CRAFTUTILS

Beacon Pyramid Guide

Block counts, effect ranges and tips for building beacon pyramids.

How beacons work

A beacon is a block that projects a beam of light into the sky and gives nearby players status effects. To activate it, you place it on top of a pyramid built from mineral blocks (iron, gold, emerald, diamond or netherite). The bigger the pyramid, the stronger and further-reaching the effects.

Pyramid tiers

There are four pyramid tiers. Each tier adds a layer of blocks beneath the previous one:

  • Tier 1— 3×3 base (9 blocks). Range: 20 blocks. Grants Speed or Haste.
  • Tier 2— adds a 5×5 layer (34 blocks total). Range: 30 blocks. Adds Resistance or Jump Boost.
  • Tier 3— adds a 7×7 layer (83 blocks total). Range: 40 blocks. Adds Strength.
  • Tier 4— adds a 9×9 layer (164 blocks total). Range: 50 blocks. Unlocks Regeneration as a secondary effect.

Use the Beacon Calculatorto see exact block counts and check how many stacks you’ll need.

Which mineral blocks to use

All five mineral blocks work identically — pick whichever is cheapest for you. On most survival worlds that’s iron. You can mix and match different minerals in the same pyramid; the game doesn’t care.

A full tier-4 pyramid needs 164 blocks, which is 1,476 ingots (or roughly 23 stacks of iron ingots). Use the Stack Calculator to plan your resource gathering.

Choosing effects

After placing the beacon, right-click it and feed it an ingot (iron, gold, emerald, diamond or netherite) to activate an effect. At tier 4, you can pick both a primary effect (Speed, Haste, Resistance, Jump Boost or Strength) and a secondary effect (Regeneration, or upgrading the primary to level II).

The most popular combo for mining is Haste II, which lets you instant-mine stone with an Efficiency V diamond or netherite pickaxe. For mob farms or PvP arenas, Strength + Regeneration is a strong choice.

Placement tips

  • The beacon needs a clear view of the sky (glass and other transparent blocks are fine above it).
  • The effect range is a square, not a circle — it extends the listed distance in every direction from the beacon, plus the full build height.
  • You can place up to six beacons on a single tier-4 pyramid by using a wider 10×11 base with 2×3 beacons on top. This is the most material-efficient way to get all six effects at once.