Minecraft Beacon Color

Sixteen colors of glass make far more than sixteen beams. Stack them here and see what comes out before you spend the sand.

Add stained glass

Each one goes on top of the stack. The block you add last is the one that counts most.

The stack, top to bottom
  • Red Stained Glasstop
  • Blue Stained Glassbottom
What to build, from the beacon upward
1. Blue Stained Glass
2. Red Stained Glass

Panes work as well as full blocks, and the glass does not have to sit right on the beacon. Anything in the beam counts.

The beam
#7639687747944

The bottom block sets the beam. Every block above it is averaged into what the beam already is, so the top block is half the color, the one below it a quarter, and so on down. Two blocks are the exception: a pair averages evenly, so swapping them changes nothing.

How it works

  • Click a glass color to put a block on the stack. Each one lands on top of the last.
  • Move blocks up and down to see how much the order changes the beam. The top block always counts for half of it.
  • Read the beam color on the right, then build the list on the left above your beacon.
  • The same color numbers dye leather armor, which the armor color tool turns into a command.

Both editions. The beam color is decoration only, and it changes nothing about the powers the beacon gives.

Questions

Does the order of the glass matter?
Yes, from three blocks up. The bottom block sets the beam and each block above it is mixed halfway into what is already there, so the top block is half the final color, the one under it a quarter, and so on. Two blocks are the exception, because a pair averages evenly either way.
Does the glass have to sit right on top of the beacon?
No. Anything in the beam counts, at any height above it. Many people put the glass up high so the beacon itself stays clean.
Do panes work?
Yes. Stained glass panes tint the beam exactly like full blocks, and six blocks of glass make sixteen panes, so they go a good deal further.
Why is my beam a duller color than the glass?
Because averaging colors always lands between them, and mixing several very different ones lands in the middle of all of them. If you want a strong color, use fewer blocks, and put the color you want at the top.
Can I get a color that is not one of the sixteen?
Yes, and that is the whole point of stacking. Every mix of glass gives a color no single block does, which is how people get pale pinks and deep teals out of sixteen dyes.
Are these the same colors as a firework?
No. The game keeps a separate set of colors for firework stars, and most of them differ from these. A beacon beam uses the same colors as a banner or dyed leather armor.
Does the beam color change anything the beacon does?
No. It is decoration. The powers it gives, and the pyramid you need for them, are the same whatever color you make it.