How to Make a Torch

Not for the torch. They make identical torches. Charcoal is renewable (smelt any log), while coal is mined and also used for blocks and fuel.

Light level 14, just below the maximum of 15. Hostile mobs need darkness (light 0) to spawn, so torches keep an area safe.

Roughly one every 6 to 7 blocks on flat ground stops spawns. Corners, ledges and overhangs need a few extra.

Water or rain running onto it pops it off, and torches cannot be placed in water at all. Use sea lanterns or glowstone for underwater light.

Never. Once placed they light forever, so place them freely while mining.

Soul torches add soul sand or soul soil to the coal and stick. They give less light (10) but scare piglins, who keep their distance. Same idea, one extra ingredient.

Yes. Smelt any log or wood into charcoal in a furnace, then craft it the same way. One charcoal plus one stick still gives four torches. A single oak log smelted is one charcoal, and the furnace fuel can be planks, sticks, or more wood.

A full stack is 64 coal, and each piece crafts four torches, so one stack gives 256 torches. Stack count is the same for charcoal. That is enough to light a long branch mine without restocking.

In current versions hostile mobs spawn at light level 0 (block light), not 7. The old 'light 7' rule was from before 1.18. A torch at level 14 still floods a wide area well above 0, so 6 to 7 block spacing keeps the floor lit.

Torches light surrounding blocks, but a tall wall or a one-block hole can leave a dark spot a few tiles away. Mobs spawn on any solid top face at block light 0, so check ledges, stairs, and the underside of overhangs, not just the open floor.

Yes. Light level 12 or higher from a torch melts ice and snow layers on adjacent blocks. Place a torch next to ice and it thaws into water (or air if there is no full block beneath). Soul torches at level 10 will not melt them.