Lightning rod

Lightning rod
Material	Metal
Stackable	64
Drops	Itself
Blocks

The lightning rod is a player-crafted item used to protect an area from lightning strikes during thunderstorms.

Crafting

The lightning rod is made exclusively from a copper ingot by smithing .

Usage

The lightning rod protects a pyramid-shaped area below itself.

Imagine the rod as the top block of a virtual pyramid of blocks. This one block where the lightning rod itself sits, is protected. Additionally, a 3x3 area of blocks directly below the lightning rod is protected. Then, a 5x5 area below that. Then, a 7x7 area. And so on.

This means that if you want to protect a specific area, the lightning rod must be mounted at least as high as the radius of that area. Example: a flat 15x15 area has a radius of 7 blocks around its center block. So the lightning rod would need to be placed at least 7 blocks above the center of that area in order to be able to protect all of it.

However, keep in mind that most areas are not flat. Elevated parts of an area, such as hills, buildings, plants, or creatures, will peek out of the protected pyramid. So you usually want to mount the lightning rod even higher, to account for such objects.

During a storm, if lightning would strike any block inside a protected area, it will instead strike the lightning rod protecting that area. Any damage caused by lightning would conversely also be deflected.

The lightning rod does not have durability. It can survive an infinite number of lightning strikes.

Notes

Lightning that strikes within a distance of the height of the lightning rod difference will be attracted to it: if lightning is going to hit a block that is 30 blocks away in X and Z but 32 blocks below the lightning rod, then it will hit the lightning rod instead. SeeBEBehaviorAttractsLightning.cs