We still get a lot of e-mails about people confused with Beacons, so here is an extended guide to (hopefully) help out!

Beacon Recipe: 5 Glass, 1 Nether Star, 3 Obsidian

Beacons are used to emit a light in the sky for guiding about however it has a bonus use, which is to give you additional abilities. Beacons can grant you a boost in Strength, Speed, Jumping and so forth. Unfortunately Beacons are a bit annoying to activate.

 
The Build

Beacons require a Pyramid in order to work, not only that but the Pyramid has to be made of Iron Block, Gold Block, Diamond Block or Emerald Blocks. Any other type of block used will yield no results.

There are 4 levels of Pyramids that can be constructed; the size of the Pyramid will prove more beneficial. One important rule to remember about Beacons is that it does not matter what material you use to construct the Pyramids, it’s the size that will produce better results not the block.

A 3×3 Pyramid: Level 1 Powers

A 5×5 > 3×3 Pyramid: Level 2 Powers

A 7×7 > 5×5 > 3×3 Pyramid: Level 3 Powers

A 9×9 > 7×7 > 5×5 > 3×3 Pyramid: Allows a Secondary Power

Players must be within a certain block radius to gain the effect of the Beacon. Each pyramid size allows a new power and the largest pyramid will grant you a secondary power. The radius in which the Beacon affects players will increase with the size of the pyramid.

When the Beacon is placed atop the Pyramid it shoots a bright light into the sky, hints the name “Beacon”. This light can be seen from far off distances and is very useful for venturing Minecraft. The down side is the material requirement, the blocks needed are a bit hard to acquire just to make a landmark so you can find your way back home when you can just make a dirt tower with Torches.

There is another downside to the way Beacons are activated; the pyramids cannot be hollow inside. This means each level of a Pyramid is a full build, not just an outline. Basically you’ll need a LOT of hard to obtain blocks to build the level 4 pyramid.

When you click on a Beacon you must “feed” it an Iron Ingot, Gold Ingot, Diamond or Emerald. The Beacon will consume the item and pretty much destroy it so don’t expect to get it back. If the Beacon itself is destroyed and you replace it the effect activated previously will remain.

Beacons can be used in The Nether and The End. They must have an open sky; in the case of The Nether it simply can’t have any player built blocks above it. Glass and other Beacons can also be placed above them without preventing them from activating.

Enchantments + Potions + Beacons = Ender Dragon Slayer