Minecraft Beacon Calculator
Editions: Java modeled (Bedrock range/duration differences in FAQ) · Verified: Java 26.3 / Bedrock 26.50 · 2026-09-16 · Updated 2026-09-16
A beacon pyramid is a fixed bill: 9, 34, 83, or 164 mineral blocks, nine ingots each. Pick your target level — and what you already have — and get the exact blocks, ingots, ranges, durations, and powers, with the upgrade delta if you are building in stages.
The worked example: iron vs netherite
A full level-4 pyramid is 164 blocks = 1,476 ingots, and the whole bill fits in a single shulker box (24 stacks). In iron that is 1,476 iron ingots — a few hours at a decent iron farm. In netherite the same pyramid means 1,476 netherite ingots, and each one crafts from 4 netherite scrap plus 4 gold ingots: 5,904 scrap and 5,904 gold before the beacon even lights. Since the material changes nothing mechanically, a netherite pyramid is 11,808 ingredient items spent purely on the flex. The staged path costs nothing extra: level 1 today (9 blocks) and the upgrade to 4 later is exactly the remaining 155.
Every level at a glance
| Level | Blocks | Ingots | Range (Java) | Duration (Java) | Powers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | 81 | 20 | 11s | Speed, Haste |
| 2 | 34 | 306 | 30 | 13s | + Resistance, Jump Boost |
| 3 | 83 | 747 | 40 | 15s | + Strength |
| 4 | 164 | 1,476 | 50 | 17s | + secondary (Regen or primary II) |
Verified against the Minecraft Wiki's beacon documentation; every cell is recomputed from the pyramid's own layer counts and asserted in our test suite. Ranges are horizontal; vertical coverage rules are on the wiki and differ enough by situation that we leave them there.
Questions builders actually ask
How many blocks does a full beacon pyramid need?
164 mineral blocks for level 4: a 9×9 base of 81, then 49, 25, and 9. That is 1,476 ingots or gems at nine per block. The smaller tiers cost 9, 34, and 83 blocks.
Does the pyramid material change the beacon's power?
No. Iron, gold, emerald, diamond, and netherite blocks all work identically and can be mixed freely in one pyramid, so iron is the standard choice — the material is a style decision, not a mechanical one.
What range and effects does each beacon level give?
In Java the range is 20, 30, 40, and 50 blocks at levels 1 through 4, with the effect re-applied on a duration of pyramid level times two plus nine seconds. Level 1 offers Speed and Haste, level 2 adds Resistance and Jump Boost, level 3 adds Strength, and level 4 unlocks the secondary slot: Regeneration or level II of your primary.
Is the beacon different on Bedrock?
Two documented differences: Bedrock's effect box reaches one block farther on the north and west sides at every level, and its durations run 10, 12, 14, and 16 seconds instead of Java's 11, 13, 15, and 17. Pyramid costs and powers match.