Beacon

Obtaining

A beacon can be mined successfully with any tool See the in-game items. For program enhancing software, see Programs and Editors. Tools are items used by the player while held to perform actions faster and more efficiently, to gather materials not , or with bare hands.

Block	Beacon
Hardness	3
Breaking "Punch" redirects here. For the enchantment, see Enchanting#Punch. The Player punches trees and gets wood (click to view animation). Breaking, digging, punching, or mining is one of the most fundamental activities in Minecraft, performed (by time
Hand	4.5

1. ⃢₆ₑ Times are for unenchanted tools in seconds.

Info

Beacon

Type	Block Entity
Physics	No
Transparency When leaves are opaque (in "fast" graphics), they completely block rendering. When leaves are transparent (in "fancy" graphics), the world behind them is also rendered. Opacity (and its inverse, transparency) are properties of blocks with	PC, CE: Yes PE: No
Luminance	Yes, 15
Blast resistance	15
Hardness	3
Tool	Any tool
Renewable A renewable resource (as opposed to a non-renewable, or finite, resource) is a resource that can be recreated indefinitely in survival without exploiting glitches or using commands. While running out of resources isn t likely to	No
Stackable	Yes (64)
Flammable	No
First appearances	See History
Drops See the items that drop from entities and blocks. For drops as in falls, see Fall Damage. Typical drops from a skeleton: experience orbs, an arrow, and bones. Drops are items that	Beacon (1)
Block entity id	beacon
Data value	dec:138 hex:8A bin:10001010
Name See values from the latest PCPersonal Computer version of Minecraft. For values from Classic, see Data values/Classic. For values from Indev, see Data values/Indev. For values from the Pocket Edition, see Pocket Edition	beacon

“	Beacons! No, not "bacon", but a beam of light to pimp your castle with!	„
	—The Pretty Scary Update See the 2012 Halloween update. For the 2010 Halloween update, see Halloween Update. Promotional image (released alongside the update) 1] The Pretty Scary Update is the name for Minecraft version 1.4.2, a promo poster

A beacon is a unique block that projects a light beam skyward and can provide status effects to players in the vicinity.

Videos

Trivia

• The player can leave a resource in the beacon block without clicking "Done".
• The texture of the beacon is 16ℂₗ16, but only renders the 10ℂₗ10 area in the center.

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting Crafting is the method by which many blocks, tools, and materials are made in Minecraft. In order to craft something, players must move items from their inventory to a crafting grid. A 2×2 crafting grid recipe
Glass+ Nether Star+ Obsidian

Usage

Beacon blocks can function as light sources, emitting a light level 15. Like other light Light (or lighting) in Minecraft affects visibility, mob spawning, and plant growth. Contents 1 Brightness 1.1 Spread 2 Sources of light 2.1 Blocks 2.2 Other 3 Light-filtering blocks 4 Effects of light 4.1 Mobs 4.2 sources, they will melt snow Snow (layer) Transparency Yes Luminance No Blast resistance 0.5 Tool Renewable Yes Stackable Yes (64) Flammable No Drops Snowball (2–9) (one per level, plus one) Data value dec: 78 hex: 4E bin: 1001110 Name snow_layer Snow, or top and ice Ice Transparency PC: Partial (-2 to light) PE: No Luminance No Blast resistance 2.5 Tool Renewable Yes Stackable Yes (64) Flammable No Drops None Data value dec: 79 hex: 4F bin: 1001111 Name ice See . They cannot be pushed by pistons.

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

• An aesthetic landmark beam reaching into the sky, which can be visible from far away.
• Powers, which give players status effects within a certain range.

Activation

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

• Beacons require an unobstructed view of the sky, though bedrock and transparent When leaves are opaque (in "fast" graphics), they completely block rendering. When leaves are transparent (in "fancy" graphics), the world behind them is also rendered. Opacity (and its inverse, transparency) are properties of blocks with blocks (including water, lava, slime, glass, enchanting table, and other beacon blocks) will not count as obstruction.
• The beacon is on top of a pyramid constructed from iron blocks Block of Iron Transparency No Luminance No Blast resistance 30 Tool Renewable Yes Stackable Yes (64) Flammable No Drops Itself Data value dec: 42 hex: 2A bin: 101010 Name iron_block See the solid Blocks of , gold blocks Block of Gold Transparency No Luminance No Blast resistance 30 Tool Renewable Yes Stackable Yes (64) Flammable No Drops Itself Data value dec: 41 hex: 29 bin: 101001 Name gold_block See the solid Blocks of , emerald blocks Block of Emerald Transparency No Luminance No Blast resistance 30 Tool Renewable Yes Stackable Yes (64) Flammable No Drops Itself Data value dec: 133 hex: 85 bin: 10000101 Name emerald_block See the mineral block. For , and/or diamond blocks Block of Diamond Transparency No Luminance No Blast resistance 30 Tool Renewable No Stackable Yes (64) Flammable No Drops Itself Data value dec: 57 hex: 39 bin: 111001 Name diamond_block See the solid Blocks of .

Pyramids

The four possible pyramid arrangements when using the beacon block. From left to right the pyramid structure decreases in complexity.

Pyramids are the structures required to activate beacons. There are four possible pyramid heights. The more levels a pyramid has, the more powers will be available to choose from, and the wider its affected vicinity will be. 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 is deactivated, it will "remember" the powers it was set for, and will reactivate once the pyramid is repaired with no additional resource cost. This applies to piston Piston Transparency Yes Luminance None Blast resistance 2.5 Tool Any tool Renewable Yes Stackable Yes (64) Flammable No Drops Itself Data values See Data values Pistons are blocks capable of pushing most blocks, depending on -altered pyramids as well.

This six-Beacon pyramid provides all six effects from a single structure using the fewest possible mineral blocks.

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 beam appears from a beacon if the beacon is activated, extending from the beacon block up to Y=255. The beam is visible from roughly the same distance as a single ordinary stack of blocks. If a render distance of 16 chunks is set, the beam of light is visible from up to 255 blocks away.

The color of the beam may be changed by placing blocks of stained glass Glass Transparency Yes Luminance No Blast resistance 1.5 Tool Any tool Renewable Yes Stackable Yes (64) Flammable No Drops None Data values Glass: dec: 20 hex: 14 bin: 10100 Stained Glass: PC: dec: 95 hex: 5F bin: 1011111 PE: dec: 241 hex: F1 (or stained glass panes) anywhere above the beacon block. The beam will change colors according to the colors of glass placed above it: the first block will set the beam color, while each additional block will set the color by averaging the red, green, and blue components of the current beam color and the block color. The color values are the same as those for the corresponding dye.

Powers

See also: Status effect "Healing" redirects here. For health, see health. Contents 1 Behavior 2 Summary of effects 3 List of effects 3.1 Absorption 3.2 Bad Luck 3.3 Blindness 3.4 Fire Resistance 3.5 Glowing 3.6 Haste 3.7 Health Boost

The GUI shown when pressing use on the block.

Once the beacon is emitting a beam, it can then be fed 1 iron ingot Iron Ingot Type Raw materials Durability N/A Renewable Yes Stackable Yes (64) First appearances See History Data value dec: 265 hex: 109 bin: 100001001 Name iron_ingot Iron ingots are versatile metal crafting ingredients. They are most commonly obtained , 1 gold ingot Gold Ingot Type Raw materials Durability N/A Renewable Yes Stackable Yes (64) Data value dec: 266 hex: 10A bin: 100001010 Name gold_ingot See the crafting material. For the ore, see gold ore. For the mineral , 1 emerald Emerald Type Raw materials Durability N/A Renewable Yes Stackable Yes (64) First appearances See History Data value dec: 388 hex: 184 bin: 110000100 Name emerald See the gem. For the ore, see Emerald Ore. For , or 1 diamond Diamond Type Raw materials Durability N/A Renewable No Stackable Yes (64) First appearances See History Data value dec: 264 hex: 108 bin: 100001000 Name diamond See the gem. For the ore, see Diamond Ore. For , in order to provide powers (status effects) to players who remain within a certain range. This is done through the beacon`s GUI, which is displayed by pressing use while looking at the beacon block. The item used has no effect on the powers provided.

In the GUI, place the item to be fed in the empty slot shown, and choose a primary power by clicking one of the choices displayed. Beacons sitting atop 4-level pyramids will also display secondary power choices, one of which can be clicked to provide a second simultaneous boost. When the Done button (green check mark) is clicked, the item will be consumed and the power will be activated. To set a beacon to different powers, another gem/ingot must be consumed.

The five primary powers are:

• 
  Speed I: Increased movement speed.
• 
  Haste I: Increased mining 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).

Secondary powers are available with a 4-level pyramid:

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

Every four seconds, 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 will persist for 5⃢₀ₓ9 seconds, or 13-17 seconds with a full pyramid.

Range

The beacon forms a squared affected area around itself, the size of which depends on the pyramid size. The affected area extends range blocks (see the table below) from the beacon block horizontally and downward and range + 256 blocks above, except on console, where its vertical range is the same as its horizontal range.

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

Data values

See also: Block entity format

A beacon has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block. The beacon`s block entity ID is beacon.

Video

Achievements

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Internal ID
	Bring Home the Beacon	Construct and place a Beacon	Withering Heights	Be within a 20⃗20⃗14 cuboid centered on a beacon block when it realizes it has become powered.	minecraft:nether/create_beacon
	How Did We Get Here?	Have every effect applied at the same time	A Furious Cocktail	Have all of these 20 effects applied to you at the same time.	minecraft:nether/all_effects
	Beaconator	Bring a beacon to full power	Bring Home the Beacon	Be within a 20⃗20⃗14 cuboid centered on a beacon block when it realizes it is being powered by a size 4 pyramid.	minecraft:nether/create_full_beacon

History

Official release
1.4.2			12w32a		Added the "Work in Progress" block.
			12w34a		Removed the beacon from the creative inventory.
			12w36a		The "Work in Progress" block is now called "Beacon", can be found in the creative inventory, and is craftable.
					The texture was changed.
			12w38a		The texture was changed again. The beacon beam changed from a semi-transparent smooth beam (which conflicted with water transparency), to a pattern with 0% transparency.
			12w40a		The texture was changed again, and the beacon beam changed again.
1.5			13w05a		Effect range increased from 16/24/32/40 blocks to 20/30/40/50 blocks.
1.6.1			13w23a		With the regeneration effect being nerfed slightly, the same effect produced from the beacon did too.
1.7.2			13w36a		The player can achieve the Beaconator achievement by placing a beacon on a level-4 pyramid of specific mineral blocks.
1.8			14w29a		Now displays the cracking animation.
			Aug. 5, 2014		Dinnerbone tweets a screenshot containing a colored beacon beam. The color appears to change when the beam passes through stained glass.
			14w32a		Beacon light changes as it goes through stained glass.
			Aug. 7, 2014		Dinnerbone tweets that the beacon beam can now pass through blocks that only block light slightly.
			14w32b		Beacon beams show if 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 only check for blocks and render the beam up to the world height (Y=127).
1.8.2			1.8.2-pre5		Bedrock no longer obstructs beacon activation or beams.
					Beacons in the Nether and the End check and use the full build height (Y=255) rather than the world height (Y=127).
1.9			15w31a		Beacons generate naturally in end ships.
			15w32c		Beacons no longer generate in end ships, being replaced by pumpkins.
			15w47a		A new tag, PaymentItem, stored the sacrifice item within the beacon`s block entity data (until 15w49a).
					Beacons would no longer drop their contents when broken or when the interface is exited (until 15w49a).
					Beacons were made able to interact with hoppers (until 15w49a).
			15w47b		Effect duration now increases with pyramid level (formerly was a constant 9 seconds).
			15w49a		Removed the PaymentItem tag (introduced in 15w47a).
					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).
1.11			16w32a		Changed block entity ID from Beacon to beacon.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.16.0			build 4		Added beacons, which are opaque.
Console Edition
TU19	CU7	1.12	Patch 1		Added beacons.
TU25	CU14	1.17			Beacon beams now change colors when shining through stained glass Glass Transparency Yes Luminance No Blast resistance 1.5 Tool Any tool Renewable Yes Stackable Yes (64) Flammable No Drops None Data values Glass: dec: 20 hex: 14 bin: 10100 Stained Glass: PC: dec: 95 hex: 5F bin: 1011111 PE: dec: 241 hex: F1 or stained glass panes.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Nerfed vertical range of beacon to match horizontal range.

Issues

Issues relating to ⃢₀ₜBeacon⃢₀₝ are maintained on the issue tracker. Report issues there.

Pre-1.4

• 

  First image released by Jeb.

• 

  A beacon is still functional when the pyramid is made of different blocks.

• 

  The range of the effects depends on the height of the pyramid. The lines show the different ranges. The maximum affected vicinity was 81 by 81 blocks.

• 

  One of the many uses for the beacon.

• 

  The old texture from snapshot 12w36a of the beacon.

• 

  The old texture from snapshot 12w38a displaying the powered and the non-powered beacon.

Official release

• 

  The still used texture since snapshot 12w40a of the beacon.

• 

  The top of a beacon`s beam.

• 

  A view from inside the beacon.

• 

  Two beams from a beacon, one passing through glass and the other through a beacon block.

• 

  The first image of a colored 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.