How do you make a beacon in Minecraft?
Crafting the Beacon
A beacon requires 5 obsidian, 3 glass, and 1 nether star. Obsidian is mined with a diamond pickaxe; glass is smelted from sand. The nether star is dropped by the Wither boss, which you summon with 4 soul sand and 3 wither skeleton skulls.
Arrange the ingredients in a crafting table: place the nether star in the top-middle slot, the three glass in the middle row (left, center, right), and the five obsidian in the bottom row and the two bottom corners. This makes one beacon.
- 5 obsidian
- 3 glass
- 1 nether star (from Wither)
- Craft in a 3x3 grid
Building the Pyramid
To activate a beacon, place it on top of a pyramid made of iron, gold, diamond, emerald, or netherite blocks. The pyramid can be 1 to 4 layers. A 1-layer pyramid (3x3 base) gives a small effect radius; a 4-layer pyramid (9x9 base) gives the maximum radius and allows you to choose two effects.
The pyramid must be solid and made of one material type. Once activated, the beacon beam shoots into the sky, and you can select a power (like Speed or Haste) by interacting with the beacon. You'll need to pay with an iron ingot, gold ingot, diamond, or emerald to activate it.
- Pyramid of iron/gold/diamond/emerald/netherite blocks
- 1–4 layers, base up to 9x9
- 4 layers = max range and two effects
- Pay with a mineral to activate
Common mistakes
- Using the wrong block for the pyramid—only iron, gold, diamond, emerald, or netherite work.
- Thinking you can activate a beacon without killing the Wither—the nether star is mandatory.
- Building the pyramid out of mixed materials—it must be all one type to work.
