How to Create Flickering Redstone Torches in Minecraft

Obtain redstone. The most important ingredient in a flickering redstone torch (and the one that gives it its name) is Redstone. Redstone can be obtained in a variety of ways, though perhaps the most straightforward is to simply mine it from redstone ore. Redstone ore occurs naturally underground and requires an iron pickaxe or better to mine. Each block of redstone ore yields 4-5 redstone. Redstone can also be obtained several other ways, including:^[1]

• By trading with a villager priest
• By killing a witch, who drop 0-6 redstone when they die
• By collecting redstone dust in jungle temples, where it naturally occurs
• By crafting from a block of redstone. (Uses 8 redstone)

Obtain a stick. As is the case with ordinary torches, redstone torches require a wooden stick for crafting. Luckily, this ingredient is fairly common, as it is used in many craftable items. Sticks can be crafted from two wood planks (one above the other), which, combined, will yield 4 sticks. Other ways to obtain sticks include:^[2]

• Killing a witch, who drop 0-6 sticks when they die
• Finding them in a bonus chest (Not in Minecraft Pocket Edition)

Combine the redstone and stick via the crafting menu. When you have your redstone and stick, open your inventory and use the crafting menu to combine them. A single redstone torch is created from one stick and one redstone.

• A word of caution when using redstone torches - since the light they provide is significantly less than that of a normal torch, mobs are able to spawn nearby. Don't be caught unprepared!

Have extra redstone handy to create a flicker effect. You've now created a fully functional redstone torch. However, to create a pulsing/flickering effect, you'll need additional supplies of redstone for the purpose of laying redstone circuitry. Thus, you may need to mine more redstone ore as needed or be ready to obtain it through one of the other methods.