Overview
A lantern gives light level 15 and can hang from a ceiling, which is the reason it exists and the reason it replaced the torch in most builds after 1.14. A torch has to be attached to a solid surface and always looks like a torch; a lantern can be placed on top of a block, hung under one, or suspended on a chain several blocks down from a ceiling, which gives builders vertical lighting they simply did not have before. It is cheap — eight iron nuggets and one torch, and nine nuggets is one ingot, so a lantern costs slightly less than one iron ingot each — and it can be waterlogged, which makes it one of the very few light sources that works underwater without any trickery. That last property is worth remembering for ocean and aquarium builds where a sea lantern would be too bright or too large. Lanterns generate in villages, in taiga and snowy village lampposts, and in ancient cities and trail ruins. The soul variant swaps the torch for a soul torch and drops the light level to 10 while repelling piglins.
Hanging light at level 15 from ceilings and chains, underwater lighting because it can be waterlogged, and village-style lampposts without the look of a bare torch.
Lantern counts as a light-emitting block in Minecraft 1.21.4. Lantern is made at a crafting table. Expect to wait: its hardness of 3.5 is well above average.
It drops as the same block you mined. It emits light level 15 — bright enough on its own to stop hostile mobs spawning nearby. Because it is transparent it does not block light.
A full stack holds 64. It is crafted from Iron Nugget and Torch. Nothing on the crafting grid is made from it.
How to get it
Craft it from 8 iron nuggets and 1 torch, which is slightly less than 1 iron ingot per lantern. Lanterns also generate on village lampposts and in ancient cities, where they can simply be taken.
Tips
- It can be waterlogged, which makes it one of very few light sources that works underwater without a bubble.
- Hang it below a chain for vertical lighting; a chain can run several blocks from a ceiling with a lantern at the end.
- 9 iron nuggets is 1 ingot, so a lantern costs a little under an ingot — cheap enough for large-scale use.
- Use the soul variant near a Nether build: it repels piglins within 8 blocks at the cost of light level 10 instead of 15.
How long it takes to break
Lantern has a hardness of 3.5. By hand that is 5.3 seconds per block; with the correct tool at netherite tier it is 0.6 seconds.
Iron takes 0.9 seconds against diamond's 0.7, so the upgrade worth making for this block is the one to iron.
No particular tool tier is required: any tool, or none at all, still yields the drop, so the table below is about speed rather than about whether you get anything.
The Efficiency formula is level² + 1 added to tool speed — at V that is about 4 times the unenchanted rate.
| Tool | No enchantment | Efficiency III | Efficiency V |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hand | 5.3 s | 5.3 s | 5.3 s |
| Wooden | 2.7 s | 0.45 s | 0.2 s |
| Stone | 1.4 s | 0.4 s | 0.2 s |
| Iron | 0.9 s | 0.35 s | 0.2 s |
| Diamond | 0.7 s | 0.3 s | 0.2 s |
| Netherite | 0.6 s | 0.3 s | 0.15 s |
| Golden | 0.45 s | 0.25 s | 0.15 s |
Properties
Lantern has a blast resistance of 3.5, so a nearby explosion will usually destroy it. It lets light through and emits light level 15. A single slot takes 64, the usual full stack. The block is tagged for pickaxes, and only that class gets the speed bonus; everything else mines at bare-hand rate.
- Transparent
- Yes
- Required tool
- Any
Crafting recipe
Crafting Table
Lantern
Drops
Mined with any, Lantern drops itself.
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you get Lantern in Minecraft?
Lantern is crafted from Iron Nugget and Torch.
What tool do you need to break Lantern?
No specific tool is required — Lantern can be broken by hand.
Is Lantern blast resistant?
Lantern has a blast resistance of 3.5, so an explosion nearby will destroy it.
How many Lantern fit in one stack?
A stack is 64, and a double chest of them comes to 3,456.
How long does Lantern take to break?
About 0.6 seconds if you bring the correct netherite tool; 5.3 seconds with your fists.
