You’ve finally done it. You killed the Wither. Or maybe you’re just staring at that weird blue star in your chest thinking, "Now what?" Most players think the hard part is over once the boss explodes. It’s not. Learning how to create a beacon in minecraft is actually the easy bit; it’s the infrastructure that breaks people.
Beacons are the literal peak of Minecraft endgame. They aren't just fancy lights that shoot into the sky, though they do look incredible as a centerpiece for a mega-base. They are functional power-ups. We’re talking Haste II, which makes stone feel like butter, or Regeneration so fast you can basically ignore most mobs. But if you misplace one block in the base, the whole thing stays dark. It’s frustrating.
The Recipe and the Reality
To actually craft the block, you need three things: five pieces of glass, three obsidian, and one Nether Star. Put the star in the middle of the crafting table, obsidian on the bottom row, and fill the rest with glass. Simple.
But a beacon block by itself is just a paperweight.
To make it work, you need a pyramid. This is where the grind starts. You need blocks of iron, gold, emerald, diamond, or netherite. Honestly, just use iron. Unless you’re a technical player with a massive gold farm or a dedicated trading hall for emeralds, iron is the only sane choice for your first setup. You need 164 blocks for a full, four-tier pyramid. That is 1,476 iron ingots.
It’s a lot of mining.
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Building the Base: Don't Mess This Up
The most common mistake? Leaving a hole in the middle. The pyramid has to be solid. If you try to save resources by making it hollow, the beacon won't light up. It’s a classic "I spent three hours on this and it's broken" moment.
Start with a 9x9 square on the ground. Then, center a 7x7 on top of that. Then a 5x5. Then a 3x3. Finally, plop the beacon block right in the center of that 3x3 top layer.
- Level 1 (3x3): Gives you Speed or Haste.
- Level 2 (5x5): Adds Resistance or Jump Boost.
- Level 3 (7x7): Adds Strength.
- Level 4 (9x9): This is the big one. This unlocks the secondary power (usually Regeneration) or boosts your primary power to Level II.
If you’re wondering about the beam, it needs a clear view of the sky. Glass blocks are okay. Leaves are okay. But if you put a single solid block of dirt above it, the beam dies. Bedrock in the Nether also blocks it, which is why beacons are mostly an Overworld luxury unless you’ve cleared a hole all the way to the top of the world.
Why Haste II is the Only Reason You Care
Let's be real. Nobody builds a beacon for Jump Boost. You build it for Haste II.
When you pair a full-tier beacon set to Haste II with an Efficiency V netherite pickaxe, you achieve "insta-mine." You don't even see the breaking animation. You just walk forward, and the stone disappears. It changes the game. Entire mountains can be deleted in an afternoon. This is how those massive underground bases you see on YouTube actually get built. Without how to create a beacon in minecraft as your starting point, you’re just clicking at rocks like it’s day one.
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The Cost of Power
To activate the effects, you have to "pay" the beacon. Open the interface and toss in an ingot (iron, gold, netherite) or a gem (emerald, diamond). You have to do this every time you change the status effect. It’s a one-time fee per change, not a continuous drain, so don’t worry about losing your whole stash.
A lot of players ask if netherite makes the beacon "better." It doesn't. A beacon made of dirt-cheap iron blocks provides the exact same buff as one made of pure netherite. The only difference is the ultimate flex. If you have enough netherite to build a 164-block pyramid, you’ve probably already won Minecraft and should consider going outside for a bit.
Color and Customization
The white beam is boring. You can change it by placing stained glass or stained glass panes on top of the beacon. The cool part is that the colors stack. If you put a red pane and then a yellow pane further up the beam, it turns orange. You can create crazy gradients or even "hidden" beams by using colors that match the sky.
Some technical players use "vanished" beams by using glass colors that blend into the atmosphere at specific heights. It’s subtle, but it looks sleek.
Moving Your Beacon
Don't be afraid to break it. You get the beacon block and all your mineral blocks back. The only thing you lose is the ingot you used to activate the effect. If you’re moving your base of operations from a desert to a snowy tundra, just pack it up.
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Actually, moving a beacon is a sign of a maturing world. You use the first one to mine the materials for the second one. Eventually, you’ll have a "six-pack"—a 10x11 base that supports six beacons simultaneously, giving you every single buff at once. It’s a lot of Withers to kill, but at that point, you’re basically a god in your own world.
The Technical "Gotchas"
The range of a full-size beacon is 50 blocks. That’s not a lot when you’re building a city. It’s a square radius, not a circle, which is weird but helpful for planning. If you wander 51 blocks away, the buff starts a countdown (usually 17 seconds) and then vanishes.
If you’re playing on a server, protect your base blocks. I’ve seen people spend days grinding for a diamond pyramid only to have someone sneak in and swap the diamonds for wool. It’s heartbreaking. Stick to iron. It's safer, faster, and does the job.
Actionable Next Steps for Your World
First, set up an iron farm. Trying to mine 1,400+ ingots by hand is a recipe for burnout. Once the iron is flowing, head to the Nether and hunt Wither Skeletons in a Fortress. You need three skulls. Use a Looting III sword or don't even bother; the drop rate is abysmal otherwise.
When you fight the Wither, do it underground in a long 1x2 tunnel. This "strip-mine method" traps the boss and lets you wail on it while it struggles to move. Once you have that Nether Star, follow the 9-7-5-3 block pattern. Set that baby to Haste II and go find a mountain you don't like. You’ll understand why the grind was worth it within the first ten seconds of mining.