Beacon

A beacon can be picked by mining it with any tool. If an explosion destroys it, the beacon block will drop as an item and can be picked up. You can also craft a beacon, to do so you will need 5 glass blocks, 3 obsidian blocks, and one Nether Star.

Crafting a beacon (via screenshot)

When placed on top of a pyramid of gold, iron, diamond, emerald, or netherite blocks the beacon will activate, emitting a beam straight up to the sky and providing all players with a status effect within its range. The beam shoots straight into the sky and can be used to navigate and locate where you are.

Beacons can only function when they are placed on the top of a pyramid, and when not being blocked by a solid block on top of the beacon. The strength of the beam and its effects are enhanced by each layer added to the pyramid. Primary effects are speed, haste, resistance, jump boost, and strength. Regeneration is a secondary power.

A basic level 1 pyramid with a beacon (via screenshot)

Beam

When a beacon is activated a vertical beam of light appears from the beacon block, extending beyond the top of the world. The color of the beam can be changed by placing stained or stained glass panes above the beacon block, the color will change according to the color of the block placed above it.

The first block will set the beam color, while the additional blocks will change the color by averaging the red, green, and blue components of the current beam color. As the blending algorithm is considerably simpler than that of leather dyeing, a much larger part of the sRGB space is available.

A player may experiment with stacking glass, although programs that calculate combinations are also available. The beam cannot go through most blocks but it does go through bedrock which allows you to use them in the nether.

A beacon emitting a beam into the sky (via screenshot)

Effects

Once a beacon is activated and starts emitting a beam you can feed it with one iron ingot, gold ingot, diamond ingot, emerald, or netherite ingot. After which it will allow the player to select a status effect from the ‘Primary Power’ section on the left.

If the Beacon is placed on a level 4 pyramid then the ‘Secondary Power’ section is also unlocked, where players can choose to turn on the regeneration effect. If the pyramid is broken or damaged in any way its effects can be weakened or even deactivated depending on the level of the pyramid.

The five Primary Powers are:

1. Speed I: This increases the player's movement speed.
2. Haste I: This increases the mining and attack speed.
3. Resistance I: Decreases all incoming damage (Level 2 Pyramid is required).
4. Jump Boost I: Increases the jump height and distance (Level 2 Pyramid is required).
5. Strength I: Increases melee damage (Level 3 Pyramid is required).

Primary Powers of a beacon (via screenshot)

The Secondary Powers available with a level 4 pyramid are:

1. Regeneration I: Regenerates health.
2. Increases the Primary Power to level II.

Secondary Powers of a beacon (via screenshot)

Every four seconds, the selected powers are applied with a duration of 9 seconds, plus 2 seconds per pyramid level, to all players in range. Thus, when powers are changed or a player travels outside the area-of-effect, the powers persist for 5–9 seconds or 13-17 seconds with a full pyramid.

Range

The effects of the beacon are in an area shaped like a square column which reaches downward and out to each side at a distance pre-determined by the size of the pyramid base, and upwards a distance of that range +384 blocks.

Beacons are a handy and useful block, even though setting one up can be quite a hassle. Obtaining the nether star can be a challenge but once a beacon is crafted everything else is pretty straightforward to come by. The beacon itself is quite helpful in terms of navigation and helps in finding your location more often than you will realize.

The added effects are a feature worth increasing the level of the pyramid. Effects such as Speed, Haste, and Jump can increase your combat capabilities whereas Resistance and Regeneration will help increase your survivability.

Q. Will mobs get the effects provided by a beacon?

A. No, only players will receive the effects of a beacon

Q. How many blocks are required to make a level 4 pyramid for a beacon?

A. A total of 164 blocks of iron, gold, diamond, emerald, or netherite are required to make a level 4 beacon.

Q. How to increase the tier of the effects?

A. Emerald blocks are used to increase the effects tier to tier 2.