Craft and Use a Lantern in Minecraft: Step-by-Step Guide

• You'll need 1 torch (or soul torch) and 8 iron nuggets to make a lantern.
• To make the lantern, place the torch at the center of the crafting grid, and 8 iron nuggets around the torch.
• You can also get lanterns by trading with librarian villagers and by finding them in the wild.

Crafting a Lantern

Gather the required materials. Lanterns are a great light source and decoration. They have a light level of 15 (the highest level). For reference, torches are at a 14. Soul lanterns are a variant with a dimmer, turquoise light at level 10 — they also repel piglins! You'll need two ingredients to craft a lantern: 1 torch or 1 soul torch: You can make regular torches using sticks and coal. To make a soul torch, you'll need soul soil or soul sand from the Nether. 8 iron nuggets: Place 1 iron ingot in the crafting menu to yield 9 iron nuggets.

Open the crafting menu. Once you have the required materials, you're ready to start crafting!

Place the torch in the center slot. In the 3 by 3 crafting menu, put the torch directly in the center. Use a soul torch instead to make a soul lantern. The soul lantern has a weaker light at light level 10, but it also repels piglins.

Place the 8 iron nuggets around the torch. The iron nuggets should make up every side of the 3 by 3 crafting menu now. The lantern will appear in the item slot to the right of the crafting menu.

Click the lantern. This will place the newly crafted lantern into your inventory. You're ready to place the lantern on a tree, near your house, or in your underground base. Lanterns can be placed on a block or they can hang from a ceiling. When placed on a block, the lantern will have a handle. When placed on the ceiling, the lantern will have a chain connecting it to the block above it.

Other Ways to Get a Lantern

Find a lantern naturally. Lanterns spawn in a variety of places! You're likely to find a few while playing Minecraft. You can find them in snowy tundra villages and bastion remnants. Soul lanterns sometimes appear in ancient cities.

Trade with a librarian. A village librarian (apprentice-level) sometimes sells lanterns for one emerald.

Get a lantern from the creative menu. While in creative mode, search for "lantern" in the search bar at the top of the creative inventory menu to find the lantern.

Type /give lantern in the chat. Typing this command in the chat will place a lantern in your inventory.