Beacon
| Type |
Block Entity |
|---|---|
| Requirements |
None |
| Physics |
No |
| Transparency | |
| Luminance |
Yes, 15 |
| Blast resistance |
15 |
| Hardness |
3 |
| Tool |
Any tool |
| Renewable |
No |
| Stackable |
Yes (64) |
| Flammable |
No |
| First appearances |
See History |
| Drops |
Itself |
| Block entity id |
beacon |
| Data value |
dec: 138 hex: 8A bin: 10001010 |
| Name |
beacon |
| “ | Beacons! No, not "bacon", but a beam of light to pimp your castle with! | „ |
| —The Pretty Scary Update promo poster |
|
“ | It’s quite the exhausting build in survival mode - but since when have pyramids been the cheap architectural option? | „ |
| —Ash Davis[1] |
A beacon is a unique block that projects a light beam skyward and can provide status effects to players in the vicinity.
Contents
Obtaining[edit]
A beacon can be mined successfully with any tool, or with bare hands.
| Block | Beacon | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 3 | |
| Breaking time[note 1] | ||
| Hand | 4.5 | |
- ↑ Times are for unenchanted tools in seconds.
Crafting[edit]
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|
| Glass + Nether Star + Obsidian |
Usage[edit]
Beacon blocks can function as light sources, emitting a light level 15. Like other light sources, they will melt snow and ice. They cannot be pushed by pistons.[Java and Legacy Console editions only]
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[edit]
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 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, gold blocks, emerald blocks, and/or diamond blocks.
Pyramids[edit]
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-altered pyramids as well.
| Level | Mineral Blocks | Stacks of Blocks | Minerals | Stacks of Minerals | Layers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 blocks | 81 minerals | 1 stack + 17 minerals | 3×3, Beacon | |
| 2 | 34 blocks | 306 minerals | 4 stacks + 50 minerals | 5×5, 3×3, Beacon | |
| 3 | 83 blocks | 1 stack + 19 blocks | 747 minerals | 11 stacks + 43 minerals | 7×7, 5×5, 3×3, Beacon |
| 4 | 164 blocks | 2 stacks + 36 blocks | 1,476 minerals | 23 stacks + 4 minerals | 9×9, 7×7, 5×5, 3×3, Beacon |
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.
| Level | Mineral Blocks | Stacks of Blocks | Minerals | Stacks of Minerals | Layers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 blocks | 180 minerals | 2 stacks + 52 minerals | 4x5, 2x3 Beacons | |
| 2 | 62 blocks | 558 minerals | 8 stacks + 46 minerals | 6x7, 4x5, 2x3 Beacons | |
| 3 | 134 blocks | 2 stacks + 6 blocks | 1,206 minerals | 18 stacks + 54 minerals | 8x9, 6x7, 4x5, 2x3 Beacons |
| 4 | 244 blocks | 3 stacks + 52 blocks | 2,196 minerals | 34 stacks + 20 minerals | 10x11, 8x9, 6x7, 4x5, 2x3 Beacons |
Beam[edit]
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 (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. Oddly enough, Beacon beams cannot go through most blocks, but can go through bedrock and end portal blocks.
Powers[edit]
- See also: Status effect
Once the beacon is emitting a beam, it can then be fed 1 iron ingot, 1 gold ingot, 1 emerald, or 1 diamond, 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 and attack 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 5–9 seconds, or 13-17 seconds with a full pyramid.
Range[edit]
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.
| Pyramid size | Effect range | Effect duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 level | 20 | 11 |
| 2 levels | 30 | 13 |
| 3 levels | 40 | 15 |
| 4 levels | 50 | 17 |
Data values[edit]
- 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.
Block entity data- Tags common to all block entities see Template:Nbt inherit/blockentity/template
-
Lock: Optional. When not blank, prevents the container from being opened unless the opener is holding an item whose name matches this string. -
Levels: The number of levels available from the pyramid. -
Primary: The primary power selected, see Potion effects for IDs. 0 means none. -
Secondary: The secondary power selected, see Potion effects for IDs. 0 means none.
Video[edit]
Achievements[edit]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Availability | Xbox points earned | Trophy type (PS) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xbox | PS | Bedrock | Nintendo | ||||||
|
| Beaconator | Create a full beacon | Be within a 20×20×14 cuboid centered on the pyramid when the beacon block realizes it is fully powered. | Yes | Yes | Alt | Yes | 60G | Gold |
| The Beaconator | Alt | Alt | Yes | Alt | |||||
Advancements[edit]
| 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 20×20×14 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 20×20×14 cuboid centered on a beacon block when it realizes it is being powered by a size 4 pyramid. | minecraft:nether/create_full_beacon |
History[edit]
| 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. | |||
| August 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. | ||||
| August 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. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.2 | build 1 | Beacon beams now change colors when shining through stained glass or stained glass panes. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU19 | CU7 | 1.12 | Patch 1 | Added beacons. | |
| TU25 | CU14 | 1.17 | Beacon beams now change colors when shining through stained glass or stained glass panes. | ||
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | Nerfed vertical range of beacon to match horizontal range. | |
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 1.3.12 | Added beacons. | ||||
Issues[edit]
Issues relating to “Beacon” are maintained on the issue tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[edit]
- The player can leave a resource in the beacon block without clicking "Done".
- The texture of the beacon is 16×16, but only renders the 10×10 area in the center.
- Beacon beams can't go through blocks, but can go through bedrock and end portal blocks.
Gallery[edit]
Pre-1.4[edit]
First image released by Jeb.
A beacon is still functional when the pyramid is made of different blocks.
A visualization of the effect range for each level. At level 4, the area affected is 101×101 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.
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Official release[edit]
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.
Beacon beam going through an end portal frame 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.
References[edit]
