How Underground Beacons Work

Beacons Without a Sky Shaft

Normally a beacon needs an unobstructed column of air above it so its beam can reach the sky, which forces you to dig a tunnel straight up before the beacon will activate. Underground Beacons Mod removes that requirement.

With this mod installed, the beacon beam is allowed to pass through solid blocks. As long as the beacon is otherwise valid — placed on a proper pyramid of mineral blocks and powered correctly — it will activate and grant its effects even when it sits deep below the surface with stone, dirt, or any other blocks directly above it.

This means you no longer have to clear a vertical shaft to the surface. You can tuck a beacon into a cave, a mineshaft, or a room carved out of the deep underground and still receive its status effects. Placement becomes flexible: pick the spot that suits your base rather than the spot that happens to have open sky above it.