Top 4 things to know about conduits in Minecraft (2022)

There are a lot of valuable items in Minecraft. Each one is important and serves a purpose, but there's a natural hierarchy. Sugar cane is useful, but it's probably not as valuable as an Ender pearl.

A conduit is one of the best items for underwater exploration and status effects in Minecraft. It might even be better than a beacon, though it ultimately depends on what players want or need.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the views of the author.

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Light level and 3 other facts you need to know about conduits in Minecraft

1) There's only one way to get it

Players probably know that conduits are among the hardest items to craft in the game. What they may not realize is that there's literally only one way to get them in the entire game. They do not generate naturally, and thus have to be crafted.

Players can craft conduits by placing Heart of the Sea in the center of the crafting grid and surrounding it with seven Nautilus shells.

A good reason why conduits are so rare is that Nautilus shells are difficult enough to come by, and the Heart of the Sea is nearly unheard of. The Heart of the Sea has a 100% chance of spawning in buried treasure, but that's the only place it will ever be found.

The majority of items in the game can be found in a few different ways, so it is a frustrating rarity sometimes.

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2) Aesthetics

A conduit not fully activated (Image via Mojang)

According to the Minecraft Wiki, the conduit can change its appearance:

"When it is activated, the conduit displays the heart of the sea's texture in the center of its model. However, when all 42 blocks have been placed (when the conduit is fully activated) the heart opens like an orange eye."

Most items in Minecraft do not change their appearance, so it's interesting that a conduit does. The big draw is to get the full range of status effects, but this mechanic is a fun touch from Mojang.

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3) Light level

There is no scenario in which the conduit serves a better purpose in water than providing power. However, this requires a lot of prismarine, which can only be found in Ocean Monuments, making the complete build of a conduit rather difficult.

If Minecraft players don't have prismarine, the structure can be used as an excellent light source. In fact, it's the best in the game.

Conduits carry a light level of 15, which is the same as a torch. This is also the maximum light level in the game, so they do have a second valuable use in water.

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4) Conduit status effects

The most important thing to know about the conduit is what it can do when activated. Once it's powered up, it makes being underwater so much easier. To best see this, players should fully power a conduit by building the complete structure.

According to the Minecraft Wiki:

"Players under the effect of Conduit Power receive all of the benefits of Water Breathing, Night Vision, and Haste. This means that their breath meter does not decrease, it gets filled up even underwater‌ [Bedrock Edition only], they can sleep in a waterlogged bed‌ [Bedrock Edition only], they are able to see underwater, and their underwater mining speed increases."

These status effects are so good that a player can live underwater permanently. Conduits are easily one of the best ways to apply status effects in the entire game.

These powerups can reach fairly far in range too, allowing players to swim a long way away before their Night Vision and Water Breathing go away.