Lightning Rods

[ayjin]

If my lightning rod is on a pillar that is 40 blocks in the air then is ALL the ground below protected since there's 40 blocks of space between the rod and ground? For example if I placed my lightning rod in my chicken coop but it is 40 blocks in the air are the chickens safe or does lightning affect EVERY block 8 spaces around it.

[StCatharines]

I'm trying to picture what you're asking, but as far as I know the target block for lightning seems to be the only one directly hit with full damage with the adjacent blocks taking less if any at all. It turns out that the target block and all directly adjacent blocks in a sphere take 6 damage. "Lightning strikes deal 6 damage to all creatures in an eight-block radius spherical area around the strike."

If you have "lightningFires": true, on the world config, then a fire will start on that block and spread if it's flammable, which lightning rods are not.

The lightning rod should protect an area, not just the one block it's however many blocks above. You don't need to make a roof blanketed with rods, if that's what you're asking.

Here's the wiki breakdown:

Quote

The lightning rod protects a pyramid-shaped area below itself.

Imagine the rod as the top block of a virtual pyramid of blocks. This one block where the lightning rod itself sits, is protected. Additionally, a 3x3 area of blocks directly below the lightning rod is protected. Then, a 5x5 area below that. Then, a 7x7 area. And so on.

This means that if you want to protect a specific area, the lightning rod must be mounted at least as high as the radius of that area. Example: a flat 15x15 area has a radius of 7 blocks around its center block. So the lightning rod would need to be placed at least 7 blocks above the center of that area in order to be able to protect all of it.

However, keep in mind that most areas are not flat. Elevated parts of an area, such as hills, buildings, plants, or creatures, will peek out of the protected pyramid. So you usually want to mount the lightning rod even higher, to account for such objects.

During a storm, if lightning would strike any block inside a protected area, it will instead strike the lightning rod protecting that area. Any damage caused by lightning would conversely also be deflected.

 

Edited January 26, 2025 by StCatharines

[ayjin]

@StCatharinesHere is a picture for reference, the lightning rod is in the air like 30 something blocks but it is right next to my chickens. Will they be hit by this? Cause i'm still a little confused how it works.

Edited January 26, 2025 by ayjin
@ing someone

[StCatharines]

That looks like they'll be well covered!

[ayjin]

7 minutes ago, StCatharines said:

That looks like they'll be well covered!

Ok thank you for helping, I was really worried that one day they'd just be dead and it would suck cause I tried so hard to get the chickens.

[Zandramas]

Hi!

I have some more questions regarding this topic.

In general, how is "radius" defined in VS? Is the center already counted as 1 or as 0? And is diagonal direction also counted as one step (which would mean, a radius of 8 is a 17x17 square when the center not part of the radius).

And about the rod: it only protects the area from lightning strikes, but not from the damage sphere, right?

Which would mean to protect an area within a 7x7 fence, the rod must be 11 blocks above the ground to prevent the damage sphere touching the fence (again with radius 8 starting next to the center)?

I just want to be sure after I had some grilled chicken for dinner lately...

Many thanks in advance

[idiomcritter]

20 hours ago, Zandramas said:

Hi!

I have some more questions regarding this topic.

In general, how is "radius" defined in VS? Is the center already counted as 1 or as 0? And is diagonal direction also counted as one step (which would mean, a radius of 8 is a 17x17 square when the center not part of the radius).

And about the rod: it only protects the area from lightning strikes, but not from the damage sphere, right?

Which would mean to protect an area within a 7x7 fence, the rod must be 11 blocks above the ground to prevent the damage sphere touching the fence (again with radius 8 starting next to the center)?

I just want to be sure after I had some grilled chicken for dinner lately...

Many thanks in advance

from the wiki lightning

"if you want to protect a specific area, the lightning rod must be mounted at least as high as the radius of that area. Example: a flat 15x15 area has a radius of 7 blocks around its center block."

[Logovore]

Does the height of the surrounding area matter for protection or does the cone continue downward all the way to ground? Let’s say my rod is located 40 tiles up from ground and there are spots that are 30 tiles below from where the tower the rod sits on begins; are those spaces also protected?

[Maelstrom]

Lightning rods protect all the way to the ground.   The cone has a maximum base area, the size of which I do not recall presently, so building a lightning rod higher than the maximum "radius" of the base could lead to a false sense of security.

[Logovore]

15 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Lightning rods protect all the way to the ground.   The cone has a maximum base area, the size of which I do not recall presently, so building a lightning rod higher than the maximum "radius" of the base could lead to a false sense of security.

Got it. So it protects a radius of 40 (if 40 above ground) and that protection looks more like a sharpened pencil all the way down from the edges of the protection. 

Edited August 28, 2025 by Logovore

[Maelstrom]

Correct.   Iirc, the max radius is 32 though.   But I could be wrong.

[Lyndsey]

From vs wiki