A fully powered beacon in Minecraft requires a 4-layer pyramid built from 164 mineral blocks, topped with a beacon block. This setup unlocks all six status effects, lets you boost primary powers to Level II, and covers a 50-block radius around the structure. Here’s exactly how to build one from scratch.
Crafting the Beacon Block
The beacon block itself is crafted from 5 glass blocks, 3 obsidian blocks, and 1 Nether Star. Place the 3 obsidian along the bottom row of a crafting table, the Nether Star in the center slot, and fill the remaining 5 slots with glass.
The Nether Star is the hard part. It only drops from the Wither, a boss mob you have to summon yourself using 4 blocks of soul sand (or soul soil) and 3 wither skeleton skulls. Wither skeleton skulls are rare drops from wither skeletons in Nether fortresses, so expect to spend time farming before you can even attempt the fight. The Wither is one of the toughest bosses in the game, so come prepared with strong armor, healing items, and a good weapon.
Building the 4-Layer Pyramid
A fully powered beacon sits on a 4-tier pyramid. Each tier is a flat, solid square of mineral blocks, stacked concentrically:
- Bottom layer (Layer 1): 9×9 blocks = 81 blocks
- Layer 2: 7×7 blocks = 49 blocks
- Layer 3: 5×5 blocks = 25 blocks
- Top layer (Layer 4): 3×3 blocks = 9 blocks
That totals 164 mineral blocks for the pyramid, with the beacon block placed on top, centered on the 3×3 layer. Each layer must be completely filled in, not hollow.
Which Blocks You Can Use
The pyramid can be built from iron blocks, gold blocks, emerald blocks, diamond blocks, or netherite blocks. You can mix and match freely. A pyramid made of half iron and half gold works exactly the same as one made entirely of diamond.
Iron blocks are the most practical choice for most players. Each mineral block requires 9 ingots (or gems) to craft, so 164 blocks means 1,476 ingots total. Iron is far easier to gather in bulk than diamonds or emeralds, especially with a good iron farm. If you’re playing survival and want to finish this project in a reasonable time, iron is the way to go.
Sky Access Is Required
The beacon must have a clear line to the sky. If any solid, opaque block is directly above it, the beacon won’t activate and won’t shoot its light beam upward. Transparent blocks like glass and stained glass are allowed above it, which is useful if you want to build a roof or color the beam. Bedrock also counts as transparent for this purpose, so beacons work in the Nether beneath the bedrock ceiling in Java Edition.
You’ll know activation worked when a bright beam of light shoots straight up from the beacon into the sky.
Choosing Your Effects
Once the beacon is active on a full 4-layer pyramid, open its interface by right-clicking (or using the interact button). You’ll need to feed it a mineral item to save your selection: an iron ingot, gold ingot, emerald, diamond, or netherite ingot. This is a one-time cost each time you change the effect.
A fully powered beacon gives you access to all six status effects:
- Speed: Increases movement speed by 20%
- Haste: Increases mining speed by 20% and attack speed by 10%
- Resistance: Reduces all incoming damage by 20%
- Jump Boost: Increases jump height from the normal 1.25 blocks up to 1.83 or 2.51 blocks
- Strength: Adds 3 damage (1.5 hearts) to melee attacks
- Regeneration: Slowly restores health while you’re in range
The first five are primary powers. Regeneration is the secondary power, and it only becomes available with a full 4-layer pyramid. Here’s the key choice: once you select a primary power, the secondary slot lets you either add Regeneration on top of it, or boost your chosen primary power to Level II for a stronger version of the same effect. You can’t do both at once, so decide whether you’d rather have two effects at standard strength or one effect at double strength.
Effect Range and Duration
A full 4-layer pyramid gives the maximum effect radius of 50 blocks in every direction from the beacon. That covers a large area, roughly a 100-block-wide zone centered on the beacon. The effects refresh automatically as long as you stay within range, and they linger for a few seconds after you step outside the radius, giving you a short buffer before they wear off.
The effects also extend vertically, so you’ll stay buffed whether you’re mining underground or building above. Just keep in mind that the range is measured from the beacon block itself, not from the base of the pyramid.
Using Multiple Beacons
Since each beacon can only grant one primary power (plus the secondary choice), many players build multiple beacons if they want several different effects active at once. You can place up to 6 beacons on a single 4-layer pyramid by expanding the top layer and placing them side by side. Each beacon still needs its own effect selection and mineral payment, but they all share the same pyramid base, saving you from building separate structures.
A common setup is pairing Haste with Regeneration for long mining sessions, or Speed with Jump Boost for exploring. If you build 6 beacons on one pyramid, you can have every effect running simultaneously.
Quick Resource Checklist
- Beacon block: 1 Nether Star, 5 glass, 3 obsidian
- Pyramid: 164 mineral blocks (1,476 iron ingots if using iron)
- Activation payment: 1 iron ingot, gold ingot, emerald, diamond, or netherite ingot per effect change
- Wither fight supplies: 4 soul sand, 3 wither skeleton skulls, plus combat gear
The biggest bottleneck for most players is gathering the 1,476 ingots for the pyramid. An automatic iron farm can produce this passively over time, making it the lowest-effort path to a fully powered beacon.