A Creative Guide to Lighting Up Your Minecraft World

Make a wide range of light sources from crafted items

Written by Travis Boylls

Last Updated: January 16, 2024 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to make lights in Minecraft. There are a few ways to make craft. The easiest and most common way is to craft torches. You can also craft glowstone and a redstone lamp using a crafting table, but you will need to craft other items and build a nether portal in order to get the materials needed to do that. You can also get netherrack from the nether. Netherrack can be lit on fire and never burns out.

Method 1

Method 1 of 5:

Crafting Torches

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1
Gather wood. You can gather wood from trees. Simply walk up to a tree, place the cursor on a wooden tree block and press and hold the attack button until it breaks apart. Then walk over the wooden block it leaves behind to pick it up.
- You don't need any special items to gather wood, but it's quicker if you craft an axe and select it from your hot bar to chop trees.
After you gather wood from trees, you can turn them into wooden planks in the crafting menu. To craft wooden planks, open the crafting menu and either select wooden planks and confirm, or place wooden blocks in the 2x2 grid at the top of the crafting menu and drag the wooden planks into your inventory. 1 wooden block crafts 4 wooden plank boxes. You'll need a lot of wooden plank blocks.

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Sticks can be crafted from wooden planks. After you have crafted wooden planks, open the crafting menu and either select sticks and confirm, or place 2 wooden plank boxes in the 2x2 grid and drag the sticks to your inventory. 2 wooden plank blocks craft 4 sticks.
Crafting tables open more crafting options for you. You need 4 wooden plank blocks to craft a crafting table. To craft a crafting table, open the crafting menu and either select a crafting table, or place 4 wooden plank blocks in the 2x2 grid and drag the crafting table into your inventory.
After you craft a crafting table, put it in your hot bar and highlight it. Then place it anywhere in the game world where you can easily find it.
To craft a pickaxe, select the crafting table you just placed. Either select a wooden pickaxe from the menu, or place three wooden plank blocks in the top row of the 3x3 grid at the top of the crafting menu. Then place a stick in the center space of the grid, and bottom center space of the grid. Drag the pickaxe into your inventory.
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Mine coal or make charcoal. Coal is found in caves and rocky areas. Coal ore blocks resemble stone blocks with black spots on them. To mine coal, place the pickaxe in your hot bar and highlight it. Then place the cursor on the coal ore block and press the attack/mine button until the block breaks apart. Walk over the coal that it drops to collect it.
- You can also make torches out of charcoal. To make charcoal, select a crafting table and place 8 stone blocks in all but the center space of the 3x3 grid and drag the furnace into your hot bar. Place the furnace and select it. Place wooden plank blocks in "fuel" space and place wooden tree blocks in the top space and let them cook. Drag the charcoal into the inventory. You can mine stone blocks with a pick axe. Stone is found in caves, underground, and along the sides of mountains.
Once you have coal/charcoal and some sticks, you can craft torches. To craft torches, open the crafting menu and select torches, or drag a stick and a piece of coal/charcoal into the 2x2 crafting menu. Drag the torches into your inventory. 1 stick and 1 coal produces 4 torches.
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Place torches to provide lighting. After you craft torches, open your inventory and drag them to your hot bar. Highlight them and place them in the world to provide illumination. Torches illuminate the surrounding area indefinitely.
- Not only are torches a good way to provide light in dark caves, they can also be used as breadcrumbs to help you find your way out of a cave.

Method 2

Method 2 of 5:

Crafting Glowstone

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1
Gather wood. You can gather wood from trees. Simply walk up to a tree, place the cursor on a wooden tree block and press and hold the attack button until it breaks apart. Then walk over the wooden block it leaves behind to pick it up.
- You don't need any special items to gather wood, but it's quicker if you craft an axe and select it from your hot bar to chop trees.
After you gather wood from trees, you can turn them into wooden planks in the crafting menu. To craft wooden planks, open the crafting menu and either select wooden planks and confirm, or place wooden blocks in the 2x2 grid at the top of the crafting menu and drag the wooden planks into your inventory. 1 wooden block crafts 4 wooden plank boxes.
Sticks can be crafted from wooden planks. After you have crafted wooden planks, open the crafting menu and either select sticks and confirm, or place 2 wooden plank boxes in the 2x2 grid and drag the sticks to your inventory. 2 wooden plank blocks craft 4 sticks.
Crafting tables open more crafting options for you. You need 4 wooden plank blocks to craft a crafting table. To craft a crafting table, open the crafting menu and either select a crafting table, or place 4 wooden plank blocks in the 2x2 grid and drag the crafting table into your inventory.
After you craft a crafting table, put it in your hot bar, highlight it, and place it somewhere in the game world.
To craft a wooden pickaxe, select the crafting table, and select a wooden pickaxe from the menu. Place three wooden plank blocks in the top three spaces of the 3x3 grid. Then place 2 sticks in the center and bottom-center spaces. Drag the wooden pick into your inventory.
Flint is mined from gravel. When you mine gravel using a shovel, it has a 10% chance of dropping flint. Gravel can be found underground, in caves, and near pools of water. Place a shovel in your hot bar, select it and use the attack button to mine flint. ^{[1]
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Use the pickaxe you just crafted to mine cobblestone. Cobblestone is mined from stone blocks using a wooden pickaxe or greater. Place the pickaxe in your hot bar and select it. Then use the attack button to mine cobblestone. ^{[2]
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You need 8 cobblestone blocks to craft a furnace. To craft a furnace, select the crafting table and place 8 cobblestone blocks in the outer spaces of the 3x3 grid. ^{[3]
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After crafting a furnace, put it in your hot bar and place it somewhere in the game world where you can easily find it.
To craft a stone pickaxe, select a crafting table and place three cobblestone blocks in the top three spaces of the 3x3 grid. Then place a stick in the center spaces of the two bottom rows. Then drag the pickaxe into your inventory.
Iron ore is found deep in caves. Iron ore blocks resemble stone blocks with dark-yellow spots on them. You need to use a stone pickaxe or stronger to mine iron ore.
To smelt the iron ore, select the furnace you crafted. Place the iron ore in the top space and place fuel in the space labeled "fuel". You can use coal, charcoal, or wooden tree blocks as fuel. Allow a few minutes for the iron to finish smelting. Then drag the iron ingots into your inventory.
To craft an iron pickaxe, select a crafting table and either select an iron pickaxe from the menu, or place three iron ingot bars in the top row of the 3x3 grid and place 2 sticks in the center and bottom center spaces. Then drag the pickaxe into your inventory.
To craft flint and steel, select a crafting table and select flint and steel from the menu, or place the flint you mined in the center row along with an iron ingot. Then drag the flint and steel into your inventory. Flint and steel are used to light fires.
Diamond ore is fairly rare, but it can be found deep underground in caves. It resembles stone blocks with light-blue spots on them. To mine diamond ore, place an iron pickaxe in your hot bar, and select it. Then use it to attack the diamond ore blocks.
After you have mined at least 3 diamond ore, place it in the furnace along with some fuel to smelt the diamond ore. After the diamond ore is done smelting, drag the diamond into your inventory.
After smelting at least 3 diamonds, select a crafting table and select a diamond pickaxe from the menu, or place 3 diamonds in the top row of the 3x3 space, and place 2 sticks in the center and bottom center rows. Then drag the diamond pickaxe into your inventory.
You need at least 10 to 14 obsidian blocks to build an obsidian portal. Obsidian is found where flowing water comes in contact with lava. It can often be found deep in caves. You need a diamond pickaxe to mine obsidian.
Use obsidian to build a nether portal frame. The frame should be a minimum of 4x5, and a maximum of 23x23. The frame needs to be surrounded by obsidian on all sides (corners are optional) with space in the middle to walk through. ^{[4]
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After constructing the nether portal frame, use the flint and steel to light a fire in the center of the nether portal frame. This activates the nether portal. When a purple energy field appears in the center of the nether portal, walk through it to travel to the nether.
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Mine glowstone. Glowstone dust can be mined from glowstone in the nether. Glowstones are the bright, glowing blocks that hang from the ceiling. You don't need any special tools to mine glowstone dust. Just attack a glowstone block until it breaks open and drops 2 to 4 glowstone dust. Walk over the glowstone dust to collect it.
- You can also get glowstone dust from bartering with certain cleric villagers, or by defeating a witch. However, the nether is the most consistent method of getting glowstone dust.
After you have mined glowstone, select a crafting table and select glowstone from the menu, or place 4 glowstone dust in the 3x3 grid and drag the glowstone block into your inventory.
Once crafted, glowstone can be placed anywhere just like any other block. Glowstone blocks are slightly brighter than torches. They glow indefinitely, and can be crafted into redstone lamps.

Method 3

Method 3 of 5:

Crafting a Redstone Lamp

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Use the steps outlined in method 2 to craft glowstone.
You need at least 4 redstone dust, but probably more. Redstone ore can be found deep in caves and underground. They resembles stone blocks with red spots on them. To mine redstone ore, place an iron or diamond pickaxe in the hot bar and select it. Then attack an redstone ore block until it drops redstone dust. Walk over the redstone dust to collect it.
To craft a redstone lamp, select a crafting table and select a redstone lamp from the menu, or place the glowstone in the center of the 3x3 grid and place redstone above, below, and to the left and right of the glowstone block. Drag the redstone lamp into your inventory. ^{[5]
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Redstone lamps can be placed like any other block, but they won't light up unless activated.
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Craft an activation mechanism. There are a variety of things that can be crafted to provide power to a redstone lamp. Use the following methods to craft an activation mechanism:
- Lever: Levers are crafted from 1 cobblestone and 1 stick. ^{[6]
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- Button: Buttons are crafted from a single block of cobblestone or wood planks. ^{[7]
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- Pressure plate: A pressure plate can be crafted from 2 blocks of cobblestone, wood plank, iron or gold ingots. ^{[8]
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- Daylight sensor: Daylight sensors can be crafted with 3 glass blocks, 3 nether quartz, and 3 wooden slabs.
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Place the activation mechanism. After you craft a way to activate the redstone lamp, place it on or next to the redstone lamp. You can also place it away from the redstone lamp and connect it to the redstone lamp with a trail of redstone dust.
- Levers, buttons, and pressure plate allows you to turn the redstone lamp on and off.
- Daylight sensors detect when daylight is present, and can be set to turn on during the day or night time.
- Redstone torches provide a consistent source of power for a redstone lamp.

Method 4

Method 4 of 5:

Using Netherrack

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Obsidian is found where flowing water comes in contact with lava. You need a diamond pickaxe to mine obsidian. You need at least 10 to 14 blocks of obsidian. See method 2 to learn how to get the materials needed to craft a diamond pickaxe.
A nether portal is made out of obsidian blocks. It must be a minimum of 4x5 blocks high (corners are optional), and a maximum of 23x23 blocks high.
Use a flint and steel light to ignite the center of the nether portal and walk through the purple energy field to travel to the nether.
Netherrack is the most common block found in the nether. It resembles raw meat. You need a wooden pickaxe or stronger to mine nether rack.
After you have mined netherrack, place it somewhere that is not near anything flammable, like wood.
Use flint and steel to set the placed netherrack block on fire. Unlike other flammable materials, netherrack burns forever and is not destroyed by flames. It's good for crafting a fireplace.

Method 5

Method 5 of 5:

Using Minecraft Controls

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1
Move your character. Use the following methods to move your character on the different versions of Minecraft. ^{[9]
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- PC: Press W to move forward, S to move backwards, A to move left, and D to move right.
- Game Consoles: Use the left analogue stick to move.
- Mobile: Tap and hold the directional buttons in the lower-left corner.
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Look/Change direction. Use the following methods to look around and change direction on the different versions of Minecraft.
- PC: Use the mouse to look/change your direction.
- Game consoles: Use the right analogue stick to change your view.
- Mobile: Tap the screen and drag in the direction you want to look.
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Jump: Use the following buttons to jump on the different versions of Minecraft.
- PC: Press Spacebar .
- XBox/Switch/Wii U: Press A
- Playstation: Press X
- Mobile: Automatic
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Attack/Mine. Use the following methods to attack or mine materials on the different versions of Minecraft:
- PC: Left mouse button.
- XBox: Right trigger.
- Playstation: R2.
- Wii U/Switch: ZR
- Mobile: Tap and hold an object on the screen.
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Open your inventory. Use the following methods to open your inventory in the different versions of Minecraft. Move items to the bottom squares to put the items in your hot bar.
- PC: Press E .
- XBox: Press Y
- Playstation: Press Triangle .
- Switch/Wii U: Press X
- Mobile: Tap the button with three dots ( … ).
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Open the crafting menu. Use the following methods to open the crafting menu on the different versions of Minecraft.
- PC: Press E
- XBox: Press X
- Playstation: Press Square
- Switch/Wii U: Press Y
- Mobile: Tap the button with three dots ( … ).
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Highlight a hot bar item. The hot bar is the 9 spaces at the bottom of the screen. You can place items from your inventory in your hot bar by dragging items in your inventory to the 9 spaces at the bottom of the inventory. Use the following method to select hot bar items in game on the different versions of Minecraft:
- PC: Press 1-9. Each number button corresponds to a different hot bar space.
- XBox: Press RB and LB to cycle through the hot bar items.
- Playstation: Press R1 and L1 to cycle through the hot bar items.
- Switch/Wii U: Press R and L to cycle through the hot bar items.
- Mobile: Tap the hot bar item.
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Place/Interact with objects. To place an item in the game, put it in your hot bar and then highlight it. Press the following buttons to place the item. Use the same button to activate interactive objects in the game.
- PC: Press the Right mouse button.
- XBox: Press LT .
- Playstation: Press L2 .
- Switch/Wii U: Press ZL
- Mobile: Tap where you want to place an item.