5 best decorative beacons to build in Minecraft

Minecraft's beacon blocks might not be easy to craft in Survival Mode, but there's no question that they're incredibly useful. Not only do these blocks provide beneficial status effects, but they can also be used as an excellent decoration for a wide array of builds. With a few glass panes, players can even alter the color of beacon beams to better fit the theme of their surroundings.

Although beacons are incredibly helpful in Minecraft as a survival aid and a decoration, the latter option can be tricky to pull off. It takes some time and consideration to find the right build and design that fits using a beacon as a decoration. If players are having a bit of trouble, it doesn't hurt to take a look at some great ideas.

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Five awesome beacon designs worth building in Minecraft

1) Mayan Temple

A Mayan temple would be a perfect beacon build in a jungle biome in Minecraft (Image via AnimalMaceWasTaken/Reddit)

Any form of ancient temple would make a nice spot for a beacon in Minecraft, but a Mayan design complements it incredibly well. The multi-tiered construction should be simple enough to build with enough stone blocks, and this form of temple could fit nicely in a jungle or a mountainous biome, given the diverse landscapes that the Mayan Civilization settled in.

The domed roof is an excellent choice as well, culminating at a central point where the beacon can cast its beam far into the sky. If this temple was built in a jungle, it might even help players keep their bearings by using the beacon beam as a reference point.

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2) Spherical Beacon

This spherical beacon design could be tricky to build in Minecraft (Image via Impressive_Caramel97/Reddit)

Although this design is heavily composed of magma blocks that might make building it in Survival Mode difficult, a globular beacon is a very appealing prospect. If fans don't have a ton of magma blocks, they can always substitute them with other light source blocks and then match the beacon's light to them by using stained glass.

Building circles and spheres in Minecraft isn't the easiest task, but once players have it down, adding a beacon to a sphere could make for a very visually appealing creation.

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3) Copper Beacon

Copper's versatility can work surprisingly well with beacons in Minecraft (Image via LSE33/Reddit)

Since the upcoming Minecraft 1.21 update is bringing along some new copper blocks, why not use them to support a beacon and its beam? This design is a perfect example of how a combination of copper blocks in various states of oxidation can bring plenty of color variety to a beacon build while still making it feel believable and even rustic to a degree.

There's no doubt that this copper-based build will require a ton of raw copper and honeycombs to pull off, much less the beacon block, but players certainly can't argue with the results.

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4) Holographic Beacon Display

A Minecraft build using this many beacons might require a Wither farm or at least Creative Mode (Image via Charliechaz4/Reddit)

Thanks to the fact that beacons can have their beam colors changed with stained glass in Minecraft, an excellent opportunity presents itself if players can get enough beacons to make it. Similar to pixel art, coloring certain segments of the beacon beams in the air can allow an image to be projected into the sky that can be seen for several blocks in every direction.

A design like this would be pretty difficult to pull off without a Wither boss trap/farm so that players can collect the necessary nether stars for their beacons, but it's something worth thinking about while making Creative Mode builds.

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5) Lava Beacon Tower

A beacon design like this can keep players oriented even in the dark (Image via U_xtreme/Reddit)

Given that lava acts as a pretty solid light source in Minecraft, a little orange stained glass can allow players to make an illuminated tower with an orange beacon beam that matches the lava. The tower itself can take on any form that players like and be made of ostensibly any in-game blocks, but it would be best to complement the orange of the lava and beacon beam.

Not only does a design like this look fantastic, but it should keep points of interest illuminated at a distance. While the light level might not be enough to keep hostile mobs at bay, it should at least be noticeable from a considerable distance, allowing players to find their way back to it even if they don't have a map or compass or have their coordinates enabled.