Beacons are a Prison currency that drops from rare beacon blocks in mines. Every beacon you hold counts towards your gang: a gang's beacon total is the sum of the beacons its members personally hold, and that single number decides both the gang's leaderboard score and its perk levels.
Earning beacons#
- Mine in a mine. Each time a mine block is generated, it has a 1% chance to be a beacon block instead.
- Break the beacon block. It pays 1 beacon at base, multiplied by your beacon bonuses (see below), and rounds to a whole number.
- The beacons go straight to your balance. They skip your backpack and the token system, so there is nothing to sell, and they are added to your regular mining summary.
- A chat message says "You have found a beacon!". It is rate-limited to once every 3 seconds and can be switched off with the Toggle Beacon Found Message option.
You can mine beacon blocks in your own mine and in the mines of your gang mates. See Gang Members and Roles for who may mine where.
Beacon bonuses#
All beacon bonuses add together as percentages rather than multiplying each other.
| Source | Effect |
|---|---|
| Beacon Radar gang perk | +5% to +25% beacons across five levels. See Gang Perks. |
| War Chest gang perk | +100% beacons while it is running |
| Beacon boosters | Booster items raise the beacons earned in the mine they are used on. |
| Adrenaline Surge (beacons) booster | Temporary beacon bonus while the surge is running |
| Beacon Rush enchant | While it is active it adds its bonus to the beacon sum. See Beacon Rush. |
| Rebirths | A rebirth bonus of 2 to the power of your rebirth count (x2 at one rebirth, x4 at two), added with the other bonuses. See Rebirth. |
| Some pickaxe skins | A small passive beacon boost, for example +5% on certain skins. See The Pickaxe. |
Other ways to gain beacons#
Beacon blocks are not the only source. Some crate rewards pay beacons straight to your balance, which counts towards your gang immediately:
| Source | Beacons |
|---|---|
| A Prestige Crate reward option | 250,000 |
| A Rebirth Crate reward option | 1,000,000 |
See Prison Crates for the crates and Prison Currencies for the other Prison currencies.
How a gang's total is counted#
- The total is recalculated from the current members' balances whenever it is read. There is no deposit step and no separate gang account.
- Mining a beacon raises the total immediately, because the beacon goes to your balance.
- A member who joins adds their whole balance to the gang. A member who leaves or is kicked takes their balance with them.
- Spending or giving away beacons lowers the total.
- Perk levels are a one-way ratchet: once a level has unlocked it stays unlocked even if the total drops later. The weekly and all-time rankings, however, always use the live total.
You can see who contributes the most in /gang members, which lists every member's beacons.
Checking beacons#
| Command | Result |
|---|---|
/beacons | Shows your balance |
/beacons <player> | Shows another player's balance, where your rank allows it |
/beacontop [page] | Lists the players with the most beacons |
Your balance and your gang's total are also on the Prison scoreboard.
See also#
- Prison Currencies for the other Prison currencies
- Gang Leaderboard for how beacon totals are turned into weekly rankings
- Mines for how mines and blocks regenerate