Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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UPDATE 2026 Aug 20: The v1.4.5.7 update fixed this. The monolith still gives extra wall visibility, but now it's closer to what it looks like on the other lighting modes.

Original description:
Something I stumbled onto playing the game. I'm sure it's a bug, but for all I know it could not be, or is already old news, I haven't followed the game much after my last run 10+ years ago.

Basically it's a combination of things that gives you effectively the ability to peek through any wall your camera can reach. You only need two things, though admittedly they're a little bit of an ass-ache to get from scratch.

The effect spreads faster with more light sources on screen, so an area with a few torches will light up noticeably faster than having just one source. Ironically, Hallow blocks (Pearlstone, Pearlsand, etc.) are some of the darkest blocks due to a distinctly reduced amount of sparkling on them, staying mostly in shadow even with plenty of torches around.

This is an *incredible* tool for purifying/containing the evil in your world, too. You'll basically get a clean minimap of the entire surroundings so you know whether or not your Clentaminator got everything, and it also lets you build a much clearer border to contain further spread without needing to hope you didn't miss anything.

Basic how-to:
-1) In your Video settings, set the Lighting mode to either *Retro* or *Trippy*, this is mandatory for the effect
-2) Locate and acquire the following (no specific order)
-2a) A night vision source (Night Owl Potion, Night Vision Helmet)
-2b) An Angel Statue
-2c) The Aether mini-biome
-2d) Some torches, or any other light source to kindle the sparks
-3) Dunk the Angel Statue in Shimmer to transmogrify it into an Aether Monolith
-4) Equip the Aether Monolith (Works on Social slots) and consume/equip your night vision source
-5) Wait for the sparkling to start propagating, gradually filling the darkness with light, you'll need a light source on-screen for it to begin (screen will turn pitch-black with no light sources), this will also reveal the areas on your map
-5a) OPTIONAL: If you have the Binoculars, you can scan a larger area from one location

The old lighting modes are required for this to work, *Color* and *White* produce much subtler sparkles; you won't get anywhere near this level of clarity on those modes.

Funny thing, this is my second bug video regarding Terraria's lighting, the previous one being in 2011, also being far less interesting or useful. Also also, this is my first Terraria video where I actually have the music playing instead random overly loud music to supplement forgetting to turn the real music on.

Chapters
0:00 Aether Monolith demonstration (Lighting: Trippy)
0:30 Night Vision enabled, triggering the effect
0:45 Binoculars to demonstrate extended spread
1:24 Cycling Lighting modes to show difference
1:44 Lighting: Color
2:06 Lighting: Trippy
2:20 Short dig to show it keeps spreading in motion
2:38 Binoculars to reveal the area on the map
3:13 Map display