How to use lightning rods in Minecraft

In Minecraft 1.17 Caves & Cliffs, Mojang has introduced a new mechanic and item: lightning rods.

Lightning rods are crafted by placing three copper ingots vertically in a crafting table, and it will only create one at a time. Seeing as lightning rods are new additions to Minecraft, lots of players might be wondering how to use them correctly.

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Lightning Rods in Minecraft 1.17

Breaking and Obtaining Lightning Rods

When a lightning rod is placed, if players need to mine it to move it, they need to use a stone pickaxe or better, because if a wooden or golden pickaxe is used, the lightning rod will not drop anything. Stone pickaxe takes the longest to mine, at 1.15 seconds and Netherite pickaxes take 0.5 seconds to mine.

Lightning Rod Usage

Lightning rods in Minecraft can be oriented in different directions. A singular lightning rod redirects lightning strikes within an area of 32x4x32 in Java Edition, and 64x64x64 in Bedrock Edition. Lightning is redirected to the top of the rod, which ultimately prevents flammable structures from catching on fire during thunderstorms.

Lightning rods are also useful in trying to see when a thunderstorm will happen, as it will emit particles during thunderstorms. Lightning rods can also divert the lightning created by a trident enchanted with Channeling thrown at an entity during a thunderstorm.

A lightning rod emits a redstone signal when it's struck by lightning.

Players, as seen in the header image, can create very intricate builds with lots of lightning rods. Lightning rods can prove to be very useful for large builds consisting of mostly wooden materials, as it can protect said builds from catching on fire due to direct lightning strikes.

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