Redstone Lamp



A Redstone Lamp is a golden block visually resembling Glowstone (hence its crafting materials) that gives off light as long as it is powered. While powered, they have a luminance of 15, one level higher than a torch and the same light level as glowstone. They require constant input in order to emit light. Similarly to other light emitting blocks, they will melt snow and ice.

Behavior
A redstone lamp will light if it is powered, or if it is next to a powered (solid) block. Levers can be directly placed onto lamps to power them.

A redstone lamp with a switch placed on it will behave just like a standard solid block, meaning that if a redstone lamp is powered, it will power the block adjacent to it. It will also power redstone wire if it is placed on top of, underneath, or directly next to the lamp following the same principles as a standard solid block. Unlike glowstone, when a redstone Lamp is broken it will not break into glowstone dust nor redstone dust. Instead it will yield one Redstone Lamp, just like a standard block. It should also be noted that the lamps have not yet been optimized so a large number of blinking lights can cause FPS drops or even crashes.

Uses
A player may be tempted to use a redstone lamp as a functional light source. However - with exceptions to rooms where the flooring is made of half steps or transparent blocks, as mobs cannot spawn on either of these block types - mobs will likely spawn in an unlit room when the player is not in peaceful mode. The fact that glowstone and torches emit light constantly makes them superior lighting options.

Redstone lamps can instead be used to create a redstone display as an alternative for redstone torches, which do not emit much light, the player creating such a display however should be aware that each "pixel" is a small cross making straight lines impossible. This can be corrected by making the screen 2 blocks (of any redstone conducting block) thick. Then add levers or some other activator on one side of the display. On the opposite side, only one pixel will be displayed.

Alternatively: to make a solid wall of square 2*2 pixels, this arrangement can be used. The redstone wires exit the back every second horizontal and vertical square, meaning that they can be individually controlled.

A system of redstone lamps wired to a half day clock can be used to illuminate a structure at night automatically as long as the clock is synchronized properly to spawning light levels of mobs.

Because mobs can spawn on unlit lamps it makes them a great way to make a mob killing system because you can control when you want the mobs to spawn by having the lights on or off. You can also hook up a bunch of lamps to a line of repeaters to make a timed light.

Redstone lamps may also be used for automated mushroom farming, since a mushroom will "pop" if the light level becomes too high.

Lanterns
Before Redstone lamps, Notch wanted to implement an item called the Lantern, but the idea was scrapped and only later reemerged as the Redstone Lamp; however, several differences exist between the two.

With the addition of the lantern, torches would flicker out and need to be re-lit with flint and steel. The lantern would serve as a permanent source of light. According to Notch, when the update would occur, all torches placed on the map, in the inventory, and in chests prior to the update would be converted to lanterns. To do this, the lanterns would use the (former) block ID of torches along with a re-skin.

The glowstone introduced in the Halloween Update was a potential item requirement to craft lanterns, as it has the greatest luminance as a raw material. This would also make lanterns relatively inaccessible and a risky item to get, as has been hinted at by Notch. A second potential item that might have been required to create lanterns was Netherrack, a block that never burns out while lit. These items both can be obtained by going to the Nether.

History

 * Redstone Lamps, originally called Lanterns, were planned crafted objects originally planned to be introduced in the Halloween Update. This feature was delayed because of the lack of time and would have been implemented in a future update.
 * On November 11th, 2010, on his Twitter account, Notch claimed (likely as a joke) that "lamps" had actually stood for "Light A-givin' Material Portal Side... the yellow stone thing", probably referring to Glowstone. However, on January 13th, 2011 Notch claimed that lanterns were "postponed", and added on January 20th that he was "not sure" when they would be implemented.
 * On the 12th of June 2011, Notch also hinted at adding them, or at least that he's working on them
 * During Minecon when confronted about Lanterns, Notch said that lanterns were scrapped due to the majority of people preferring torches.
 * Later Jeb started working on a Lantern-like idea that will feature a glowstone light source, but will be purely generational as their existence will not change the effects of torches like the Lantern was supposed to do. This idea will grow into the Redstone Lamp.
 * The Redstone Lamp was introduced in Snapshot 12w07a on February 15th, 2012. Jeb passively announced the addition of Lamps in a tweet the day before its release in response to another tweet.
 * The texture for the off-state lamp was darkened in Minecraft 1.2 Preview.
 * The Redstone Lamp is included in Minecraft 1.2.
 * Previously, breaking a lit Redstone Lamp will yield a lit Redstone Lamp block which does not stack with normal, unlit Redstone Lamps in the inventory. This was fixed as of 1.2.4.
 * When first implemented, hooking a redstone lamp up to a rapid-pulser will strobe the light, causing lag. This was fixed in 1.2.4.
 * Originally when released, levers could not be placed directly on redstone lamps to power them.

Bugs

 * Rarely, a flashing redstone lamp will light certain nearby blocks. However, if the player places a block directly under the lamp, the circuit will stop.
 * If an arrow is fired onto a redstone lamp that becomes (un)powered, then the arrow will fall.
 * Silk Touch enchanted tools make it possible to obtain on-state redstone lamps.

Trivia

 * In Notch's Ludum Dare 22 contest entry, Minicraft, lanterns can be made in the crafting table.
 * If you set the redstone lamp on a timer so it turns on and off and you shoot an arrow at the top or side, the arrow will vibrate while making the sound of the arrow sticking to a block.
 * Although it makes the sound of glass (like glowstone and glass pane) when broken, it acts like a solid block.
 * Placing a redstone torch anywhere adjacent to the lamp, other than on the lamp itself, will power it.
 * Pressure plates, buttons, and levers can all be placed on top of it or next to it, giving it power.
 * Unlike redstone torches, rapidly turning lamps on and off will not burn them out.
 * Just like TNT, you can have a block above a redstone lamp, and a pressure plate on that, and the lamp will light if the plate is stepped on. This can be an effective warning method.
 * Placing one unlit redstone lamp anywhere beside a lit redstone lamp will cause the unlit redstone lamp to become lit. (This only happens because the redstone lamp transmits power to the second one.)
 * This happens only if the lit redstone lamp is powered by a torch underneath it, redstone wire next to it, a button on its side, or a lever on its side. Torches, pressure plates and levers next to a redstone lamp do not light up adjacent lamps. This is the behavior of most opaque blocks as described under Basic Mechanics of Redstone Circuits.


 * Redstone lamps can be powered by detector rails, making them an interesting material to use for rollercoasters and lighthouses (if one is creative).