Once you're past your first day on Skyblock (if you're not, start with Skyblock Getting Started), the three questions everyone asks are the same: how do I level up my island, how do I get better generators, and what do biomes actually do? This guide answers all three, straight from how Sunrise Skyblock is configured.
Your island control panel
Everything runs through your island control panel. Open it with:
/island open your control panel (aliases: /is, /skyblock, /sb)
From there — or straight from chat — these are the sub-commands this guide uses:
/is level check your island level and score
/island generator open the generator menu (unlock, buy, activate)
/is biomes open the biome menu (set, buy, info)
/is team manage members, coop, and trust
Raising your island level
Run /is level to scan your island and see your current level and score. A fresh island starts at effectively level 0 — the starter blueprint doesn't inflate you — and there's a short ~60-second cooldown between scans, so don't spam it after placing a few blocks.
Your level comes from the blocks placed on your island, and not all blocks are equal. Dense mineral blocks are what move the needle; plain building and decorative blocks (planks, stairs, logs, andesite, and the like) count for nothing. Two more rules worth knowing: blocks on your nether and end islands count too, and items sitting inside chests do not count.
Here's what the common blocks are actually worth:
| Block | Points each |
|---|---|
| Netherite block | 600 |
| Diamond block | 300 |
| Iron block | 40 |
| Emerald block | 40 |
| Gold block | 21 |
| Copper block | 20 |
| Lapis block | 20 |
| Coal block | 10 |
| Redstone block | 5 |
| Grass block | 3 |
| Dirt / Sand | 2 |
| Most plain building blocks | 0 |
The practical takeaway is the exact advice veterans give in chat: stack cheap mineral blocks for the earliest levels. Nine coal or iron makes a block that's worth real points, whereas a wall of oak planks does nothing. Buy or craft mineral blocks in bulk, place them on your island, then run /is level after the cooldown to see the jump.
There's no cross-island leaderboard command for Skyblock players —
/is levelis how you track your own progress.
Generators: how they work
Skyblock generators are the engine of your economy: they decide what block appears when lava meets water, and better generators quietly salt in more valuable ores every time you mine. They aren't built by hand — they're a menu system. Open it with:
/island generator open the generator menu
Inside the menu (or from the sub-commands) there are three actions, and every generator moves through them in order:
view preview a generator's tier and what it produces
buy purchase a generator you've unlocked
activate make a purchased generator the one that runs on your island
Each tier works in two steps: you unlock it by reaching its required island level, then buy it with in-game money. Because your generators come from island level, this loop ties straight back to the leveling section above — one island level costs 100 block-points, so "needs island level 20" means roughly 20 × 100 = 2,000 points of dense mineral blocks placed and scanned. Level up, then the next generator unlocks.
Only one generator is active at a time. Activating a new one swaps out the old one automatically — there's no juggling, and no penalty for switching back and forth, so it's safe to hop between (say) a cobblestone generator on your main island and a basalt generator once you've set a nether biome.
The three tracks
There are three generator lines, and picking the right one for where you are is most of the strategy.
Overworld: Cobblestone → Deepslate. This is the backbone line, and it works anywhere with no biome requirement. Cobblestone I (the free default) is almost all stone with a trickle of coal. Cobblestone II salts in iron; Cobblestone III adds gold and redstone on top of that. The Deepslate tiers (I–III) are the payoff end of this line: they swap the base to deepslate and start producing diamond, emerald, and lapis, with every tier up raising the chance of each — Deepslate III is where diamond, emerald, lapis, and redstone all hit their best rates. Sitting off to the side is the standalone Mineral Generator, which is a pure granite / diorite / andesite farm in equal shares — a stone-variant block factory for building or leveling, not an ore line.
Nether: Basalt I → V. The basalt line is built on netherrack and basalt with glowstone mixed in, and it only works while your island biome is a nether biome. As you climb the tiers it folds in nether quartz, then nether gold, and the top tiers are the real draw: ancient debris starts appearing at Basalt IV and gets more common at Basalt V — this is the on-island way to farm netherite. Because it's biome-gated, the basalt line is why chat keeps pairing "basalt generator" with "set your biome to the nether": set the nether biome first with /is biomes (see below), then activate the generator, or it won't run.
End Generator. A single standalone tier that produces end stone, obsidian, purpur, and end-stone bricks. Like the basalt line it's biome-gated — it requires an End biome, so set that with /is biomes before activating it. It's the go-to if you want a steady obsidian and purpur supply without mining out in the world.
The full ladder
Every generator, the island level that unlocks it, its purchase cost, and the notable blocks it produces. Block odds are relative chances — higher tiers make the good stuff more common, they don't guarantee it on every break.
| Generator | Island level | Cost | Notable output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cobblestone Generator I | 0 (default, free) | — | Stone, a little coal |
| Basalt Generator I | 10 | $25,000 | Netherrack, basalt, glowstone (nether biome) |
| Mineral Generator | 15 | $250,000 | Granite / diorite / andesite in equal shares |
| Cobblestone Generator II | 20 | $100,000 | Stone, coal, some iron |
| Basalt Generator II | 30 | $100,000 | Basalt line + nether quartz (nether biome) |
| Cobblestone Generator III | 40 | $500,000 | Stone, coal, iron, gold, redstone |
| End Generator | 45 | $400,000 | End stone, obsidian, purpur, end-stone bricks (End biome) |
| Basalt Generator III | 50 | $250,000 | Basalt line + more quartz + nether gold (nether biome) |
| Deepslate Generator I | 60 | $1,000,000 | Deepslate + first diamond / emerald / lapis |
| Basalt Generator IV | 70 | $500,000 | Basalt line + ancient debris (nether biome) |
| Deepslate Generator II | 80 | $5,000,000 | Deepslate, richer diamond / emerald / lapis |
| Basalt Generator V | 90 | $1,000,000 | Basalt line + more ancient debris (nether biome) |
| Deepslate Generator III | 100 | $10,000,000 | Deepslate, diamond / emerald / lapis / redstone at top rates |
Strategy
- Early game: ride the cobblestone line — it's cheap, needs no biome, and Cobblestone II and III turn into a steady coal, iron, gold, and redstone income you can sell to fund everything else — see Economy and the Auction House on Skyblock for how selling, the shop, and the auction house work.
- First big jump: the Basalt Generator I unlock at island level 10 is the cheapest generator on the board ($25,000). Set a nether biome, activate it, and you've got a glowstone and quartz supply well before you can afford the pricier tiers.
- Late game: the money sinks are Deepslate II/III (diamond, emerald, lapis) and Basalt IV/V (ancient debris → netherite). Chase whichever your island needs — Deepslate for gem income and leveling blocks, Basalt for netherite gear.
- Quality of life: the Telekinesis enchantment sends mined drops straight to your inventory instead of dropping them at your feet — see Custom Enchantments. It's the standard pick for auto-collecting generator output while you mine.
Biomes
Open the biome menu with /is biomes (set, buy, and info sub-commands). Some biomes are locked until you buy them first, then you set the one you want. There's a 60-second cooldown between changes.
Your biome controls what spawns and grows in that area — and this trips people up. Switch to a nether or hostile biome and your passive animals can vanish: this is the classic "I changed biomes and all my sheep disappeared" gotcha. A nether biome is also what pairs with the basalt generators above, so if you're going for basalt, expect the mob and plant changes that come with it.
Growing your island with friends
Your island isn't a solo project. Open the team panel with /is team, then grant access:
/is team coop <player> give temporary build/interact access
/is team trust <player> give lasting trusted access
You can have up to 8 members, 8 coop players, and 8 trusted players. Your protection range is a fixed 175 blocks — it doesn't grow with voting or ranks — and each island gets one home by default.
Where to go next
- Skyblock Getting Started — joining, your starter island, and the first-day basics.
- Making Money on SMP — the economy is shared, so the money-making advice translates directly to funding your generators.
- Voting and Daily Rewards — the fastest steady income when you're starting out.
- Economy and the Auction House on Skyblock — turn everything your generators produce into money: selling, the shop, and the Auction House.
Bedrock note
All of these menus work the same on Bedrock through Geyser. If a menu doesn't respond to a click, close it and reopen it — the Bedrock form UI occasionally needs a refresh.