Minecraft wiki entry for Survival_in_an_infinite_desert, associated text: The desert is slightly forgiving in that it has higher ambient light levels at night. Nonetheless, monsters still spawn. Obtaining light sources in the desert is challenging. The basic light source is a torch, but these require coal or charcoal. Charcoal requires wood blocks, which are totally absent from the desert. Coal ore does exist, but mining it requires a pickaxe, which requires wood planks, which are again absent from the desert. The best long-term sustainable light source is probably lava, but if you do not have the capability to make a bucket, the only way to use lava is to move your base to a lava source and perhaps slightly extend the effect of the lava by digging shallow trenches for it to spread from the source. If you have a bucket you can make "lava lamps" from stone-lined holes.