List of All Light Source Blocks in Minecraft

Light mechanics in Minecraft are quite important for the overall gameplay. Information about the light level can be found on the F3 debug screen in Minecraft. There are two types of lighting sources – block light and sky light – in Minecraft. Block light is emitted from certain blocks, while sky light is the light that comes from the sky. In this guide, we are covering all the light sources in Minecraft that emit block light, what light level they provide, where to find them, how to craft them and what is the preferred tool for obtaining them. So if you want to check out the complete list of lighting sources in Minecraft, keep reading.

All Light Source Blocks in Minecraft

Activated Deepslate and Regular Redstone Ore

• Light level – 9
• Preferred tool – Silk touch iron or better pickaxe

Updating, right-clicking, or having an entity (such as a mob or an armor stand) interact with a deepslate redstone ore or regular Redstone ore causes it to light up, and it stays like that until the ore receives a random block tick, which is about a minute.

You can use this mechanic for making randomizers. Whenever a mob, like a chicken, walks over the Redstone ore block, it will light up and that change can be detected by an observer. You can find these Minecraft ores from Y = -63 to Y = 15.

Activated Redstone Lamp

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – none

While being powered from a Redstone source, Redstone lamp emits light and is one of the brightest light sources in Minecraft. It can be crafted using four redstone dust blocks and one glowstone, or found in ancient cities in Minecraft. You can use these blocks for building industrial-looking lamp designs.

Activated Redstone Torch

• Light level – 7
• Preferred tool – none

If the Redstone torch isn’t attached to a powered block, it will be activated and emit light. You can craft it using a stick and a piece of redstone dust. This light source block is also found in ancient cities. Redstone torches give a maximum redstone signal – 15.

Amethyst Cluster

• Light level – 5
• Preferred tool – any Silk touch tool, but it’s broken fastest with a pickaxe

Amethyst clusters are the fourth growth stage of amethyst buds, and you can find them in the geodes attached to the budding amethyst blocks. You can use this light source for atmospheric lighting and eye-catching decorations in Minecraft.

Beacon

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – none

Beacons can be crafted using a Nether star, three obsidian blocks, and five glass blocks using the crafting recipe you see above. Beacons are far more useful than being just light sources, though.

Placing a beacon on platforms or pyramids of precious blocks activates the beacon. You can then apply different buffs and effects that can change the game a lot. Go through the detailed step-by-step instructions on how to make beacons in Minecraft in the linked guide.

Brewing Stand

• Light level – 1
• Preferred tool – any pickaxe

You can find brewing stands in villages or craft them using three cobblestone blocks, cobbled deepslate blocks, or blackstone blocks and a blaze rod. The primary use of brewing stands is for making potions in Minecraft. Moreover, this block is one of the villager job blocks you can assign to an unemployed villager, and they will become a cleric.

Brown Mushroom

• Light level – 1
• Preferred tool – none

Even though this is an unusual light block, brown mushrooms emit light, albeit very low. You can find brown mushrooms in the swamps, old growth taigas, mushroom fields, and in the Nether. You can even buy them from the Wandering trader for just one emerald.

They can also be obtained by shearing a brown mooshroom. Brown mushrooms can be placed on podzol, nylium, or mycelium and do not emit light when placed in the pot.

Lit Candle

• Light levels – 3 (one candle), 6 (two candles), 9 (three candles), 12 (four candles)
• Preferred tool – none

Candles can be found in ancient cities or crafted using one piece of string and one honeycomb. You can place up to four candles on a single block, which makes use of this light source block quite versatile in Minecraft. Candles need to be placed on a block, but then you can break that block, leaving candles floating in the air. This can be a great opportunity for fantasy builders. Also, they emit light only when lit, so you can right-click on them with a flint and steel.

Cauldron Filled with Lava

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – any pickaxe

A cauldron filled with lava emits light. You can craft a cauldron using seven iron ingots. When broken, the lava disappears and only the cauldron is dropped.

Conduit

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – none, but it is broken fastest with any pickaxe

Conduit can be crafted using eight nautilus shells and one heart of the sea. Whether they are activated or not, in water or on the surface, they emit light when placed. Similarly to beacons, the conduit can grant you rather useful buffs, such as water breathing, night vision, and haste.

If you’re looking to use a conduit for perhaps raiding an ocean monument or building an underwater base, follow the link on how to set up and use a conduit.

Crying Obsidian

• Light level – 10
• Preferred tool – diamond or netherite pickaxe

Crying obsidian can be found in the ruined Nether portals or as loot in the chests in the Bastions or obtained by bartering with Piglins. This block also creates purple dripping particles, similar to the water or lava particles, when it’s not placed on the ground, which kind of has evil scientist vibes.

Dragon Egg

• Light level – 1
• Preferred tool – none, see above

Dragon egg can be obtained by killing the Ender Dragon for the first time in Java Edition. You can get a Dragon egg after killing the Ender Dragon for the first time and the second time in Bedrock Edition.

Punching this block causes it to teleport. Since it is affected by gravity, you can place a torch two blocks below the Dragon egg and then break the block the Dragon egg is on. This will cause it to fall, and it will get broken by the torch. You can also use a piston to hatch the Ender Dragon egg. This block is also the rarest light source block in Minecraft.

Enchanting Table

• Light level – 7
• Preferred tool – any pickaxe

An enchanting table can be crafted using four obsidian, two diamonds, and one book. You can use this block to make your fantasy wizard libraries safe from any hostile mobs or become strong and protected by enchanting your gear.

Ender Chest

• Light level – 7
• Preferred tool – any Silk touch pickaxe

In Minecraft, Ender chests can be found in the End cities or crafted using eight obsidian and one Eye of Ender using a fixed crafting recipe. The inventory of your Ender chest is always the same, and it can be accessed from every Ender chest in your world. With the help of shulker boxes, this allows you to have a portable storage system without having to run or fly to your base too much to get resources.

End Rod

• Light level – 14
• Preferred tool – none

End rods can also be found in the End cities or crafted using one blaze rod and one popped chorus fruit. This is also one of the brightest light source blocks in Minecraft, and you can make epic build designs just by combining and rotating end rods. They are also commonly used as chandelier decorations. If you want to know how to find the End city, you can follow the linked guide.

Fire

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – none, you cannot obtain this block

Fire is a non-solid block, and it naturally generates in the Nether. It can be lit using flint and steel or a fire charge. How long the fire will burn depends on the biome it is in.

Placing fire on top of netherack and magma blocks makes it so that it will never burn out, unless extinguished. You can extinguish the fire by punching it, placing other blocks on top of it, throwing splash or lingering water bottles on it, or pouring water or lava on it.

Froglight

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – none

Froglights can be obtained when a frog attacks and kills the smallest version of a magma cube. There are 3 variants of froglights depending on the type of frog that ate the magma cube.

These are beautiful light source blocks whose look is fairly subtle and are a great addition to any build. If you want to learn how to make a froglight in Minecraft, follow the linked guide.

Glowstone

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – any Silk touch tool

You can find glowstone in the Nether, it generates in every biome on the ceiling and in the Hoglin stable Bastions, as well as in the chests in this Bastion. You can also craft glowstone using four pieces of glowstone dust. Clerics sell glowstone for four emeralds and witches can drop glowstone dust after being defeated. Glowstone is a a bright light source in Minecraft that has a very unique texture. Try placing glow lichen or sculk veins to change the glowstone’s appearance.

Glow Berry

• Light level – 14
• Preferred tool – none, right click on the vines with berries or break them with shears

You can find glow berries in lush caves and in the chests in the mineshafts and ancient cities. When the vines have berries they emit light and you can bone meal them to grow glow berries if they don’t have any. You can use this block to decorate your organic cave builds or in the custom trees’ canopy to make them stand out even more.

Glow Lichen

• Light level – 7
• Preferred tool – shears

You can find glow lichen in caves on various Y coordinates, but it cannot generate in the deep dark biome. It can be easily multiplied by using bone meal It is one of the best light source blocks you can use in your Minecraft house ideas, since it can be placed on all six sides of a block, it’s very subtle and is easily covered.

Jack o’Lantern

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – none, but is broken fastest with an axe

You can craft a jack o’lantern using a carved pumpkin, which you can get by shearing a pumpkin, and a torch. It can also be found in some villages in taiga biomes. This block is fairly easy to get in bulk out of all the full light sources in Minecraft and is one of the brightest as well.

Lantern

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – any pickaxe

You can craft lanterns using eight iron nuggets and a torch, find them in the snowy tundra villages, or purchase them from a librarian for one emerald. Lanterns are a great solution to a “torch spamming” problem many players encounter in the game. You can place them on top of blocks or attach them to the underside of blocks. They also look great in combination with chains.

Large Amethyst Bud

• Light level – 4
• Preferred tool – any Silk touch tool but it’s broken fastest with a pickaxe

Similarly to amethyst clusters, large amethyst buds are beautiful decorations and provide a magic feel. They are the third growth stage of amethyst buds and can be found in amethyst geodes attached to the budding amethyst blocks.

Lava

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – you can use a bucket to scoop up the lava

Lava is a fluid that can be found naturally generated in pits on the surface of the Overworld and also underground. It is also found in some villages as part of the weaponsmith village buildings.

You will find single lava sources buried in the terrain in the Nether but the biggest areas lava covers are lava lakes in this dimension. After getting in contact with the player, lava inflicts damage, and items thrown in it get destroyed, except netherite gear, ingots, blocks, scraps, and ancient debris. You can use lava as a rather menacing light source, of the reputation it has in Minecraft.

Light/Light Block

• Light level – 0-15
• Preferred tool – none

Light (Java Edition) or Light block (Bedrock Edition) is an invisible light block players can fully control what light level it’s going to emit. It is obtainable using the “give” command and is mostly intended for map makers.

Lit Blast Furnace, Furnace, and Smoker

You can find furnaces in villages, ancient cities, trail ruins (Java Edition), and igloos or craft them using eight cobblestone blocks, cobble deepslate blocks or blackstone blocks.

You will find blast furnaces in villages and trail ruins in Minecraft, or you can craft them using one furnace, five iron ingots, and three smooth stone blocks.

Smokers can be found in Minecraft villages. You can craft it using one furnace and four logs, stems, stripped logs or stems, wood, hyphae, stripped wood, or hyphae.

When these blocks are actively smelting or cooking something, they emit light. They are not commonly used as light sources in Minecraft but an observer can detect when these blocks start smelting or stop smelting, therefore, this mechanic can be used for Redstone purposes.

• Light level – 13
• Preferred tool – any pickaxe

Lit Campfire

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – any Silk touch tool, but it’s broken fastest with an axe

Campfire in Minecraft can be found in the taiga, snowy taiga villages, and ancient cities. You can craft it using three sticks, one piece of coal or charcoal, and three logs, stems, stripped log or stem, wood, hyphae, stripped wood, or hyphae. Fisherman villagers can sell campfires for five emeralds (Bedrock Edition) or two emeralds (Java Edition).

It can be extinguished, but when lit, it emits light. When broken without the Silk touch enchantment, simply two pieces of charcoal are dropped. Campfire also deals damage when stepped on.

Lit Soul Campfire

• Light level – 10
• Preferred tool – any Silk touch tool, but it’s broken fastest with an axe

Also, Soul campfire can be crafted using three sticks, one soul soil or soul sand, and three logs, stems, stripped log or stem, wood, hyphae, stripped wood, or hyphae. When broken without Silk touch only one soul soil is dropped. Soul campfire deals more damage than a regular campfire, therefore is better to use in mob farms.

Magma Block

• Light level – 3
• Preferred tool – any pickaxe

Magma blocks can be found in the underwater aquifers, as part of the ocean ruins, and in ruined Nether portals in the Overworld. Home of these blocks is the Nether, though, where you will find them on the surface, near lava lakes, underground, in basalt deltas and Hoglin stable Bastions.

Magma blocks can be crafted using four magma cream, dropped after defeating a Magma cube. They deal damage when stepped on and have a pulsing texture. You can place them underwater for dim atmospheric lighting or use them in your volcano builds.

Medium Amethyst Bud

• Light level – 2
• Preferred tool – any Silk touch tool but it’s broken fastest with a pickaxe

Medium amethyst buds are the second growth stage of amethyst buds and can be found in geodes attached to the budding amethyst blocks.

Respawn Anchor

Respawn Anchors can be crafted using six crying obsidian blocks and three glowstone blocks. They can be charged with glowstone and once they’re fully charged (four glowstone) you can right-click them to set your respawn point in the Nether. Respawn anchors are one of the few light source blocks that can provide different light levels in Minecraft. Do not try to use this block to respawn in the Overworld, it will explode, just like right-clicking on beds in the Nether.

• Light levels – 3 (1 glowstone block), 7 (two glowstone blocks), 11 (three glowstone blocks), 15 (four glowstone)
• Preferred tool – diamond or netherite pickaxe

Sea Lantern

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – any Silk touch tool

You can easily find Sea lanterns in ocean monuments and ocean ruins. You can craft this block using four prismarine shards and five prismarine crystals. Sea lanterns are one of the brightest and also underwater light sources in Minecraft. However, they do have a very distinct border.

Sea Pickle

• Light levels – 6 (one sea pickle in a cluster), 9 (two sea pickles in a cluster), 12 (three sea pickles in a cluster), 15 (four sea pickles in a cluster)
• Preferred tool – none

Sea pickles can be found in warm oceans, coral reefs, and desert villages as decoration. Wandering traders have a chance to sell sea pickles for two emeralds. They are underwater light source blocks that emit light when waterlogged.

They, just like candles, provide different light levels depending on how many there are in a cluster. You can use bone meal on a sea pickle underwater and on top of the living coral block to multiply it.

Sculk Catalyst

• Light level – 6
• Preferred tool – any Silk touch tool, but it’s broken fastest with a hoe

Sculk catalysts generate in the deep dark biome and in the chests of ancient cities. You can also obtain them after defeating the Warden in Minecraft. When a mob dies near this block, the sculk blocks will replace some of the surrounding blocks, but not every block is convertible. Also, the sculk veins, catalysts, sensors, and shriekers can generate on top of the sculk blocks. This way you can farm all the sculk blocks in Minecraft.

Sculk Sensor

• Light level – 1
• Preferred tool – any Silk touch tool, but it’s broken fastest with a hoe

Sculk sensors generate in the deep dark biome and in the chests that you find in ancient cities in Minecraft. They can be farmable using the sculk catalyst block (see above). They detect vibrations and send redstone signals.

Shroomlight

• Light level – 15
• Preferred tool – none, but it’s broken fastest with a hoe

You can find shroomlight blocks as a part of the Nether trees/huge fungi. You can bone meal the crimson and warped fungus to grow these trees and therefore get shroomlights. This Minecraft light source block is rather beautiful and frequently used, although it’s not easy to get in bulk.

Small Amethyst Bud

• Light level – 1
• Preferred tool – any Silk touch tool but it’s broken fastest with a pickaxe

Small amethyst buds are the first growth stage of amethyst buds and can be found in the geodes attached to the budding amethyst blocks.

Soul Fire

• Light level – 10
• Preferred tool – none, you cannot obtain this block

Soul fire is a turquoise fire that you can make using a flint and steel or a fire charge on the soul sand or soul soil. It can be found in soul sand valleys in the Nether and ancient cities. It’s dimmer than the regular fire and more dangerous.

Soul Lantern

• Light level – 10
• Preferred tool – any pickaxe

You can find soul lanterns in ancient cities or craft them using one soul torch and eight iron nuggets. They are a dim but also very cool light source block in Minecraft that has great application in ancient city lighting.

Soul Torch

• Light level – 10
• Preferred tool – none

Soul torch can be crafted with one stick, one coal or charcoal, and soul soil or soul sand or it can be found in the chests in the ancient cities. They are quite similar to the soul lanterns but do not have a hitbox.

Torch

• Light level – 14
• Preferred tool – none

You can find torches in the mineshafts, villages, strongholds, basements of igloos, woodland mansions, pillager outposts, in the End after defeating an Ender Dragon as part of the exit portal and in the ancient cities. They also appear in the chests in the mineshafts and villages. You can craft them using a stick and a piece of coal or charcoal.

Torches are a very commonly used early game light source since they are so easy to obtain. They don’t have a hitbox so you can place them on the ground in one-wide-block tunnels without issues. Players also use them to mark the corridors of the cave passages they’ve explored.

What Effects Does Light Have in Minecraft

Hostile Mob Spawning

If the light level is 0, hostile mobs have a chance to spawn on that block. But if the light level is 1 or higher, they will not spawn. This allows players to make their house builds atmospheric with dimmer lighting and still be safe from dying to Creeper explosions. Light level 0 does not affect the spawning of these mobs:

• Blazes (can spawn in the light level of 11 and lower)
• Wither Skeletons (can spawn in the light level of 7 and lower)
• Zombified Piglins (can spawn in the light level of 11 and lower)
• Slimes (can spawn in any light level in the slime chunks or in the light level of 7 and lower)
• Skeletons (can spawn in the light level of 7 and lower in the Nether)
• Endermen (can spawn in the light level of 7 and lower in the Nether)
• Phantoms (can spawn if the player hasn’t slept for three days and has no blocks above their head)
• Silverfish (spawns from the spawners and infested stone and deepslate blocks)

Crop Growth

Light also affects whether the crops grow. They require at least light level 9. This means that putting your crop farms underground is possible, but keep in mind that the room they’re in needs to be adequately lit.

Block Melting

Ice blocks start to melt if the light level is 11 or higher, whereas snow layers melt if the light level is 12 or higher. All light source blocks that cannot melt snow layers also cannot melt ice. The only exception is a respawn anchor charged with three glowstone blocks that can melt ice but cannot melt snow layers.

Block Spreading

Mushrooms can spread in the light level of 12 and lower unless placed on podzol, nylium, or mycelium. Grass blocks and mycelium blocks can spread to dirt blocks in the light level of 9 and higher.