and will begin attacking a player. The combat level of the spirit depends on your level, but it will always be higher then the player's combat level. The Tree Spirit's combat level varies from level 14 to 149. The player can either kill it or run away from it. If a player kills a Tree Spirit, it can drop some axes, seeds for members, bananas, runes or nothing.
 * Nests: If the player is a member, a bird nest may fall out of the tree they are cutting. Wearing a strung rabbit foot gives a better chance of getting a Bird nest drop while woodcutting. They can either pick up the nest and search it or just leave it on the ground, though it is recommended that the player search it. When the player searches it, they will be given a random item, such as a gem, jewellery, a bird's egg for Saradomin Owl, Guthix Raptor or Zamorak Hawk (the player needs 70 Summoning to have them as pets), some coins, or even a seed that can be used for farming, usually a tree seed. They can use the nest with a pestle and mortar to crush it. Crushed bird's nests are an ingredient in Saradomin brew.
 * Ents: A tree can also turn into an ent. Players can notice this if the tree they are cutting starts shaking, has an angry face somewhere on it's trunk, and a yellow dot on the mini-map where the tree is. 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, the owner of Bob's Axes, located in Lumbridge, to get it fixed for a price.
 * Axe fixing costs:
 * Bronze axe: Free
 * Iron axe: Free
 * Steel axe: Free
 * Black axe: 10 coins
 * Mithril axe: 18 coins
 * Adamant axe: 43 coins
 * Rune axe: 427 coins
 * Dragon axe: 1,800 coins

Discontinued random events

 * Lost Axe Head (Discontinued): While cutting trees, the player's axe might split, causing the axe head to fly off. The head will land somewhere nearby, usually 3 to 10 squares away. When this happens, the player has to find the axe head quickly before someone else sees it and grabs it. When the player has found the axe head, they can use it with their handle to put the axe back together. If you happen to be wielding your axe when it falls apart, it is possible to use the axe handle as a weapon. Before the addition of the quest What Lies Below, you couldn't re-equip an axe handle if you had accidentally un-equipped it, but Jagex has now added a Wield Option to both Pickaxe Handles and Axe Handles. This random event is now discontinued due to the addition of the Surprise Exam! random event.


 * Dr Ford (Discontinued): 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 caused by this random event. This event also used to exist in mining.

Making money
The logs gathered through woodcutting (especially the higher level ones) can be sold for excellent profits.

Selling logs to a general store is not usually very rewarding, as general stores give comparatively low prices, and are often already well stocked on free worlds. Instead, players should sell their logs to other players, especially members.

The best place to sell or buy logs is at the Grand Exchange. Yanille bank in World 132, around Varrock west bank, Draynor Village bank, Seers Village bank and on the official forums are also good places for buying or selling logs.

The most common logs gathered for profit are Yew logs and Magic logs. A list of prices for logs can be found at the Grand Exchange Market Watch.

For some advice on making money through woodcutting, see the woodcutting section of the Money making guide.

Training

 * ''Main article: Woodcutting training

As with many skills, players have to choose between time and profit when aiming for 99 Woodcutting. Willow trees are the fastest experience but lower profit, and yew trees are the fastest profit with the given levels below, but longer experience, and maple trees are in between.

Non-member training

 * Level 1 to 15 - Players can cut normal trees. There are many normal trees in the forest between Lumbridge and Draynor, and south of Varrock.
 * Level 15 to 30 - Players can cut oak trees. A good spot is east of Draynor Village's bank. Low level players should be careful here, as level 26 Jail Guards patrol the area. Other places are southwest of Varrock and northwest of Lumbridge.
 * Level 30 to 99 - Players can cut willow trees. While it is a long time until players start cutting yews, it is recommended they stay with willows as the logs are given at a quick experience rate compared to other trees. A good spot is beside Draynor Village's bank, as there are 5 willow trees there, though it is often crowded during the day. If banking is not desired, good willow tree spots are also in northeast Port Sarim, south of Rimmington, or north of Lumbridge. This is the fastest experience to 99 for F2P players.
 * Level 60 to 99 - Players can now cut yew trees. Good spots are behind Varrock castle, west of Lumbridge, and south of Falador. There are four yew trees west of Rimmington, but they are far from a bank. There are also Yew trees in south Edgeville closest to the bank.

Members training

 * Level 1 to 15 - Members can cut normal trees. A good members' spot is south of Seers' Village.


 * Level 1 to 35 - Members can use a ring of dueling to Castle Wars and cut the trees and oak trees that are just across the east bridge. There are two willow tree at the north-eastern tip of this island. This is a great place for low level members because nothing there can attack you (except random events).


 * Level 15 to 30 - Members can cut oak trees. A good spot is southeast of Seers' Village bank.


 * Level 30 to 99 - Members can cut willow trees. A good spot is northwest of Seers' Village where there are 6 willow trees. Another great spot is at the Barbarian Outpost, however, there is only a deposit box, and no bank is available. If you feel too queasy about not having a bank around you, then stick with Seer's.


 * Level 35 to 99 - Teak logs are considered by some to be the fastest experience when woodcutting. One place to cut these is in the village of Tai Bwo Wannai. A player must pay 100 trading sticks to get in (each time) and must drop all logs he/she cuts, due to the lack of a nearby bank. The other way, which is preferred by higher levels is to use Ape Atoll as it only requires you to have progressed to the Monkey Greegree stage of Monkey Madness


 * Level 61+ - It is recommended for members that will be doing long term Woodcutting to buy a dragon axe as soon as they reach level 61 woodcutting, as the rate of getting logs increases by 15-20%. It is not recommended for a player that doesn't necessarily want a high level of woodcutting to buy a dragon axe, because it's high price compared to a rune axe.


 * Level 45 to 99 - Members can cut maple trees. There are 4 just north of the Seers' Village bank and even more along the road to Rellekka. Another good place to cut willows would be west of the entrance to the Barbarian Outpost. There are about 5 there and it is a short walk to the deposit box in the outpost.


 * Level 60 to 99 - Members can cut yew trees. A good place is south of the flax field south of Seer's Village, and west of it, near the altar. However many players recommend to wait for level 70-80 before cutting yews since they are slow to cut at earlier levels.


 * Level 75 to 99 - Members can cut magic trees. A good place is northwest of the Legends' Guild, at the Sorcerer's Tower. There are also a few near the Mage Training Arena and in the elven lands by Lletya. However, cutting magic trees seems to many players to be really slow, so it's recommended you either stay with yews or use a dragon axe.



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 brewed using the Cooking skill.
 * A brown Spicy stew randomly increases Woodcutting, Herblore, Farming, Fishing, Mining and Firemaking by 6 or decreases by 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 skillcape or operating the skillcape 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 2.

Other items

 * Lumberjack clothing increases woodcutting experience by <1% to 4.5%.
 * A Strung Rabbit foot increases the chance of a bird nest falling out of tree while cutting.

Trivia

 * In early history, only regular trees could be cut. The experience given was based on the player's woodcutting level, or 28.25 + level * 1.75. After fletching was added, it was briefly reduced to 12.5 experience, and then raised to 25. While Jagex compensated for this by adding one-click woodcutting, many players (especially free users) were upset that reaching a high-level woodcutting would take many times longer.


 * If you use a herring with a tree you 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. In addition, if you use a herring on the doors of the Grand Tree, a message appears saying "It can't be done," referencing another line in the movie.


 * When the Dragon axe first came out, it cut logs at the exact same rate as a rune axe. This was updated later on, making the dragon axe the best woodcutting axe in the game.