Minecraft 1.21 Tricky Trials update brings combat-related blocks and items, building and decorative blocks, and also another new redstone component. One of them is the main focus of this guide – the copper bulb, a special light source block with unique and useful properties. So, let’s not beat around the bush and learn the copper bulb crafting recipe in Minecraft 1.21. We will also discuss the copper bulb’s properties and how to use it.
Resources You Need to Make a Copper Bulb
The crafting recipe for the copper bulb is quite heavy on resources. Those include:
- 3 Copper Blocks (of the same oxidation stage)
- 1 Blaze Rod
- 1 Redstone Dust
- 1 Crafting Table
How to Craft a Copper Bulb in Minecraft 1.21
After you acquire the required resources, follow the steps below to make a copper bulb.
- Place the crafting table and right-click the block to open its crafting grid.
- Place the blaze rod in the center slot of the 3 x 3 crafting grid.
- Then, place a piece of redstone dust underneath the blaze rod in the bottommost row.
- Finally, place the copper blocks surrounding the blaze rod in the three empty cardinal direction slots.
Instead of a standard bulb, you can also use three waxed copper blocks of the same oxidation stage and the copper bulb will be oxidized as well.
This recipe yields four copper bulbs, which you can craft by clicking on the copper bulb icon on the right and moving it into your inventory. You can also use a crafter to make copper bulbs, but it will require a redstone signal.
Where to Find a Copper Bulb in Minecraft
Yeah, these fancy lamps are expensive to make. So, the alternative way of obtaining them could pay off more. Luckily, copper bulbs can be found everywhere inside the trial chambers in Minecraft 1.21. These structures vary in size and are generated below the deepslate layers of the Overworld. You can find trial chambers in four ways, which our linked guide explains.
Moreover, copper bulbs are embedded in the walls of the trial chambers, providing light to the surroundings. They commonly generate on all levels inside each room, so collecting every single copper bulb even from a small trial chamber can yield a very decent quantity of them.
How Does a Minecraft Copper Bulb Work?
Activating & Deactivating
The way you use a copper bulb differs from your regular redstone lamp. The first feature is that this block turns on and off every time it receives power. This means if you power the bulb with a lever after placing it down for the first time, it will turn on. However, if you deactivate the lever, the bulb will still stay on. But then if you activate the lever once again, the bulb will turn off.
As you can notice in the GIF below, those are not the only states of the copper bulb. If the bulb is receiving constant power, it’ll display a red dot in the center of its texture. This will be the case no matter whether the bulb is on or off. Switching between these states can easily be detected by an observer.
Light Level
Copper bulb’s surprises don’t stop there. Its next fascinating feature is that it emits a light level depending on its oxidation state. Here are the light levels based on the oxidation state of these light source blocks:
- No oxidation (fully orange) – light level 15
- Exposed version (mostly orange with green spots) – light level 12
- Weathered copper bulb (mostly green with orange spots) – light level 8
- Oxidized copper bulb (fully green) – light level 4
You can freeze these bulbs in any state that you want using a honeycomb, and they will keep that state until you scrape it off with an axe. You can also use an axe to revert the stage of the copper bulb and therefore make it provide more light.
Redstone Power Source
Copper bulbs themselves are a redstone power source. If you were to place a redstone comparator so that it is reading the signal of the copper bulb, it will light up if the bulb is on. The signal will always be 15 no matter the oxidation of the bulb.
If the bulb is off, it will no longer send the signal. This is the case for both constantly powered states that display the “red dot” in the center.
The possibilities with copper bulbs are endless. It allows you to customize your interior space in new ways as you can easily switch between bright and dim lighting conditions with ease. So, how do you plan to use a copper bulb? Share with us and all of our readers in the comments below!
