How to Make a Torch in Minecraft: 4 Torches per Coal
One coal or charcoal above 1 stick makes 4 torches. How to make a torch in Minecraft, light caves to stop mob spawns, and craft soul and redstone torches.
Place 1 coal or charcoal directly above 1 stick in any crafting grid, including the 2x2 grid in your inventory. You get 4 torches. Coal and charcoal are interchangeable here.
No coal? Use charcoal
Coal is easy to find on cliff faces and in caves, but on your first night you might not have any. Smelt a log in a furnace and you get charcoal, which makes torches just as well. Burn planks as the fuel for that first batch. Our charcoal guide explains the trick in detail.
One coal plus one stick for four torches is a great deal, so make a stack early and keep it in your hotbar.
How torches stop mobs
A torch gives light level 14. Light falls by one for each block it travels, so a torch on the floor lights around 13 blocks in each direction before fading to nothing.
Since 1.18 in Java (and a matching update in Bedrock), most hostile mobs in the Overworld only spawn where the block light is 0. That means any torch light at all on a block stops zombies, skeletons, creepers and spiders spawning there. In practice:
- Around your base, spacing torches about 12 blocks apart in a grid covers flat ground.
- In caves, a torch every 10 blocks or so keeps the path behind you safe.
- In buildings, check corners and the space under stairs, where light often doesn’t reach.
Press F3 in Java to see the block light level where you’re standing.
Lighting caves for mining
The old habit still works: place torches on one side of the tunnel only (say, the right) as you go in. On the way out, keep them on your left and you’ll never take the wrong turn. Our mining guide covers branch mining, and the diamond guide has the best levels to light up.
Other torches
- Soul torch: coal or charcoal, a stick, and soul sand or soul soil underneath. Blue, light level 10, and piglins avoid it.
- Redstone torch: redstone dust on top of a stick. Light level 7 and a power source for circuits, not really for lighting.
- Lantern: a torch surrounded by 8 iron nuggets. Light 15 and can hang from ceilings; see how to make a lantern.
Small tricks
- A torch placed under a falling column of sand or gravel breaks each block into an item as it lands. It’s a quick way to clear gravel when you’re digging.
- Torches can’t go in water. Underwater, use sea lanterns, glowstone or lanterns.
- Torches melt nearby snow and ice, which can flood a build in snowy biomes.
The survival tips page has more habits like these that keep new players alive.
Common questions
How do you make torches without coal?
Use charcoal. Smelt any log in a furnace to get charcoal, then put it on top of a stick. It works exactly like coal.
What light level does a torch give?
14, one less than the maximum. Light drops by one per block, so a torch lights about 13 blocks out in each direction before reaching 0.
Do torches stop all mobs from spawning?
In both Java and Bedrock, most hostile mobs in the Overworld need block light 0 to spawn, so any torch light on a block stops them there. Slimes in slime chunks and a few others ignore light.
Sources & verification
Facts on this page are checked against these references and in-game behavior for the stated edition(s). how we verify.
Keep reading