What is your favorite material to make lanterns out of?

[ifoz]

I quite like the look of black bronze, especially when lined with electrum.
In survival though I usually just make copper, brass, tin bronze or molybdochalkos, since those don't need any particularly rare materials.

What actually ends up happening though is that I'll get a handful of lanterns from ruins early-midgame, and then not actually need to make any by hand until the lategame when I want to light up larger areas or expand my base further. x)

[Maelstrom]

On 9/15/2026 at 8:59 PM, ifoz said:

I quite like the look of black bronze, especially when lined with electrum.

Try molybdochalkos and with gold lining.   *chef's kiss*

[MKMoose]

The materials mentioned so far are roughly something like:

• 8x copper,
• 2x bismuth bronze,
• 3x tin bronze,
• 4x black bronze,
• 3x brass,
• 8x molybdochalkos,
• 5x bismuth,
• 2x meteoric iron,
• 1x silver/electrum/gold,
• 1x steel (modded).

I feel like it's safe to say that there is no clear community favorite, though it's no surprise that copper and molybdochalkos are the most common as they are probably perceived as the cheapest while being aesthetically no less than decent.

The popularity of bismuth has surprised me, personally, as I'm not a big fan of its colors - not to mention the 271 °C melting point, which is extremely low for anything which is supposed to carry fire. Brass with its melting point of ~900-940 °C (920 °C in-game) is generally considered to be around the minimum for safe and reliable fire handling with candlesticks, lanterns or whatnot, so while realism is naturally not the be-all end-all here, I find the ability to use bismuth for lanterns somewhat comical to say it lightly.

Myself, besides the "I need a lantern now, out of whatever I have" lanterns, I tend to prefer tin bronze, as it is still cheap while being quite aesthetically pleasing and universal. For building applications I may also choose some other flavors, especially brass, iron or silver, depending on what suits the specific build.

[Sparticus247]

Honestly I'm just happy we have so many options. The ore RNG near your base can really affect what you do in the game material wise. Brass torch holders are a good example. I would love to craft these more often, but if I have to travel 5,000 blocks to get a usable reading for sphalerite then I'm just not using them at all, and waiting on lanterns. 

Other times I get a crazy! Good reading, and I get those early.

[Zaph42nd]

8 hours ago, MKMoose said:

The materials mentioned so far are roughly something like:

• 8x copper,
• 2x bismuth bronze,
• 3x tin bronze,
• 4x black bronze,
• 3x brass,
• 8x molybdochalkos,
• 5x bismuth,
• 2x meteoric iron,
• 1x silver/electrum/gold,
• 1x steel (modded).

I feel like it's safe to say that there is no clear community favorite, though it's no surprise that copper and molybdochalkos are the most common as they are probably perceived as the cheapest while being aesthetically no less than decent.

Neat, makes a lot of sense to me, I'm more surprised to see any mention of post-bronze lanterns given the cost/time dedication you need to even get more advanced metals... The nice thing though is regardless of metal type most lanterns look good, as I mentioned, I'm a big fan of the look of small lanterns (despite arguably being less useful in a lighting situation, they are aesthetically great for small rooms or interiors)

[OBAMFSpike]

On 9/13/2026 at 10:36 PM, Juwan Alexander said:

I must be doing something wrong because I've yet to find the ore I need to make black bronze in the 300 hours I've spent on this game in the last month lol.

Dont forget you can chisel stuff down in your crafting grid that is made of gold. Crowns and such. Im drawing a blank on items in vanilla that can be used but I know there is plenty using BetterRuins. 

I like silver for my lanterns. I have a knack with the quartz veins I sure do. Black Bronze is the other. Different builds require different textures and colors and all that jazz hand stuff. 

[Argakyan]

I use brass
I don't have a better use for brass ingame and when I think of the model example of a lantern irl it's most likely brass or copper in my region. 

[chk1]

On 9/21/2026 at 1:33 PM, MKMoose said:

The popularity of bismuth has surprised me, personally, as I'm not a big fan of its colors - not to mention the 271 °C melting point, which is extremely low for anything which is supposed to carry fire. Brass with its melting point of ~900-940 °C (920 °C in-game) is generally considered to be around the minimum for safe and reliable fire handling with candlesticks, lanterns or whatnot, so while realism is naturally not the be-all end-all here, I find the ability to use bismuth for lanterns somewhat comical to say it lightly.

People have mentioned the rainbow colors, but if you look at it from a bit further away, it actually looks a bit closer to weathered copper or some other type of metal like that, at least to my eyes. None of the other lantern metals really come close to filling that role.

But also, I think another reason is that bismuth is pretty common in worldgen, but also has next to no other uses (besides lanterns), once you get past the bronze age. Most of the other lantern metals require copper, which still has some other uses at least.

This is perhaps obvious, but the low melting point also makes it cheaper and easier to smelt, since you don't even need any type of coal and it melts fast.