It’s not as easy as making a torch – which only requires a stick and charcoal – but it comes close. This is great, since you will need torches to make lanterns anyway. Let’s see how.
Lanterns vs Torches
You might have already guessed it, but lanterns are more expensive than torches. If you’re only looking for a source of light to keep the monsters at bay, the humble torch is more than good enough for your needs. It isn’t like a lantern gives significantly more light either, giving just one more level of light than torches (15 vs 14). The only reason to make a lantern is because it looks cooler. And let’s face it, that’s the most important reason to do anything in Minecraft. Lanterns look especially great when combined with a lamp post, or in well-decorated interiors. Just like with torches, there is also a soul variant that gives off blue light, though it has a lower light level (10). Such lampposts make for good landmarks in the early game, helping you navigate to your base at night. This remains a handy trick until you learn how to craft a map.
How to Make a Lantern
Making a lantern, like anything else (for instance, Minecraft Fireworks), is just a matter of putting the right ingredients into the crafting grid. It has to be a 3×3 grid though, so a crafting table is required. If you don’t know how to do that The ingredients are pretty straightforward – a torch in the center and 8 iron nuggets placed around it. Use a soul torch instead of a regular torch and you will get a soul lantern. In case you don’t have a torch, you can craft it easily by placing a piece of coal (or charcoal) above a stick in the crafting grid. The soul torch just needs the addition of soul soil or soul sand underneath the stick, making it a very easy crafting recipe.
What Is the Use of a Lantern?
Like any light source, a lantern can be used to, well, light up the world. This is, of course, essential in survival mode to prevent mobs from spawning inside your houses. Lanterns can also be used to make lamp posts of your own by combining other blocks in interesting designs. While you can also use torches or glow stones for this purpose, lanterns look much better. Beacons look even better, but they are much harder to make as well.
Can You Get a Lantern Any Other Way?
Crafting is the most reliable way of getting lanterns in Minecraft, but it isn’t the only one. In case you don’t have iron nuggets yet (just smelt some iron ore or any iron items), you can grab a couple elsewhere. The easiest method, of course, is to find lanterns in the world. Regular lanterns can be generated in Snowy Tundra Villages and Bastion Remnants, often as lamp posts or just freestanding lamps. You might even run into soul lanterns in Ancient Cities. You can also buy lanterns from Librarian villagers for one emerald each. It is usually much easier to get iron, so only use this method if you are flush with emeralds and don’t have anything better to buy.
What Is the Best Way to Get a Lantern in Minecraft?
Crafting them from torches and iron nuggets is the best way to get lanterns in Minecraft. Just put a torch in the center of the 3×3 crafting grid and fill up the remaining 8 spaces with iron nuggets, and you’ll get a lantern. You can occasionally find naturally generated lanterns in the wild as well, often placed on buildings or crude lamp posts. This only happens in Snowy Tundra villages or Bastion Remnants, so be on the lookout when you visit these areas. Trading with a librarian villager can net you lanterns as well, though your trades (and your emeralds) are better used to buy more valuable items. Iron is easier to get, and has no limit.
