Potions come in two stages. You make the first stage by interacting with the Brewing Stand and adding a Water Bottle with some ingredients. After adding your ingredients, wait for the brewing to finish, and collect your finished Potion.
There are five basic Potions, as follows:
Base Potions
| Potion Name | Ingredients | Effect |
|---|---|---|
|
Awkward Potion |
Water Bottle + Nether Wart |
Builds into much more powerful Potions |
|
Mundane Potion (Extended) |
Water Bottle + Redstone |
Used to make a Potion of Weakness (Extended) |
|
Mundane Potion |
Water Bottle + one of the following: Blaze Powder, Ghast Tear, Glistering Melon, Magma Cream, Spider Eye, Sugar |
Used to make a Potion of Weakness |
|
Potion of Weakness |
Water Bottle + Fermented Spider Eye |
Reduces melee attacks by 0.5 damage |
|
Thick Potion |
Water Bottle + Glowstone Dust |
Used to make a Potion of Weakness |
So far, it doesn’t look like brewing is very useful. You can make a Potion that reduces your own melee damage—yay? But trust us, this gets much better.
After you have a primary Potion, use the Brewing Stand again. This time, you add one of the primary Potions instead of a Water Bottle. Now you start having fun!
Secondary Potions
| Potion Name | Ingredients | Effect |
|---|---|---|
|
Potion of Fire Resistance |
Awkward Potion + Magma Cream |
Three minutes of fire immunity |
|
Potion of Healing |
Awkward Potion + Glistering Melon |
Restores 4 damage |
|
Potion of Leaping |
Awkward Potion + Rabbit’s Foot |
Boosts jumping height and reduces falling damage for three minutes |
|
Potion of Night Vision |
Awkward Potion + Golden Carrot |
Lets you see as if the area is perfectly lit for three minutes |
|
Potion of Poison |
Awkward Potion + Spider Eye |
Poisons a target for 1 damage every 1.5 seconds (for 45 seconds) |
|
Potion of Regeneration |
Awkward Potion + Ghast Tear |
Restores 2 damage every 2.4 seconds (for 45 seconds) |
|
Potion of Strength |
Awkward Potion + Blaze Powder |
Adds 130% to your melee damage for three minutes |
|
Potion of Swiftness |
Awkward Potion + Sugar |
Increases speed and jumping distance by 20% for three minutes |
|
Potion of Water Breathing |
Awkward Potion + Pufferfish |
You don’t need to breathe underwater for three minutes |
|
Potion of Weakness (Extended) |
Awkward Potion + Fermented Spider Eye |
Reduces melee damage by 0.5 for four minutes |
Now you start to see a lot of possibilities. Potions of Healing let you restore health instantly, unlike food. Fire Resistance is useful when you fight Blazes and Ghasts in the Nether. Regeneration is critical to your survival in boss fights, against Withers or the Ender Dragon.
Nether Wart and a few key ingredients allow you to make extremely useful Potions, and you can brew even more powerful versions if you’re willing to spend a bit more time and effort. Read on!
Tertiary Potions
| Potion Name | Ingredients | Effect |
|---|---|---|
|
Potion of Fire Resistance (Extended) |
Potion of Fire Resistance + Redstone |
Eight minutes of fire immunity |
|
Potion of Harming |
Potion of Healing or Poison + Fermented Spider Eye |
Inflicts 6 damage |
|
Potion of Harming II |
Potion of Healing II or Poison II + Fermented Spider Eye or Glowstone Dust |
Inflicts 12 damage |
|
Potion of Healing II |
Potion of Healing + Glowstone Dust |
Restores 8 damage |
|
Potion of Invisibility |
Potion of Night Vision + Fermented Spider Eye |
Turns you invisible (but not your weapon or armor) for three minutes |
|
Potion of Invisibility (Extended) |
Potion of Night Vision (Extended) + Fermented Spider Eye |
Turns you invisible (but not your weapon or armor) for eight minutes |
|
Potion of Leaping (Extended) |
Potion of Leaping + Redstone |
Lets you jump higher for eight minutes |
|
Potion of Leaping II |
Potion of Leaping + Glowstone Dust |
You can jump even higher |
|
Potion of Night Vision (Extended) |
Potion of Night Vision + Redstone |
Lets you see as if the area is perfectly lit for eight minutes |
|
Potion of Poison (Extended) |
Potion of Poison + Redstone |
Poisons a target for 1 damage every two seconds (for two minutes) |
|
Potion of Poison II |
Potion of Poison + Glowstone Dust |
Poisons a target for 1 damage every second (for 22 seconds) |
|
Potion of Regeneration (Extended) |
Potion of Regeneration + Redstone |
Restores 2 damage every 2.4 seconds (for two minutes) |
|
Potion of Regeneration II |
Potion of Regeneration + Glowstone Dust |
Restores 2 damage every 1.2 seconds (for 16 seconds) |
|
Potion of Slowness |
Potion of Fire Resistance or Swiftness + Fermented Spider Eye |
Slows movement for 1.5 minutes |
|
Potion of Slowness (Extended) |
Potion of Fire Resistance (Extended) or Swiftness (Extended) + Redstone or Fermented Spider Eye |
Slows movement for three minutes |
|
Potion of Strength (Extended) |
Potion of Strength + Redstone |
Adds 130% to your melee damage for eight minutes |
|
Potion of Strength II |
Potion of Strength + Glowstone Dust |
Adds 260% to your melee damage for 1.5 minutes |
|
Potion of Swiftness (Extended) |
Potion of Swiftness + Redstone |
Increases speed and jumping distance by 20% for eight minutes |
|
Potion of Swiftness II |
Potion of Swiftness + Glowstone Dust |
Increases speed and jumping distance by 40% for 1.5 minutes |
|
Potion of Water Breathing (Extended) |
Potion of Water Breathing + Redstone |
You don’t need to breathe underwater for eight minutes |
There are a few simple ways to remember how the Potion system works. Everything starts with Nether Wart. Your initial Potion should almost always be made by adding Nether Wart to a Water Bottle. Done.
For Tier 2 Potions, use your Awkward Potion from the first stage and add an ingredient to get whatever base effect you need. Look at our Secondary Potion table to figure out what you need/want.
To make Potions last longer, add Redstone to a Secondary Potion.
To make Potions stronger, add Glowstone Dust to a Secondary Potion.
To make Potions work when thrown, use Gunpowder.
Gunpowder turns normal Potions into Splash Potions. This makes Potions of Weakness and Potions of Poison useful against specific enemies. Potions of Poison II really add damage over time.
If you want a Potion to have effects that target an area and last longer, try to craft Lingering Potions. Start with a Splash Potion of the type you want, and then brew it with Dragon’s Breath to create a Lingering version of the effect. When thrown, this spreads out on the ground and delivers its effects over time against anything that stands in the affected spot.
People often brew Splash Potions of Healing so they can heal themselves as quickly as possible. Tossing the Potion into the ground at your feet gives you health much faster than just about any other option. It’s way faster than food and considerably faster than drinking a Potion of Healing in a normal way.