How to Make a Copper Lantern in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Craft 8 copper nuggets around a copper torch for a copper lantern. It burns with a green flame at the maximum light level of 15 - and unlike copper bulbs, oxidation never dims it.

What you need

Copper nugget x8 (1 ingot = 9 nuggets)
Copper torch x1 (copper nugget + coal + stick)
Crafting table

Step by step

Craft copper nuggets: 1 copper ingot splits into 9 nuggets, and smelting copper tools or armor returns nuggets too. You need 8 per lantern.
Craft a copper torch: copper nugget + coal + stick, the copper-age cousin of the regular torch, with a green flame.
Craft the lantern: put the copper torch in the center of the grid and ring it with 8 copper nuggets - the same shape as an iron lantern.
Place it on top of a block or hang it from the underside; hung from a chain, the lantern and chain connect seamlessly, just like other lanterns.
Light up at full power: copper lanterns emit light level 15, melting snow layers within 2 blocks and ice within 3.
Forget maintenance: the green flame stays at light level 15 at every oxidation stage, so even a fully oxidized teal lantern lights like new - copper bulbs can't say that.
Mine it with anything: a pickaxe is fastest, but any tool (or breaking its support, or a piston pushing into its space) drops the lantern itself.
Wax or age it: use honeycomb to lock the copper orange, or let it oxidize for the full patina; axes and lightning strip stages back.
Loot one in the wild: since 26.3, oxidized copper lanterns generate in abandoned camps, so early explorers can find one pre-aged.

Java vs Bedrock

Recipe, placement and light level 15 are identical in Java and Bedrock. In Bedrock Preview with the Render Dragon Features for Creators experiment, the unwaxed lantern's flame casts green point lighting (#86ca59) and the waxed variants a warm tone (#e8c398).

Versions: Added in 1.21.9 (Java snapshot 25w32a) and Bedrock 1.21.111 (Preview 1.21.110.23) with The Copper Age drop; textures adjusted for color-blind players soon after. Oxidized lanterns generate in abandoned camps since 26.3.

Frequently asked questions

Does a copper lantern lose light when it oxidizes?

No. Unlike copper bulbs, a copper lantern emits light level 15 at every stage from shiny orange to fully oxidized teal - the patina is purely cosmetic.

How do you make a copper torch for the lantern?

Combine a copper nugget, coal (or charcoal) and a stick vertically, like a regular torch with a copper tip. It burns with a green flame.

What is the difference between a copper lantern and a soul lantern?

A copper lantern gives light level 15 (soul lanterns only 10) and oxidizes over time; soul lanterns repel piglins instead. Both hang from blocks and chains the same way.