How to Make a Lantern in Minecraft 2025?
Lantern in Minecraft is one of the best light sources to illuminate your builds. They offer a higher light level than torches and add an aesthetic charm to your creations. Whether you’re designing a cozy cabin or a sprawling castle, lanterns are a must-have for both functionality and style.

To craft a lantern, you’ll need just a few basic materials readily available in the game. Plus, there’s an option to create a unique soul lantern, perfect for spooky or decorative builds.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the materials, steps to craft lanterns and soul lanterns, their uses, and even tips for placing them in creative ways. Let’s get started!
What Is a Lantern in Minecraft?
Lanterns are light sources that are used for decoration purposes in Minecraft to get high-quality light as compared to traditional torches. These lights are not only functional but also improve the quality of the aesthetic of your builds, making them a popular choice among players. They are hanged on the ceilings or sit on surfaces, and lanterns are flexible and ideal for creating immersive environments.
Types of Lanterns
- Regular Lantern: It gives light with a level of 15, which makes it perfect for general lighting needs.
- Soul Lantern: It can offer a dim bluish light with a light level of 10 and can repel piglins, which makes it useful in the Nether or spooky builds.
Here’s a comparison table for Regular Lanterns and Soul Lanterns in Minecraft, highlighting their benefits, uses, and key differences:
Feature | Regular Lantern | Soul Lantern |
---|---|---|
Light Level | 15 (Bright) | 10 (Dim, bluish tone) |
Material Needed | Torch + Iron Nuggets | Soul Torch + Iron Nuggets |
Crafting Requirements | Torch (made with stick and coal/charcoal) | Soul Torch (requires soul sand/soil) |
Repels Piglins | No | Yes |
Natural Spawn Locations | Villages, Bastion Remnants | Bastion Remnants |
Best Uses | General lighting for builds, pathways, and interiors | Spooky-themed builds, Nether exploration, piglin protection |
Aesthetic Appeal | Traditional warm light, complements classic designs | Mysterious bluish glow, ideal for unique or eerie designs |
Why Use Lanterns Instead of Torches?
Lanterns are excellent options, offering various advantages compared to traditional torches. While torches are easier to create and use in large amounts, lanterns offer aesthetics and functionality and have become an outstanding option.
Benefits of Using Lanterns
- Lanterns in Minecraft APK offer a level 15 light if compared with torches, which offer a light level of 14. They can offer a brighter glow to your spaces.
- They can add another level of decoration touch and become an ideal choice because lanterns can improve the visual layout.
- Unlike torches, lanterns in Minecraft can be hang on ceilings or fit on blocks, which offers flexibility in design and placement.
- These lights are stronger and do not easily get broken, which makes it the top choice among the various lights.
When to Use Lanterns?
- These lights are used for decoration purposes in houses, castles, or pathways.
- In places where lights with high brightness are required.
- For replacing torches in high traffic or visually important areas for cleaner or refined appearance.
Materials Needed to Craft a Lantern
Crafting a lantern in Minecraft is simple and requires only two key materials. Here’s what you’ll need:
Material | Quantity | How to Obtain | Purpose in Crafting |
---|---|---|---|
Iron Nuggets | 8 | Craft by placing 1 iron ingot in the crafting table (yields 9 nuggets). | Forms the outer frame of the lantern. |
Obtain by looting chests in bastions or villages. | |||
Smelt iron tools, weapons, or armor in a furnace. | |||
Torch | 1 | Combine 1 stick and 1 coal/charcoal in the crafting table. | Acts as the light-emitting core of the lantern. |
How to make a Lantern in Minecraft?
Making lanterns in Minecraft is very simple and needs a few steps. Whether you are making a regular lantern or a soul lantern, both have the same process, with a little difference in materials. If you want to make the best lantern, then follow the provided guide.
Craft Regular Lantern
Regular lantern is the best and highest light source in Minecraft, which provides a bright glow to illuminate your builds. It is a fantastic upgrade from Torch and offers both aesthetic appeal and functions in the Minecraft world.
Materials Required
For making a regular lantern, you have to need the following materials:
- 1 Torch
- 8 Iron Nuggets
Crafting Process
- Open the Crafting Table: Access the 3×3 crafting grid.
- Arrange the Materials:
- Place 1 torch in the center slot of the grid.
- Surround the torch with 8 iron nuggets in the remaining slots.
- Craft the Lantern: Once the materials are in place, the regular lantern will appear in the result box. Drag it to your inventory.
Tip: Regular lanterns emit a bright, warm light and are perfect for illuminating your Minecraft world.
Craft Soul Lantern
On the other hand, Soul Lantern offers a decent aesthetic with a cool, bluish glow and a light level of 10. This is lower than the regular lantern, mostly used for its atmospheric effect and is ideal for builds with darker mystical themes. Additionally, soul lanterns can be used to keep piglins away in the Nether.
Materials Required
You will have to get these items for making a soul lantern:
- 1 Soul Torch
- 8 Iron Nuggets
Crafting Process
- Open the Crafting Table: Access the 3×3 crafting grid.
- Arrange the Materials:
- Place 1 soul torch in the center slot of the grid.
- Surround the soul torch with 8 iron nuggets in the remaining slots.
- Craft the Soul Lantern: Once the materials are in place, the soul lantern will appear in the result box. Drag it to your inventory.
Tip: This lantern provides bluish-dim light and keeps the piglins away from your place. Make them ideal for Nether build or spooky designs.
Popular Lanterns in Minecraft
There are various types of lanterns in Minecraft, and they have different appearances and lights. But the regular lantern is the best choice for general lighting and other lanterns add unique effects and are perfect for specific themes or uses. Some of the best-known lanterns are mentioned in the table given below:

Lantern Type | Light Level | Effect/Appearance | Uses |
---|---|---|---|
Regular Lantern | 15 | Warm, bright glow | General lighting, indoor/outdoor decor |
Soul Lantern | 10 | Dim, bluish glow | Spooky themes, repels piglins in the Nether |
Yellow Glowing Lantern | Custom (via mods or shaders) | Yellow, warm glow | Cozy, inviting spaces, garden lighting |
Jack o’ Lantern | 15 | Glowing pumpkin with a face | Halloween builds, spooky atmosphere |
Redstone Lantern | 15 | Regular lantern with redstone influence | Redstone-related builds, lighting circuits |
Final Verdict
Lantern in Minecraft is the best source of light, and they offer both capability and aesthetic appeal. Whether you are crafting a regular lantern, a soul lantern, or experimenting with modded variants like yellow glowing lanterns, they can give an excellent glow to your buildings. Players can use them to add charm, atmosphere, and brightness to the world.