Beacon

A Beacon is a unique block that projects a "light beam" skyward and can provide buffs to players in the vicinity.

The beacon's visual beam is activated by placing it atop a pyramid formation of mineral blocks, while its buff function can be activated by further "feeding" it a gold or iron ingot, an emerald, or a diamond. The smallest "pyramid" that can be made to work with the beacon block has a single level consisting of nine mineral blocks.

Usage


Beacon blocks provide two unique functions:
 * An aesthetic landmark beam reaching into the sky, which can be visible from far away
 * Powers, which buff players within a certain radius (the visual beam must first be active)

Beacon blocks can also function as ordinary light sources, as they are brighter than Torches, with the same luminance and underwater function as Glowstone and Jack 'o' Lanterns. A pyramid is not required in order for Beacon blocks to emit ordinary light.

Due to the rare crafting ingredients required, glowstone and Jack 'o' Lanterns generally make more sense for use in Survival mode, though beacons offer Creative Mode players an aesthetic alternative. Despite their bottom surfaces being dark-colored (possibly intended to represent the obsidian in their crafting recipe), beacon blocks emit equal light from each of their sides, including their undersides.

Beam
In order to produce a beam or effects, beacons must be placed atop pyramid structures constructed from Iron Blocks, Gold Blocks, Emerald Blocks, and/or Diamond Blocks. They must also have a clear view of the sky with no obstructions (transparent blocks such as glass do not interfere, although water does). The type of block used to build the pyramid is entirely cosmetic and has no functional effect, so using the cheapest option (Iron Blocks) makes the most sense in Survival mode. Several different block types can be mixed without affecting functionality.

The smallest pyramid that will make a beacon block work is a single layer of 9 mineral blocks arranged in a 3x3 horizontal square. The beacon block should then be placed on top of this square, in the center. See below for details on other pyramid sizes. When constructed correctly, and after a short delay, the beacon will emit a blue-grey beam of light into the sky; although at this point the beam is purely aesthetic.

Powers
Once the beacon is emitting a beam, it can then be "fed" an Iron Ingot, Gold Ingot, Emerald, or Diamond, in order to provide Powers (buffs similar to those that might come from Potions) to players who remain within a certain radius. This is done through the Beacon's GUI, which is displayed by right-clicking the beacon block.

In the GUI, place the item to be fed in the empty slot shown, and choose a Primary Power by clicking one of the choices displayed. Beacons sitting atop 4-level pyramids will also display Secondary Power choices, one of which can be clicked to provide a second simultaneous boost. When the "Done" button (green check mark) is clicked, the item will be consumed and the Power(s) will be activated. To set a Beacon to different Powers, another item must be consumed.

The more levels a pyramid has, the more Powers will be available to choose from, and the wider its area-of-effect will be. There are currently four possible pyramid heights:




 * 1-Level Pyramid: requires 9 (0 stacks + 9) mineral blocks + 1 Beacon block (3x3 base)
 * 2-Level Pyramid: requires 34 (0 stacks + 34) mineral blocks + 1 Beacon block (5x5 base + 3x3)
 * 3-Level Pyramid: requires 83 (1 stack + 19) mineral blocks + 1 Beacon block (7x7 base + 5x5 + 3x3)
 * 4-Level Pyramid: requires 164 (2 stacks + 36) mineral blocks + 1 Beacon block (9x9 base + 7x7 + 5x5 + 3x3)

If the pyramid is damaged so that the beacon is deactivated, it will "remember" the powers it was set for, and will reactivate once the pyramid is repaired with no additional resource cost. This applies to piston-altered pyramids as well, making it possible for players to build beacons that can be turned on and off with a sticky piston removing or replacing a pyramid block.

Multiple Beacons
Multiple Beacons can make use of the same mineral blocks below them, so it is possible to save space and resources by simply expanding pyramids to accommodate multiple adjacent beacons, rather than constructing multiple complete pyramids.

For example, 4 Beacons can be arranged 2x2 by building a pyramid with a 10x10 base layer (then an 8x8 layer, a 6x6 layer, a 4x4 layer, then the 2x2 Beacons at the top). Combining 4 Beacons in this way requires a total of 216 blocks.

Combined pyramids do not need to be symmetrical. The image to the right shows a 6-Beacon (2x3) pyramid (which is enough to provide all six powers currently available). It requires a total of 244 mineral blocks, with a base layer of 10x11.

Requirements

 * Beacons require a pyramid below them as described above.
 * Beacons require an unobstructed view of the sky, though transparent blocks (including other beacon blocks) will not count as obstruction (with the exception of water).
 * Beacons can function in The Nether, but this requires that all terrain above them be naturally generated or transparent.
 * Beacons can function in The End with a clear view of the sky.

Powers
Powers will always be activated within the area-of-effect of the pyramid. The effective radius depends on the number of pyramid levels, with a 4-level pyramid providing the widest area-of-effect. When a player travels outside the area-of-effect, the powers will persist for 4–8 seconds.

Regardless of how many levels the pyramid has, only one Primary Power may be selected. Higher level pyramids merely serve to unlock more Power choices and increase the area-of-effect. Multiple Primary/Secondary Powers require multiple Beacons.

Range
The beacon forms a square buff area around itself, the size of which depends on the pyramid type. The buff has the same radius below the beacon as it does to the sides, however the buff travels up to the world ceiling (256) along the light beam, which makes it optimal to place Beacons near the bottom of the map. This serves for a more optimal coverage of volume (making beacon powers available in your mine for example).

Since these squares are centered on the Beacon, the radius indicates the distance from the Beacon to each side (in 5 directions, excluding top).

Power options
The five primary powers are: Speed: Increased movement (similar to a Potion of Swiftness). Haste: Increased mining speed. Resistance: Increased armor rating. Jump Boost: Increased jumping distance and height. Strength: Increased melee damage (similar to a Potion of Strength).

Level 4 pyramids can also select a secondary power. This can either be Regeneration or a level II variation of the selected primary power. When selecting the level II variant, Regeneration is no longer provided by the Beacon.

Level 1 Pyramid - (Speed or Haste) Level 2 Pyramid - (Speed, Haste, Resistance or Jump Boost) Level 3 Pyramid - (Speed, Haste, Resistance, Jump Boost or Strength) Level 4 Pyramid - (Speed, Haste, Resistance, Jump Boost or Strength & Secondary Power)

Haste affects all gathering speed with tools. With that being said, it is less noticeable with slower items. To get the most out of your tools and beacon, use with the Efficiency V enchantment and the Haste II power. Haste will work with shears, shovels, pickaxes, and axes. The speed boost is 20% greater on materials such as wood, glowstone and cobblestone. Some materials such as mining stone with an Efficiency V diamond pickaxe are significantly faster than 20% while using the Haste II power, but others like leaves or cobwebs when using any shears are not. All testing done with no Efficiency, Efficiency IV, and Efficiency V while using a Haste II beacon.

There are many useful places to have a beacon set up. Some of them are as follows:

Haste: - Tree farm - Cobblestone generator - Sheep farm - Any form of mining

Regeneration: - Mob farms (such as an Endermen farm)

Resistance: - At a home/base or a Mob farm

Strength: - Zombies, Skeletons and other 2-punch kill experience farm (will turn it 1-punch). Note this does not include precision crushers at these farms.

Speed/Jump Boost: - A home/base for easier traveling - A manual reed farm

Keep in mind, some places will benefit much more greatly when using the 2nd tier of the power.

Visibility
The beam is visible from roughly the same distance as a single ordinary stack of blocks. If maximum render distance is set (currently 16 chunks), the beam of light is visible from up to 256 blocks away.

In comparison to constructing an ordinary pillar of blocks as a landmark, a beacon's beam has the benefit of reaching to the maximum map height without having to manually stack blocks. Additionally, while the beam does not actually emit light onto other surfaces, its surface glows brightly itself even in complete darkness, making it more visible than ordinary blocks during the night.

On the downside, the beam is more narrow than ordinary blocks, so a manually built pillar of Glowstone or Jack o'Lanterns will be slightly more noticeable from distances.

Trivia

 * The player can leave a resource in the beacon block without clicking "Done".
 * Beacons do not work underwater.
 * A Beacon's light beam will shine through lava, but not water. This is because lava is considered a transparent block, whereas water is not.
 * The Beacon is one of the hardest blocks to obtain, as it requires defeating the Wither.
 * The beam is 255 blocks tall, relative to the height where the beacon block itself was placed, so several beacon beams can stop at different heights.
 * Like other light sources with a luminosity over 12, the Beacon Block's light will melt snow and ice.
 * Despite being resource blocks, Lapis Lazuli blocks, blocks of coal, and blocks of redstone will not work as part of the pyramid.
 * If the player flies more than one block above the top of the light beam, the beam will disappear until the player moves five blocks below it.
 * Water and Ice appear transparent when viewed through the particle effect that you give off while you have a beacon power.
 * A Beacon looks like a slab of obsidian with a glass dome on top, with a diamond block in the middle -- even though the crafting ingredients do not include any form of diamond.
 * A Beacon's light beam does not extend all the way up to the block limit, and becomes increasingly more difficult to see if you are not looking directly at it at higher levels.