Ever wondered how you can make a beacon in Minecraft? Beacons are one of the game’s most powerful and visually impressive features.
They have the benefit of not only acting as location markers that can be spotted from extremely far away but also providing a powerful status effect in a specific area.
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about making and using beacons in Minecraft. Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
How to Make a Beacon in Minecraft
To make a Beacon in Minecraft, you need to gather 5 pieces of Glass, 3 blocks of Obsidian, and a Nether Star. Glass and Obsidian are relatively easy to obtain: smelt sand in a furnace to get Glass, and pour a bucket of water over Lava to get Obsidian. Remember that you need a Diamond or Netherite Pickaxe to mine Obsidian.
To get a Nether Star, you need to defeat the Wither, which is a boss mob. When you kill the Wither, it will drop one Nether Star, which is only used when making the Beacon.
To make a Beacon, you need to combine these ingredients in the following order:
However, you can’t just place it down and use it. First, you need to build a Pyramid, which is your first step towards activating the Beacon.
How to Build a Pyramid for the Beacon in Minecraft
To activate a Beacon, you must place it on top of a Pyramid. The Pyramid must be built from Iron, Gold, Diamond, Netherite, or Emerald blocks. You can use a mixture of these if you don’t have enough of a single type of block.
You must make the Pyramid with between one and four layers. The taller you make the Pyramid, the more effects you can gain from the Beacon. The size of the Pyramid also increases the range within which you can gain the status effects.
To get the most out of your Beacon, you should make a 4-level Pyramid. For the base layer, place your blocks in a 9×9 square. Then, place a 7×7 square on top, followed by a 5×5 square, and then a 3×3 square for the top layer. When you have constructed the Pyramid, place your Beacon on top of the center block on the top layer to activate it.
If you don’t have enough blocks to make a Pyramid with 4 layers, you can remove the bottom layer to make it a slightly weaker Pyramid. For example, if you only have enough blocks for 3 layers, you can make the base layer the 7×7 square and then keep building up to make a 3-level Pyramid. However, this will remove some of the possible bonus effects.
How to activate a Beacon in Minecraft
When you place your Beacon on top of the Pyramid, it will light up. However, you will not gain any status effects straight away. There’s one more step that you need to complete first.
Interact with the Beacon to bring up its menu. This will list all of the status effects that you can activate. Select a primary power (and a secondary power if you have a 4-level Pyramid). Then, you need to insert either a Netherite Ingot, an Emerald, a Diamond, a Gold Ingot, or an Iron Ingot. When you insert one of these items, it will allow you to press the tick button and fully activate the Beacon.
What Status Effects do you get From the Beacon in Minecraft?
When you activate the Beacon, you can choose to gain a status effect. There are 5 primary powers available, all of which take you one step closer to being a Minecraft superhero:
- Speed
- Haste
- Resistance
- Jump Boost
- Strength
Speed and Haste are available if you build a Pyramid with one layer. To unlock Resistance and Jump Boost, you need to make at least a 2-level Pyramid. To get the Strength status effect, you need to make a Pyramid with 3 layers. All of these status effects are level 1.
If you make a Pyramid with four layers, you can choose one primary and one secondary power. For your secondary power, you can choose to either gain Regeneration at level 1 or increase your primary power to level 2.
How to Change the Colour of the Beacon’s Beam in Minecraft
When you activate the Beacon in Minecraft, it emits a beam that you can use to mark important places. However, if you want to use multiple Beacons for different areas, such as a village and a bee farm, then you might want to make the beams different colors.
To change the color of a beam, you need to place colored Glass over the top. For example, to make the beam blue, place a block of blue-contained glass on top of the Beacon.
To get Glass stained a certain color, you need to get the color dye that you want and 8 blocks of Glass. Then, place them in the crafting table in the following order:
Image source. Rockpapershotgun
You can mix the color to give it different tints by placing multiple stained Glass blocks on the Beacon. For example, you could place an orange-contained glass block and a pink-contained glass block on the Beacon to make the beam a warm pink color.
Conclusion
Beacons are a versatile and powerful tool in Minecraft. By following this guide, you’ll be able to craft, customize, optimize, and make your beacon in Minecraft. This will help to enhance your gameplay experience.
FAQS on How to Make a Beacon in Minecraft
Place a stained glass block on top of the beacon to change its light color. You can use any color of stained glass.
Make sure that all of your base layers (whether you build one or up to four) are complete and are using the necessary block types. Check that your beacon has been activated. If everything is correct and it still won’t work right, look up—the beacon also needs to have a clear path to open the sky in order to function. If there are any obstructions you’ll either need to remove them or relocate the beacon and its base.
After constructing and activating a beacon you’ll need to first create blue, green, red, and yellow stained glass and stack the blocks on top of your beacon. Next, make sticky pistons and arrange them in a counter-clockwise circuit around the stack of stained glass from the bottom to the top. Set up repeaters calibrated for four ticks on all of your pistons, then turn the mechanism on with a Redstone torch.