How To Craft a Beacon (and Beacon Tower) in Minecraft

Written by Cory Stillman

Last Updated: October 29, 2024 Fact Checked

Beacons are symbols of status and prestige in Minecraft. Once lit, a beacon can provide status effects to nearby players, including strength, jump boost, speed, and regeneration. To build a beacon, you'll need obsidian and glass, plus the Nether star, which you can only get by summoning and defeating the super challenging Wither. If you’re up for the challenge of building and lighting a beacon in Minecraft, this wikiHow guide has you covered! We'll teach you how to craft and activate a beacon in Minecraft, build a beacon tower, and use minerals to supply your beacon with status effects.

Things You Should Know

The basic recipe for a beacon is 1 nether star, 3 obsidian, and 5 glass.
A beacon requires at least a three-by-three, one block high square base made of either iron, gold, diamond, emerald, or netherite.
A beacon's base requires a minimum of 81 ingots.
If built correctly, a beacon activates immediately upon construction. You will know your beacon is activated when it lights up.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Crafting the Beacon

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1
Know the layout of a beacon. A beacon is, at minimum, a three-by-three, one-block high square base of at least iron blocks (though gold, diamond, emerald and/or netherite blocks will also do) with a beacon unit placed on top of it. If you want to enhance your beacon's power and range, you'll need an additional square base of five by five, seven by seven, and nine by nine per power level, respectively.
- Creating a beacon can be a tedious process, since you need a bare minimum of 81 iron ingots to craft the base alone.
2
Gather the necessary materials. To craft a beacon, you will need the following items:^{[1]
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- At least 81 iron ore - Mine a lot of iron ore—which is the grey stone with orange spots—with a stone pickaxe or better. You can use emeralds, gold, or diamonds instead, but these minerals are far rarer than iron and their effect on the beacon is the same anyway.
- Three blocks of obsidian - Obsidian is formed by water hitting lava from above. You can find it deep in caves. You will need a diamond pickaxe to mine obsidian.
- Five blocks of sand - You will need to use this to make glass.
- Nether Star - Kill the Wither and pick up the star that it drops. The Wither is exceedingly difficult to spawn and kill for lower-level players, so make sure you're prepared.
  - Do not spawn the Wither near your house, as it shoots skulls that blow up nearby structures.
- Fuel - Wood planks or coal will work fine. You'll need this for your furnace when smelting the glass and iron bars.
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3
Smelt your iron ore. Open your furnace, place all 81 iron ore pieces in the top square, and place your fuel source in the bottom square. Once all 81 ores have been created, you can move them back to your inventory.^{[2]
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- In Minecraft Pocket Edition, tap the top square, tap the iron ore icon, tap the bottom square, and then tap your fuel.
- On consoles, select your iron ore, press Y or triangle, select your fuel, and press Y or triangle again.
Put the sand blocks in the furnace, replenish the fuel if necessary, and then gather the five glass blocks when they're done smelting.^{[3]
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Right-click the crafting table (PC), tap the crafting table (PE), or face the crafting table and press the left trigger.^{[4]
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6
Create iron blocks. Place nine iron bars in each grid square, then click the stack of nine iron blocks and move it to your inventory.
- In Minecraft PE, just tap the grey iron block to select it, then tap 1 x on the right side of the screen nine times.
- On consoles, scroll over to the far-right tab, select the magma block, scroll down until you find the iron block, and press A (Xbox) or X (PlayStation) nine times.
7
Craft the beacon unit. Re-open the crafting table if necessary, then place one obsidian block in each of the bottom grid squares, place the Nether Star in the center grid square, and place one piece of glass in each remaining empty square. Move the resulting beacon to your inventory when it appears. Now you can create the beacon itself.^{[5]
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- In Minecraft PE, just tap the beacon icon, then tap 1 x.
- On consoles, find the beacon tab, select the beacon, and press A or X.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Building the Beacon Tower

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1
Find a place to put your beacon. You will need a flat spot. Ideally, your beacon will be close to your home.
- A beacon tower can be useful in locating any key place on your map.
Place three rows of three blocks to create a three-by-three, nine-block total base.^{[6]
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Select the beacon unit, then select the middle iron block. The beacon should light up almost immediately, indicating that it is activated.^{[7]
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4
Consider adding more layers to the unit. If you want to increase the beacon's power, you can add a five-by-five, 25-block base directly below the three-by-three one.^{[8]
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- You can add a seven-by-seven, 49-block base below the five-by-five, and you can add a nine-by-nine, 81-block base below the seven by seven.
- Your beacon can't have a base larger than nine blocks by nine blocks.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Changing the Beacon's Effect

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1
Find an effect mineral. Beacons offer powerful effects to players within its range. To change the beacon's effect, you will need at least one of the following:
- Iron Ingot
- Gold Ingot
- Emerald
- Diamond
- Netherite Ingot
Right-click the beacon (or tap it, or press the left trigger on your controller while facing it) to open it.^{[9]
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3
Select an effect. Select the effect that you want to receive from the beacon. You will have two options:^{[10]
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- Speed - Select the claw icon on the left side of the window. This makes you run faster.
- Haste - Select the pickaxe icon on the left side of the window. This makes you mine faster.
- The more levels your beacon tower has, the more effects you'll be able to equip. Other possible effects include Jump Boost, Resistance, and Night Vision. There are even negative effects like Nausea, Blindness, and Slowness.
4
Add an effect mineral. Click and drag a mineral into the empty box at the bottom of the beacon's window.
- On Minecraft PE, tap the mineral in the upper-left side of the screen.
- On consoles, just select the mineral and press Y or triangle.
5
Select the checkmark. It's the green icon at the bottom of the beacon's window. Doing so will apply your selected effect to the beacon.
- These effects can help you protect yourself and your house as well.

Community Q&A

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Do I have to be in survival to operate a beacon?

Karianna Wood

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No, you don't have to be. You can be in adventure or creative too.

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Will this work on the PE version on my phone?

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Yes.

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Can I make it with gold, iron, emerald, and diamond?

Kait ADrago-artist

Community Answer

Well, you can build the pyramid under it by different materials. It Can be 9x9 to 7x7 to 5x5 to 3x3. And you put a piece of Diamond or iron ingot piece of emerald or gold ingot and it works.

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Tips

If you want your beacon light to be a different color, put any stained glass over the beacon!

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If you don't want to go through the hassle of gathering the beacon's necessary materials, just craft it in creative mode. The beacon itself is pre-assembled, and all you need to do is place it and an iron block in your inventory in order to create the largest beacon you can.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Mix and match iron, gold, diamond, and emerald blocks in your beacon tower's layers if needed. The effects will remain the same. Conserve rarer resources when possible.
A full 4-layer beacon tower takes 1,476 ingots/gems. Gather materials gradually through mining trips rather than all at once. Stockpile over time.
Stained glass alters the beam's color without affecting functionality. Customize to your aesthetic tastes or make color-coded beacon networks.
Higher value gem layers boost the beacon's range and potency. But iron suffices for basic functionality. Upgrade as materials allow.
Lacking key ingredients? Improvise with what's on hand. Any tower of blocks can serve as a landmark, especially with light sources.
Position your beacon near your main base for fast and convenient access to effects. It will help you navigate home more easily too.

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Warnings

Falling from more than 23 blocks high will kill you, so don't build your beacon too high up if you don't have an exit plan.

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