To make a beacon in Minecraft, put 5 glass, 3 obsidian, and 1 Nether Star into a crafting table: glass across the top row, glass, Nether Star, glass in the middle row, and obsidian along the bottom. Then set the beacon on a pyramid of iron, gold, emerald, diamond, or netherite blocks with a clear view of the sky, and pay it one ingot or gem to choose a power.
The recipe takes ten seconds. Getting the Nether Star and stacking the pyramid is the real project, so this guide covers both, with exact block counts and the power worth picking first.
Key Takeaways
- The beacon recipe is 5 glass, 3 obsidian, and 1 Nether Star, and the Wither is the only source of Nether Stars.
- A beacon only works on a pyramid of mineral blocks with nothing opaque between it and the sky.
- A full 4-level pyramid uses 164 blocks and reaches 50 blocks in every direction.
- Iron blocks work exactly as well as diamond blocks, so build with iron.
- One iron ingot is enough to set a power, and the beacon keeps it until you change it.
What You Need to Make a Beacon in Minecraft
Here’s the full shopping list for the beacon block itself. The same recipe works in Java Edition and Bedrock Edition.
| Item | Amount | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Glass | 5 | Smelt sand in a furnace (one sand makes one glass) |
| Obsidian | 3 | Pour water onto a lava source block, then mine it with a diamond or netherite pickaxe |
| Nether Star | 1 | Dropped by the Wither, a boss you summon yourself |
You’ll also need at least 9 mineral blocks for the smallest pyramid and one payment item (an iron ingot, gold ingot, emerald, diamond, or netherite ingot). If you don’t have a diamond pickaxe yet for the obsidian, our guide on how to find diamonds in Minecraft covers the best Y level to mine.
Minecraft Beacon Recipe: Step by Step
The beacon is a shaped recipe, so the layout matters. It also needs the full 3×3 grid, which means your 2×2 inventory grid won’t work.
- Open a crafting table to get the 3×3 grid.
- Fill the top row with 3 glass.
- Set the middle row as glass, Nether Star, glass.
- Fill the bottom row with 3 obsidian.
- Move the beacon from the output slot into your inventory.
If the ingredients are already in your inventory, the recipe book (Java) or crafting menu (Bedrock) can fill the grid for you in one click.
How to Get a Nether Star
This is the hard part. You get exactly one Nether Star each time you kill the Wither, and Looting doesn’t add more. To summon the Wither, you need 4 blocks of soul sand or soul soil and 3 wither skeleton skulls.
Farm wither skeleton skulls
Wither skeletons spawn in Nether fortresses, and they only drop a skull about 2.5% of the time, a bit more with a Looting sword. Plan on a long session (sometimes dozens of kills) to get three. If you haven’t been to the Nether yet, start with our guide on how to make a Nether portal in Minecraft.
One trick that saves a lot of deaths: wither skeletons are taller than two blocks, so they can’t walk through a gap that’s only two blocks high. Dig a small 2-block-tall nook in a fortress wall and fight from inside it.
Summon the Wither
Build a T shape with the 4 soul sand or soul soil blocks (one block on the ground, three across the top), then place the 3 skulls on the top row. The last block you place must be a skull, and the spaces on either side of the bottom block need to be empty air.
The Wither spawns with a big explosion and breaks blocks as it fights. Summon it far from your base. Many players do it deep underground or out in the Nether so the damage doesn’t matter.
Beat the Wither
Bring diamond or netherite armor, a sword with Smite V (the Wither is undead, so Smite hits hard), golden apples, and a few buckets of milk to clear the Wither effect. On Java Edition, once the Wither drops below half health it shields itself from arrows, so switch to your sword at that point. The Nether Star it drops can’t be destroyed by explosions, so you won’t lose it in the chaos. The Minecraft Wiki page on the Wither lists its full stats by edition and difficulty.
How to Build a Beacon Pyramid
A beacon pyramid is a stack of solid square layers made from iron, gold, emerald, diamond, or netherite blocks. Every block in each layer counts, corners included, and the beacon sits on the center block of the top layer.
| Level | Bottom layer | Blocks added | Total blocks | Effect range | Effect lasts after leaving |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3×3 | 9 | 9 | 20 blocks | 11 seconds |
| 2 | 5×5 | 25 | 34 | 30 blocks | 13 seconds |
| 3 | 7×7 | 49 | 83 | 40 blocks | 15 seconds |
| 4 | 9×9 | 81 | 164 | 50 blocks | 17 seconds |
To build a full pyramid, lay the 9×9 layer first, then center a 7×7 on top, then a 5×5, then a 3×3. Place the beacon on the middle block of the 3×3.
Which blocks should you use?
You can mix all five block types in one pyramid, and the material changes nothing about range or power. So use iron. A full pyramid of iron is 164 blocks, or 1,476 iron ingots, which an iron golem farm can produce without much effort. Save your diamonds for gear, and please don’t spend netherite on a pyramid (our guide to finding ancient debris explains why every netherite ingot counts).
Copper, coal, lapis, and redstone blocks don’t count. Neither do raw iron or raw gold blocks.
Here’s a tip for builders: the pyramid can be fully buried. As long as the beacon itself has a clear path to the sky, you can sink the layers into the ground and build a floor right over them.
How to Activate a Beacon and Pick a Power
Once the beacon sits on a finished pyramid with nothing opaque above it, it shoots a beam into the sky. Glass and other transparent blocks are fine above it. Then:
- Right-click (or tap) the beacon to open its menu.
- Choose a primary power from the left side.
- Place one iron ingot, gold ingot, emerald, diamond, or netherite ingot in the payment slot.
- Click the checkmark to confirm.
The payment item is used up only when you set or change a power. It doesn’t drain over time, so an iron ingot is the smart choice.
Minecraft beacon effects by pyramid level
| Pyramid level | Powers available |
|---|---|
| 1 | Speed I, Haste I |
| 2 | Adds Resistance I and Jump Boost I |
| 3 | Adds Strength I |
| 4 | Secondary power: Regeneration, or level II of your primary power |
The beacon refreshes its effect every 4 seconds for every player in range, and the range stretches all the way up to the sky above it. Only players get the effects, not pets or villagers. The official Minecraft Wiki beacon page has the full range and timing details.
Which power should you choose? For most bases, Haste II is the one. With an Efficiency V diamond or netherite pickaxe, Haste II lets you break stone instantly, which makes digging out a base or a storage room much faster. Pick Speed II for big outdoor builds, and Regeneration if your beacon sits next to a mob farm or a fighting arena.
Change the beam color
Put a stained glass block or pane on top of the beacon and the beam takes that color. Stack different colors and the beam blends them. On a multiplayer server, a unique beam color is an easy way to mark your base so friends can find it from far away.
Why Isn’t My Beacon Working?
If there’s no beam, or the beam shows up but nothing happens, check these in order:
- Something blocks the sky. A single leaf block, slab, or roof block anywhere above the beacon kills the beam.
- The pyramid has a gap. A missing corner or an off-center layer breaks it. Count each layer again.
- Wrong blocks. Copper, coal, lapis, redstone, and raw ore blocks don’t count.
- No power selected. The beam can be on with no power set. Open the menu, add a payment item, and confirm.
- You’re out of range. A level 1 pyramid only covers 20 blocks, and on low simulation distance settings the far corners of a big range may not get the effect.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do you need to make a beacon in Minecraft?
You need 5 glass, 3 obsidian, and 1 Nether Star, arranged in a crafting table with glass on top, glass and the Nether Star in the middle, and obsidian on the bottom. To make it work, you also need a pyramid of mineral blocks under it and one ingot or gem to choose a power.
How many blocks do you need for a full beacon?
A full, 4-level beacon pyramid takes 164 mineral blocks: 81 for the 9×9 bottom layer, 49 for the 7×7, 25 for the 5×5, and 9 for the 3×3 on top. Built from iron, that works out to 1,476 iron ingots, and it gives you a 50-block effect range.
Can you mix blocks in a beacon pyramid?
Yes. You can use any combination of iron, gold, emerald, diamond, and netherite blocks in the same pyramid, in any arrangement. The material has no effect on range or available powers, so most experienced players build the whole thing out of iron blocks because they’re the cheapest option.
Can you make a beacon without a Nether Star?
Not in Survival mode. The Nether Star is a required ingredient, and the only way to get one is by defeating the Wither. In Creative mode, you can take a beacon straight from the inventory, and with cheats on, you can use the /give command to spawn one.
What is the best beacon effect in Minecraft?
For most players, Haste II is the best beacon effect because it speeds up mining and lets an Efficiency V pickaxe break stone instantly. Speed II is great for large builds, and Regeneration works well near mob farms. You can switch powers anytime by paying one more ingot or gem.
Your Next Step: Start With the Skulls
Glass and obsidian take an afternoon. The three wither skeleton skulls are what slow most people down, so make that your first goal: grab a Looting sword, find a Nether fortress, and dig a 2-block-tall hideout to fight from. Once you have the Nether Star, start with a 3×3 iron pyramid for Haste I, then grow it to the full 164 blocks for Haste II and that 50-block range.
