Beacon

The Beacon Block (referred to as Work in Progress in-game) is a block that will be added in 1.4.

Usage


The GUI for the Beacon Block outlines a pyramid shape. When the player crafts blocks of Diamond, Emerald, Gold or Iron and places them in a pyramid shape beneath the Beacon Block, it will emit a beam of light into the sky and can apply temporary buffs to the player once activated. The more levels a pyramid has, the more effects it can apply. There are currently 4 types of pyramids. Not counting the Beacon Block, the first pyramid requires 9 blocks, the second 34 blocks, the third 83 blocks, and the final arrangement 164 blocks. A Secondary Power is a power that can be added onto a primary power. The "Regeneration" power is always visible.

Requirements/effects
The Beacon block requires that there be no solid blocks above it, and a sunlight level of 15 (it does not have to be day time). This does not apply to the pyramid itself.

Effects will be applied to the Player while within a radius of the beacon, with larger pyramids giving larger areas-of-effect. The radius is approximately 16 blocks, 24 blocks, 32 blocks, and 40 blocks from the smallest pyramid to the largest. The radius does not take into account the player's y-coordinate, so for example a beacon at the height limit will apply its effects to players on the ground below it.

Primary powers
The five primary powers are Speed, Haste, Resistance, Jump Boost, and Strength. One primary power must be selected to activate the beacon.

Secondary powers
The only purely secondary power is Regeneration. Secondary powers also provide level II variations of primary powers when selecting that primary power. When selecting the level II variant, regeneration is no longer provided by the beacon.

Activation
The beacon provides no powers by default. To activate it, place either an Iron Ingot, a Gold Ingot, an Emerald or a Diamond into the GUI slot. You can set the power by clicking on the top window: clicking on an effect will activate it. The item will be consumed and the beacon begin providing the power to nearby players when "Done" is clicked.

Note: To set a beacon to a different power, another item must be consumed.

Bugs

 * Destroying a Beacon Block containing a resource destroys the resource. (The beacon block still drops, just not its contents.)
 * Clicking on the beacon within 4 seconds of placing it sometimes results in an empty beacon GUI.
 * [Critical] Activating multiple beacons in certain configurations crashes the game with "Internal Server Error." This error makes the affected world unplayable.
 * On some computers the light beam is invisible.

Trivia

 * Its current sprite is only a placeholder and will be changed when it is officially released.
 * The Beacon light generated from the Beacon Block is 255 blocks tall.
 * It is possible to see transparent blocks through the light beacon. (Clouds, Rivers, etc.)
 * The Beacon light does not disappear until the chunk is unloaded, providing a great means to judge where places are. (Brightness of Bright may be required to see it farther off.)
 * It is possible to mix and match the blocks used in the pyramid. (Both Emerald and Diamond blocks may be used together, for example.)
 * Adjacent beacons may share blocks in their pyramids, allowing for fairly efficient designs that provide multiple powers.
 * The player can leave a resource in the beacon block without clicking "Done."