Where to Find Beacon in Minecraft

Beacon can turn up across Nether (for Wither Skulls) and All biomes (for summoning Wither), so the search area spans more than one place depending on which method you use. Because this is a Nether-side item, you first need an active Nether portal (a frame of obsidian lit with flint and steel) to reach the dimension where it is found. The Wither requires 3 Wither Skeleton Skulls and 4 Soul Sand/Soil to summon. Wither Skeletons spawn in Nether Fortresses and have a 2.5% skull drop rate (5% with Looting III). The main non-crafting route is collecting it as a mob drop.

The most reliable way to get Beacon is to craft it at a Crafting Table from Glass, Nether Star, and Obsidian, because crafting is repeatable and does not depend on luck. Before you can craft it, gather the ingredients: Glass (smelt sand in a furnace) and Obsidian (pour water over a lava source, then mine it with a diamond pickaxe). Build a pyramid of iron, gold, diamond, emerald, or netherite blocks beneath the beacon. Full pyramid (4 layers, 164 blocks) provides maximum range and all status effects. One of the most resource-intensive items in the game to fully power. Since this comes from a mob, the Looting enchantment on your sword raises the drop rate, and building or finding a dedicated spawn area turns a one-off kill into a renewable farm. It stacks to 64, so a single mining or crafting session can comfortably bank a chest's worth for later projects. Beacon has been in the game since the 1.4.2 update, so it behaves the same on every up-to-date world and server. Given how rare Beacon is, most players treat each one as a milestone, so it is worth keeping it safe in an ender chest until you are ready to put it to use.

Players hunting for Beacon often look for Nether Star, Iron Pickaxe, and Diamond Pickaxe as well, since they share locations, recipes, or a progression path. For full stats and the crafting grid, the dedicated Beacon item page has the complete breakdown.