Minecraft wiki entry for Tips_and_tricks, associated text: Light is a key resource in the game: Besides letting you see effectively, it prevents most monsters from spawning, which effectively makes it the usual way to "claim" territory as player-controlled. Initially you will be getting most of your light from daylight and torches Torches have a base light level of 14 -- later you will be getting a number of other light sources, which are slightly brighter, at light level 15 (which is the maximum possible). The key point is that the light level from any of these drops by 1 for each block in any direction: east, west, north, south, up, and down. Diagonals count as two steps! Overworld monsters will only spawn in complete darkness, or in pre-1.18 versions, light level 7 or less.