Getting the right elements is rather vital in Minecraft. However, many important minerals like gold, coal, diamond and cobblestone are found underground, meaning you’ll have to do some digging to get there.
Alternatively, you can explore the overworld until you find a cave and use that to get a headstart on your mining operations. However, you’ll soon run into another problem as soon as you start going further underground — the lack of light.
You see, caves in Minecraft are dark because there’s no light source there. This means that hostile mobs spawn in there all the time, and you can’t really do much without light.Â
In this article, we’re talking about how to make caves brighter in Minecraft.
Also read: How to make pants in Minecraft?
Making caves brighter
When generating light, you have a couple of options in-game, the most common one being torches. They’re easy to craft and are an infinite supply of light once you place them on a wall or the floor. However, they take coal and sticks to make, and it’ll take you some time to light up a dark cave with torches alone.Â
This is where Minecraft’s gamma settings come in. In this article, we’ll be going over both methods.
Using torches
Torches, of course, are the default way to light up just about any area in the game. You need the following items to craft a torch in-game.
- 1 x coal or 1 x charcoal
- 1 x stick
The items mentioned above will give you four torches. Since they’re stackable, you can store up to 64 torches in one slot and have as many as you’d need. You can craft torches in either your inventory or the crafting table. Just make sure to follow the exact pattern as shown below.Â
In your personal inventory:

In the crafting table:

Once you have a torch, hold it and right-click on a surface to place the torch.
Using gamma (Java edition only)
If torches are too time-consuming for you, you can increase the in-game gamma to see dark environments more clearly. Here’s how.
Step 1: Press Windows key + R to open the Run prompt. Type .minecraft and hit enter.
Step 2: Find and open a .txt file called options.
Step 3: Find the gamma setting and increase it to 1000%.
Keep in mind that this method will only work for the Java Edition. If you’re playing the Bedrock edition, you’re going to have to either install a gamma pack or use torches.
Save the file and restart Minecraft. You’ll be able to see dark places much better now. However, keep in mind that this will cause some visual artefacts when you’re in regular lighting.Â
Also read: How to make a wolf banner in Minecraft?