How to check light level in Minecraft bedrock xbox

Monsters come out in the dark, so turn on the lights!

Light Sources

Mostly you will use torches to provide light, but a number of other items are practical light sources too.

Torch

One stick and one piece of coal or charcoal makes four torches. They're cheap as well as useful!

Torches provide light when you place them on a wall or the floor. They do not provide light when you are just holding them.

Jack-o-Lanterns

Put a torch into a pumpkin and what do you get? A decorative light source.

Glowstone

This block can be found in the Nether. When mined it breaks into Glowstone Dust, which can be reconstituted to make Glowstone.

Fire

Many wooden blocks can be set on fire with a flint and steel. The only thing that burns for a long time, however, is Netherrack.

Preventing Mob Spawning

Technical details

Every block has a light level between 0 and 15. 0 is dark, 15 is the same as bright sunlight.

A torch has a brightness of 14, the other light sources described above have a brightness of 15.

Each block you travel away from the light source, the light level drops by 1.

Mobs can spawn when the light level is 7 or lower.

How to Space Your Torches

Some tips on how to keep the light level at 8 or above

In Tunnels

In a 1-block-wide tunnel, torches may be placed every 13th block (i.e. 12 empty blocks between) if at floor level, or every 11th block (10 blocks spacing) if at eye level.

For a 2-block-wide tunnel, 10-block spacing at floor level or 8-block spacing at eye level will do the trick.

Covering large areas

Place a row of torches with gaps of 11 blocks between them (a torch every 12th block).

Place a parallel row of torches, staggered, leaving a 6-block gap.

Check levels with a redstone torch

If you have a redstone torch handy, you can use it to check light levels. Redstone torches emit a light level of 8. If you place a redstone torch and the square doesn't get any brighter, you know it was at level 8 or higher.

Check light levels by pressing F3

It seems a little bit like cheating, but you can check your current light level where you are standing. The debug screen that comes up shows various information about lightinf; the light level you are interested in is "rl".

Knowing the correct light levels for each light-emitting source in Minecraft can be very useful, both for technical and gameplay purposes.

Usually, this interests the more advanced players, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know how to view the light levels even as a beginner.

If you aren’t sure how to do this yet, you’ve come to the right place.

This guide covers everything you need to know about light levels in Minecraft, so without further ado, let’s get right into it.

Depending on what version of Minecraft you’re playing, showing the light levels can be different but still possible in each one of them, even in vanilla.

If you prefer playing Minecraft without mods, you can see the light levels by pressing the F3 button on your keyboard. This will open up the debug screen along with the profiler graph.

Usually, this is helpful for the developers, but for this particular case, it will be useful for you as well, as it allows seeing the light levels for each block.

The light levels will be listed under the “client light” and “server light” parameters, as shown in the image below.

The light levels can also be shown in a parameter called “rl” as shown in the image below.

Note: If you are playing on a laptop, make sure to use the function (fn) button when pressing F3 to open up the debug screen.

Now, since it can be quite annoying to run around in-game with the debug screen opened, a lot of people choose to download a mod that makes monitoring light levels much easier.

For more information on that topic, you can look at this helpful video which covers the use of a very convenient mod called “Minihud,” and it’s also free to use.

Also, Minecraft versions different from the basic (vanilla) one, such as Feed The Beast and Bedrock, for example, have other ways of monitoring Minecraft light levels, but that might not be available for you if the version you have installed is the classic one.

Luckily, the F3 debug screen will always be available, and you can rely on it to accurately check light levels and other important parameters within the game.

If you want to go down the modding path, besides the “Minihud” that we mentioned above, other mods that allow for convenient monitoring of light levels are OptiFine, Light Level Overlay Reloaded, and Light Level Sensor.

What Are Minecraft Light Levels?

The lighting in Minecraft has both an aesthetic and functional role. The day and night cycle is important for gameplay purposes, and the light levels also play a crucial role in the monster-spawning element.

To simplify, there are sixteen light levels in the game, ranging from zero to fifteen, zero being the equivalent of a completely dark block in a cave, for example, while fifteen is the same as a block exposed to bright sunlight.

There are different items, such as torches and blocks, that emit light when placed, and the further the blocks are from one of those light sources, the lower the light level they have. For each block you move further away from the light source, the light level drops by one.

If you place a torch, for example, which gives a brightness (light level) of fourteen, and move seven blocks away from it, you are basically not safe anymore, as monsters can start spawning on blocks on which the light level is seven or lower.

The vertical axis also plays a role in determining light levels.

You can read more about the light in Minecraft in the official wiki article covering this topic.

Why Is Displaying Minecraft Light Levels Important?

Now that you know what light levels are and how to check/display them, it’s important to understand why it’s so useful to do so.

The main reason players want to monitor the light levels of blocks within the game is to prevent monsters from spawning in specific areas. Another reason is for symmetrical, aesthetic reasons where lightning is really important.

Players usually need to check block and environment light levels both in survival and creative mode.

If you are willing to use light level measuring for survival purposes, this helpful video will explain how the monster spawning mechanics work.

Once again, for those who need to view the light levels constantly, we suggest using a mod over the traditional method, which is by using the debug screen/profiles on F3.

Conclusion

Now you know what Minecraft light levels are and how to display them both without any mods and by installing some of the ones we mentioned above.

This information should help you build and light up your environments within the game much easier and avoid the evil monsters that spawn when the sun goes down.  

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