So, you’ve spent dozens of hours mining, building a base, and maybe even finding a few diamonds, but now you’re looking at that empty spot on your roof and wondering: how do you make a beacon in Minecraft? It sounds simple. You see them in YouTube videos—those massive beams of light shooting into the sky, giving players super-speed or the ability to tear through stone like it’s wet tissue paper. But honestly? Getting a beacon up and running is probably the biggest "gear check" in the entire game. It’s not just about crafting the block. It’s about surviving a boss fight that can level your house and then mining enough gold or iron to fill a swimming pool.
Most players think they can just craft the glass and obsidian and be done. Nope.
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If you want that Haste II buff to clear out an underground perimeter, you need to understand the pyramid mechanics. You need a Wither Star. And you need a lot of patience. Let’s break down the reality of building these things without losing your mind or your hardcore world.
The Recipe Most People Forget
Before you even worry about the pyramid, you need the beacon block itself. The recipe is fixed, but the ingredients are a pain. You’ll need five blocks of Glass, three blocks of Obsidian, and one Nether Star.
Glass is easy—just smelt some sand. Obsidian requires a diamond pickaxe and some lava pools, which you’ve likely already handled if you’ve been to the Nether. But that Nether Star? That’s the kicker. You don't just find those in chests. You have to summon the Wither, Minecraft’s second-most-terrifying boss, and kill it.
Why the Wither Star is the real bottleneck
Getting the star is 90% of the work. To even fight the boss, you have to head to a Nether Fortress and hunt Wither Skeletons until they drop three skulls. The drop rate is abysmal—about 2.5% if you aren't using a Looting III sword. Once you have the skulls and four blocks of Soul Sand, you build a "T" shape, place the skulls on top, and run for your life.
Pro tip: don't spawn the Wither near anything you love. It explodes upon "birthing" and will systematically delete every block in its vicinity. Many players, including technical experts like those on the Hermitcraft server, prefer to fight the Wither underneath the End portal fountain or deep in a strip mine to keep it contained. If you’re playing on Bedrock Edition, be warned: the Wither is significantly harder there than on Java Edition, featuring a dash attack and spawning Wither Skeletons to help it.
Building the Pyramid: It’s All About the Base
Once you have the beacon block, it’s useless on its own. It’ll sit there looking like a fancy lamp. To activate it, you must place it on top of a pyramid made of specific mineral blocks: Iron, Gold, Emerald, Diamond, or Netherite.
Don't waste your diamonds.
Seriously. A beacon made of solid Netherite works exactly the same as one made of Iron. Most players use Iron because it’s easily farmable with a basic iron golem farm, or Gold if they have a piglin-based farm in the Nether.
The four levels of power
The height of your pyramid determines which powers you can use and how far the "beam" reaches.
- Level One: A 3x3 square of blocks (9 total). This gives you Speed or Haste.
- Level Two: A 5x5 base with a 3x3 on top. This adds Resistance or Jump Boost.
- Level Three: A 7x7 base, then 5x5, then 3x3. This adds Strength.
- Level Four: A 9x9 base at the bottom, moving up to the 3x3 top. This is the big one. It unlocks "Secondary Powers" like Regeneration or the ability to bump your primary power up to Level II (like the coveted Haste II).
To fully power a single beacon, you need 164 blocks of your chosen mineral. That translates to 1,476 individual ingots. It’s a massive resource sink, which is why "how do you make a beacon in Minecraft" is a question usually asked by players entering the late-game phase.
Activating the Beam and Picking Your Buffs
Once the pyramid is built and the beacon is placed in the dead center of the top 3x3 layer, a beam of light will shoot into the sky. If it doesn't, check for "sky access." Beacons need a clear view of the sky. You can put glass over them, but solid blocks like stone or dirt will choke the beam out instantly.
Right-click the beacon to open the menu. You'll see the power options on the left and a slot for a "tribute" at the bottom. You have to feed the beacon one Diamond, Emerald, Gold Ingot, Iron Ingot, or Netherite Ingot to "save" your settings.
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The Haste II Meta
Most people want a beacon for one reason: Haste II. When combined with an Efficiency V Netherite Pickaxe, Haste II allows for "instamining." You can literally walk forward through solid stone and the blocks vanish instantly. It’s the only way to clear out massive underground bases without spending weeks of your life clicking.
To get Haste II, you must have a full 4-tier pyramid. Select Haste in the primary power column and then select the Haste II icon (or Regeneration) in the secondary column. Feed it an ingot, hit the checkmark, and you’re a human drill.
Common Mistakes That Kill the Vibe
I’ve seen so many players build a beautiful 9x9 base only to realize they used the wrong blocks. You cannot use Copper. I know, it’s a metal, it seems like it should work, but Mojang hasn't added it to the "valid" list yet. Stick to Iron, Gold, Emerald, Diamond, or Netherite.
Another weird quirk: the pyramid must be solid. You can't just build the "shell" of a pyramid and leave the inside hollow to save on iron. The beacon checks for a solid mass of blocks. If there's air inside that 9x9, the beacon stays dead.
Color Your Light
Tired of the plain white beam? Just place a stained glass pane or block anywhere above the beacon. The beam will change color. If you stack different colors, the beam will actually blend them. It’s a great way to mark different districts of your base or just make the place look less like a construction site and more like a high-tech laboratory.
Nuance: Multi-Beacons
If you're really hardcore, you don't build one pyramid for one beacon. You build a "multi-beacon" setup. By expanding the base slightly (for example, a 10x10 or 10x11 base), you can fit two, four, or even six beacons on a single pyramid. This allows you to have Speed, Haste II, Strength, and Resistance all running simultaneously in the same area. It’s more efficient than building six separate 4-tier pyramids, which would require almost 1,000 blocks.
The Practical Path Forward
If you're ready to start this process, don't just go mining with a stone pickaxe. Here is how you actually get it done without burning out.
First, build an Iron Farm. There are dozens of designs on YouTube (check out IanXO4 or LogicalGeekBoy for simple ones). An iron farm will give you the 1,476 ingots you need while you’re busy doing other things.
Second, prep your Wither arena. Don't fight it in the open. Go down to Y-level -50 and dig a long, 1x2 tunnel. Spawn the Wither at the end of it and back away as you shoot it with a Power V bow. Once it reaches half health, it becomes immune to arrows, and you'll have to finish it with a sword. The narrow tunnel prevents it from flying around and making your life miserable.
Lastly, check your range. A full-tier beacon has a range of about 50 blocks. If you wander too far from your base, the buffs will fade after about 15 seconds. If you're working on a massive project, you might need to move the entire pyramid. It’s a pain, but that’s the price of ultimate power in Minecraft.
Building a beacon is a rite of passage. It marks the moment you stop surviving the world and start terraforming it. Just remember: stay away from Copper, keep the sky clear, and for heaven's sake, kill that Wither far away from your bed.