Beacon

For other uses, see Beacon (disambiguation).

Beacon

Rarity tier	Rare
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool	Any tool
Blast resistance	3
Hardness	3
Luminous	Yes (15)
Transparent	Yes
Waterloggable	JE: No BE: Yes
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No
Map color	31 DIAMOND
Note block instrument	Hat

A beacon is a block that can be placed in view of the sky, on top of a pyramid made of valuable mineral blocks, to activate it. Once active, it projects a beam upward and can be set to provide constant status effects to all players in a radius around it. A beacon's range and available effects depend on the size of its pyramid base, between one and four layers.

Obtaining

Breaking

A beacon can be mined successfully by hand or with any tool. When destroyed by an explosion, the block always drops as an item.

Block	Beacon
Hardness	3
Breaking time (secs)
Default	14.5 (JE) 4.5 (BE)
Options
Efficiency	000
Haste	001 1JEBE

Legend

• incorrect tool, drops nothing
• correct tool, drops nothing or something other than the block itself
• correct tool, drops the block itself
• italicized can be instant mined

Crafting

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Beacon	Glass + Nether Star + Obsidian

Usage

When "activated", beacon blocks provide two unique functions:

• A landmark beam reaching into the sky which is visible from far away.
• Powers, which give players status effects within a certain range.

Activation

In order to activate a beacon, the beacon must meet the following requirements:

• Beacons require an unobstructed view of the sky (see § Beam).
• The beacon is on top of a pyramid constructed from iron blocks, gold blocks, emerald blocks, diamond blocks, and/or netherite blocks.
  

The type of block used is purely cosmetic, having no effect on the pyramid's power level or the range and strength of the status effect. A mixture of blocks of different types can also be used in any orientation, so long as they form a pyramid structure, like the ones listed below.

Status effect range can be improved by increasing the pyramid power level (see chart below). At level 4, the pyramid gives the option to increase the primary effect's strength to Level II in the beacon's GUI.

Pyramids

For other pyramid structures, see Pyramid.

Pyramids are the structures required to activate beacons. There are four possible pyramid heights. More pyramid levels make more powers available in a wider affected vicinity. The type of mineral block used to build the pyramid is entirely cosmetic and has no functional effect. Several different block types can be mixed without affecting functionality. If the pyramid is damaged so that the beacon deactivates, the previously-set powers resume their effects upon reactivation when the pyramid is repaired. This applies to piston-altered pyramids as well.

Layer 1

Layer 2

Layer 3

Layer 4

Layer 5

Multiple beacons can make use of the same specific mineral blocks below them. Combined pyramids do not need to be symmetrical. The image to the right shows a 6-beacon (2 by 3) pyramid. It requires a total of 244 mineral blocks, with a base layer of 10 by 11.

Beam

A vertical beam appears from a beacon if the beacon is activated, extending from the beacon block, up to height 2048. Beacon beams deactivate if they ever intersect any fully opaque block excluding bedrock (this allows beacons to be used below the Nether ceiling). Once the blocks that are obstructing the beacon beam are removed, the beam reactivates itself.

Horizontally, the beam is visible from any loaded chunk, which can be up to 512 blocks in Java Edition or 2048 blocks in Bedrock Edition.

Colors

The color of the beam may be changed by placing stained glass, stained glass panes, hardened stained glass,‌^{[BE & edu only]} hardened stained glass panes,‌^{[BE & edu only]} or another beacon ‌^{[JE only]} anywhere above the beacon block, with glass panes and full glass blocks having the same effect. Placing multiple colored glass blocks anywhere above the beam causes the colors to blend. The first or bottom most glass block sets the beam color, while each additional block sets the color by averaging the red, green, and blue components of the current beam color and the block's color. The color values are the same as those for the corresponding dye.

If is an RGB vector,^{[note 1]} the resulting beam color can be found as where is the sequence of glass color RGB vectors ( corresponds to the lowest block and to the highest one).

Updating

In Java Edition, the amount of ticks a beacon beam takes to update (change color, deactivate due an obstructing block being placed, reactivate due to the obstructing block being removed) is equal to ¹⁄₁₀ of the space (expressed in blocks) between (inclusive) the beacon block and the topmost block that is intersected by the beacon beam, rounded up to the nearest integer.

In Bedrock Edition, the beacon beam updates every 80 ticks (4 seconds).

Powers

Once the beacon is emitting a beam, it can then be fed one iron ingot, gold ingot, emerald, diamond, or netherite ingot to select the status effects given to players within range of the beacon. This is done through the beacon's GUI, displayed by pressing use while looking at the beacon block. It doesn't matter which of the items is fed into the beacon.

In the GUI, the player places the item to be fed in the empty slot and clicks an effect from the "Primary Power" section on the left. If the beacon is sitting on a 4-level pyramid, the "Secondary Power" section on the right also becomes active. The player can then choose either to turn on the Regeneration power in addition to the Primary Power or to raise the primary power to Level II. The user clicks the "Done" button (green checkmark), the item is consumed, and the power(s) become activated, with the outline of the effect on the HUD being blue. To change the beacon's powers, this process must be followed again, consuming another ingot or gem.

If the pyramid is broken, effects deactivate or weaken depending on the level of the pyramid that is no longer complete. Upon restoration of the pyramid, the originally selected power returns without the need to spend another item. If a smaller pyramid is upgraded, the effect range increases to that of the new pyramid without the need of reactivating it. However, upgrading to level 4 does not modify the effect power (to increase the power, the player must use the beacon's GUI).

The five primary powers are:

• Speed I: Increased movement speed.
• Haste I: Increased mining and attack speed.
• Resistance I: Decreased nearly all incoming damage (2-level pyramid required).
• Jump Boost I: Increased jumping distance and height (2-level pyramid required).
• Strength I: Increased melee damage (3-level pyramid required).

The secondary powers only available with a 4-level pyramid are:

• Regeneration I: Regenerates health.
• Increasing the primary power to level II.

Every 4 seconds, if the beacon beam is currently active, the selected powers are applied with a duration of 9 seconds, plus 2 seconds per pyramid level, to all players in range. Thus, when powers are changed or a player travels outside the area of effect, the powers persist for 5–9 seconds, or 13–17 seconds with a full pyramid.

Range

The effects of a beacon constitutes within a cuboid region, which reaches downward and out to each side at a range determined by the size of the pyramid base (see table below), and upward a distance of that range plus the current dimension's height limit (e.g. 319 in the Overworld).

The effect duration from the beacon is also determined by the size of the pyramid base (Pyramid size × 2 + 9).

The range of the beacon effect is limited by the simulation distance. As such, on simulation distance of 4 with a level 4 pyramid, the effect does not reach the chunks on the corners of the beacon range.

The distance from the player to the beacon block does not affect the intensity of the status effect.

Beacon pyramid effects in Java Edition:

Beacon pyramid effects in Bedrock Edition:

Light source

Beacon blocks can function as light sources, emitting a light level 15. Like other light sources, they melt snow and ice. A beacon produces this light even when it doesn't emit a beam.

Piston interactivity

Beacons cannot be pushed nor pulled by pistons or sticky pistons.

Sounds

Generic

Java Edition:

stone sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.stone.break	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block placed​[until: JE 26.4]	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.stone.place	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.stone.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	0.25	0.5	16
	​Something falls on a block	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.stone.fall	subtitles.block.generic.fall​	0.5	0.75	16
	​Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.stone.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

glass sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	random.glass	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	0.8–1.0
	​Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	place.stone	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8–1.0
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.stone	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	0.4	0.6
	​Footsteps	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.stone	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.4	1.0
	​Footsteps	Players	Walking on the block	step.stone	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.3	1.0
	​Footsteps	Blocks	Jumping from the block	jump.stone	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.12	1.0
	​Footsteps	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.stone	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.22	1.0

Unique

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Translation key
Beacon	beacon	Block & Item	block.minecraft.beacon

Name	Identifier
Block entity	beacon

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID[i 1]	Translation key
Beacon	beacon	138	Block & Giveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3]	tile.beacon.name

Name	Savegame ID
Block entity	Beacon

Block data

A beacon has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Block entity format.

Achievements

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		The Beaconator	Create and fully power a Beacon	Be within a 20×20×14 cuboid centered on the pyramid when the beacon block realizes it is fully powered.	60	Gold

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Bring Home the Beacon	Construct and place a Beacon	Be near a beacon when it becomes active.
	A Furious Cocktail	Have every potion effect applied at the same time	Have all of these 17​[until: Fourth Drop 2026]/18​[upcoming] status effects applied to the player at the same time: Fire Resistance Freezing Infested Invisibility Jump Boost Night Vision Oozing Poison Regeneration Resistance Slow Falling Slowness Speed Strength Water Breathing Weakness Weaving Wind Charged The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement.
	Beaconator	Bring a Beacon to full power	Be near a beacon when it becomes active with a size 4 pyramid.
	How Did We Get Here?	Have every effect applied at the same time	Have all of these 34​[until: Fourth Drop 2026]/35​[upcoming] status effects applied to the player at the same time: Absorption Bad Omen Blindness Breath of the Nautilus Conduit Power Darkness Dolphin's Grace Fire Resistance Freezing Glowing Haste Hero of the Village Hunger Infested Invisibility Jump Boost Levitation Mining Fatigue Nausea Night Vision Oozing Poison Raid Omen Regeneration Resistance Slow Falling Slowness Speed Strength Trial Omen Water Breathing Weakness Weaving Wind Charged Wither The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.

Videos

History

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.4.2			12w32a				Added a block named "Work in Progress".
							"Work in Progress" can produce beams.
			12w34a				"Work in Progress" has been removed from the Creative inventory.
			12w36a				"Work in Progress" has been renamed to "Beacon".
							Beacons can be found in the Creative inventory again.
							Beacons are now craftable.
							The texture and model of beacons has been changed.
			12w38a				The texture and model of beacons has been changed, again.
							The beacon beam has been changed from a semi-transparent smooth beam (which conflicted with water transparency), to a pattern with 0% transparency.
			12w40a				The texture and model of beacons has been changed, again.
							The beacon beam has been changed again.
			12w40b				The beacon beam no longer glitches at tiny and short render distance.
1.5			13w05a				The effect range of beacons has been increased from 16/24/32/40 blocks to 20/30/40/50 blocks.
							Beacon effects now extend up to the world height limit (Y=256).
1.6.1			13w23a				With the Regeneration effect being nerfed slightly, the same status effect produced from beacons has been nerfed slightly too.
			13w24a				The beacon "crystal" texture, used from 12w36a to 12w37a, has been removed as per the resource pack reform.
1.7.2			13w36a				The player can now achieve the Beaconator achievement by placing a beacon on a level-4 pyramid of specific mineral blocks.
1.8			14w29a				Beacons now display the cracking animation when being broken.
			August 5, 2014				Dinnerbone tweets a screenshot containing a colored beacon beam. The color appears to change when the beam passes through stained glass.
			14w32a				The light of beacons now changes as it goes through stained glass.
			August 7, 2014				Dinnerbone tweets that the beacon beam can now pass through blocks that block light slightly.
			14w32b				Beacon beams now show if they are going through a block that doesn't completely block light rather than partially block light. This allows beacon beams to go through water and lava.
							Beacons in the Nether and the End now check for blocks and render the beam only up to the world height (Y=127).
							Beacon beams now immediately update when blocks above the beacon are changed. This applies to the beam appearing, disappearing and changing color. Previously, the beam was updated every time the game time was perfectly divisible by 80 (every 4 seconds).
1.8.2			pre5				Bedrock no longer obstructs beacon activation or beams.
							Beacons in the Nether and the End now check and use the full build height (Y=255) rather than the world height (Y=127).
1.9			15w31a				Beacons now generate naturally in end ships.
			15w32c				Beacons no longer generate in end ships and have been replaced by pumpkins.
			15w47a				Beacons no longer drop their contents when broken or when the interface is exited.
							Beacons are now able to interact with hoppers.
			15w47b				The beacon effect duration now increases with pyramid level (it was formerly a constant 9 seconds).
			15w49a				Beacons once again drop their contents when broken or when the interface is exited (as they had before 15w47a).
							Beacons can no longer interact with hoppers (as they had since 15w47a).
			16w02a				Beacons now immediately activate when placed on valid pyramids.
			16w03a				Beacons no longer immediately activate when placed on valid pyramids.
1.13			18w19a				Beacons now produce sounds.
			18w21a				The rarity of beacons has been changed from "Common" to "Rare".
			18w50a				Beacons once again update their beam every 4 seconds, as it was the case before 14w32b.
1.14			18w43a				The texture of beacons has been changed.
							Due to the change of the texture of beacons, the look of the beacon pyramid has been changed.
			18w44a				The texture of beacons has been changed, once again.
			19w14a				The beacon beam no longer stops at the build height limit.
							Beacon blocks can now be used to change the color of other beacons' beams (the color variation is the same as if white stained glass were used instead).
							The beacon beam is not updated every 4 seconds anymore. Instead, the beam takes as many ticks to update as the amount of sections it contains.
1.15			19w41a				Beacon beams are no longer visible from the inside.
1.16			20w07a				Beacons can now be activated with netherite blocks.
							Beacons can now be fueled using netherite ingots.
							The texture of the UI of beacons has been changed.
							Beacons are now renewable, as soul sand, one of the blocks used to construct withers, is now renewable through bartering.
1.17			21w07a				Beacon beams are now visible up to 1343 blocks away from the source instead of 256 blocks.
1.21.5			25w05a				Beacon beams now render beyond 16 chunks, up to the player's render distance.
							Beacon beams now appear thicker when further away so that they remain visible.
							Beacon beams are now 2048 blocks high, from 1024.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.16.0			build 4				Added beacons.
							Unlike other editions, beacons conduct redstone.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0			beta 1.2.0.2				Beacon beams now change colors when shining through stained glass or stained glass panes.
1.5.0			beta 1.5.0.4				Beacons now produce sounds.
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				The texture of beacons has been changed.
1.16.0			beta 1.15.0.51				The beam color can now be mixed with several different stained glass colors.
			beta 1.16.0.57				Beacons can now be activated with netherite blocks.
							Netherite ingots can now be used as a beacon ingredient.
							The texture of the UI of beacons has been changed.
1.21.30			Preview 1.21.30.21				The rarity of beacons has been changed from "Common" to "Rare" to match Java Edition.
			Preview 1.21.30.23				Beacons no longer conduct redstone.
1.21.70			Preview 1.21.70.20				Beacon beams are now visible when a player moves over 70 blocks away from them.
1.21.90			Preview 1.21.90.26				Beacons now render from any chunk loaded in worlds opened in at least 1.21.90.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU19	CU7	1.12	1.12	1.12	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added beacons.
TU25	CU14	1.17	1.17	1.17			Beacon beams now change colors when shining through stained glass or stained glass panes.
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3		The vertical range of beacon has been nerfed to match horizontal range.
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		The beacon effect duration now increases with pyramid level (it was formerly a constant 9 seconds).
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		Beacons now produce sounds.
			1.90				The texture of beacons has been changed.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition
1.3.12							Added beacons.

Data history

Issues

Issues relating to "Beacon" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

• The texture of the beacon is 16×16 but renders only the 10×10 area in the center.
• It is possible to see the beacon beam on the bottom of an activated beacon.^[1]
• A fully powered beacon can fit within the upper level of the desert pyramid with the beacon’s beam perfectly being placed in the hole at the top.

Gallery

Renders

• 
  A beacon with all of the blocks that can power beacons

Screenshots

• 
  The top of a beacon's beam
• 
  A view from inside the beacon before Java Edition 19w41a
• 
  Two beams from a beacon, one passing through glass and the other through a beacon block
• 
  Beacon beam going through an end portal frame block
• 
  The first image of a colored beacon, tweeted by Nathan Adams
• 
  The first image of an underwater beacon, tweeted by Nathan Adams
• 
  The beacon's light changing as it passes through magenta stained glass
• 
  The full visible light spectrum created by colored beacons
• 
  A grayscale spectrum
• 
  A beacon is still functional when the pyramid is made of different blocks
• 
  A visualization of the effects range for each level. At level 4, the area affected is 101×101 blocks
• 
  A colored beacon beam in Bedrock Edition
• 
  One of the many uses for the beacon
• 
  The texture of the beacon used from Java Edition 12w40a until the Texture Update

Development images

• 
  The texture file for the beacon in Java Edition 12w36a was laid out almost identically to that of the end crystal
• 
  First image released by Jeb
• 
  The old texture from Java Edition 12w36a of the beacon
• 
  The old texture from Java Edition 12w38a displaying the powered and the non-powered beacon

In other media

• 
  Several beacons in Minecraft: Story Mode
• 
  A beacon as it appeared in Minecraft Earth
• 
  A beacon as it appears in Minecraft Dungeons
• 
  Sunny posing in front of a rainbow of beacons, clad in trimmed armor^[2]
• 
  Storyboard of a beacon in A Minecraft Movie, during the Great Darkening

Notes

References

See also

• Conduit
• Wither