Minecraft Potions: Brewing Chart and Every Potion Recipe

Minecraft potions turn a hard fight into an easy one: see in the dark, breathe underwater, survive lava or hit twice as hard. This guide covers everything — the brewing setup, every potion recipe with its ingredients and duration, and how to upgrade potions into longer, stronger, splash and lingering versions.

Station

Brewing stand

Fuel

Blaze powder (20 brews each)

Base ingredient

Nether wart → Awkward Potion

Longer

Add redstone

Stronger

Add glowstone dust

Splash / lingering

Gunpowder / dragon’s breath

What you need to brew potions

• ⚗️ A brewing stand — craft it with 1 blaze rod and 3 cobblestone (or blackstone).
• 🔥 Blaze powder as fuel. One powder powers 20 brewing operations.
• 💧 Water bottles — fill glass bottles from water.
• 🍄 Nether wart — found in Nether fortresses and bastions. Plant it on soul sand to farm it.

Since blaze rods come from blazes in Nether fortresses, your first trip to the Nether is the real start of brewing.

How to brew a potion, step by step

1. Place up to 3 water bottles in the bottom slots of the brewing stand.
2. Put blaze powder in the fuel slot (top-left).
3. Add nether wart to the top slot. You get Awkward Potions.
4. Add an effect ingredient (see the chart). You get the base potion.
5. Optionally add a modifier: redstone, glowstone, fermented spider eye, gunpowder or dragon’s breath.

Minecraft potions brewing chart

All of these start from an Awkward Potion (water bottle + nether wart). Durations are for Java Edition.

Corrupted potions (fermented spider eye)

A fermented spider eye “flips” some potions into a negative version:

Weakness is the only potion that doesn’t need nether wart. It’s also the key to curing zombie villagers: throw a splash potion of Weakness, then feed the villager a golden apple.

Upgrading Minecraft potions

• ⏱️ Redstone dust extends the duration (for example Night Vision 3:00 → 8:00).
• 💪 Glowstone dust makes it level II — stronger but usually shorter. You can’t have both redstone and glowstone on one potion.
• 💥 Gunpowder turns a potion into a splash potion you can throw.
• ☁️ Dragon’s breath turns a splash potion into a lingering potion that leaves a cloud. Dragon’s breath is collected in a bottle from the Ender Dragon’s attack.

The best potions to brew first

1. 🔥 Fire Resistance — makes the Nether and lava far safer. Essential before fighting in the Nether.
2. 🌙 Night Vision — perfect for caving and building underwater.
3. 💪 Strength II — for boss fights and raids.
4. ❤️ Healing II (splash) — instant emergency health.
5. 🫧 Water Breathing — for ocean monuments.

Where to get every brewing ingredient

Level II potions

Adding glowstone dust makes these potions stronger but shorter:

Automate your brewing

Hoppers make brewing hands-free. A hopper on top of the brewing stand feeds ingredients, a hopper on the side feeds blaze powder, and a hopper underneath collects the finished potions. It’s a great project once you brew a lot of Fire Resistance or Healing.

Potions for every situation

Fun facts about potions

Witches drink potions to heal and protect themselves, and they drop potion ingredients like glowstone, redstone and spider eyes when defeated — a witch farm is a cheap way to stock your brewing station. Milk removes every effect at once, good or bad. And an Invisibility potion doesn’t hide your armor, so mobs can still spot you if you wear it.

Brewing station setup tips

A tidy brewing room saves a lot of time. Place a chest for each ingredient group next to the brewing stand, keep a cauldron or water source nearby for refilling bottles, and add a second or third brewing stand so you can brew nine potions at once. Label chests with item frames so you can see what’s inside at a glance. If you plan to brew a lot, build a nether wart farm on soul sand right next to the stand — it grows on its own, even in the Overworld, and you’ll never run out of the base ingredient.

Finally, remember that potions don’t stack in your inventory in survival — each one takes a full slot. If you brew in bulk, carry a shulker box or a dedicated chest if you brew in bulk. Plan your trips around the three or four potions you actually need, and keep the rest safely at home.

Common brewing mistakes

• ❌ Adding the effect ingredient before nether wart creates a useless “Mundane Potion”.
• ❌ Running out of blaze powder halfway — keep a stack nearby.
• ❌ Adding glowstone and then redstone — the second modifier won’t work.

Want to see what each effect does in detail? Visit our Minecraft effects list, or pair your potions with the right gear from our best enchantments guide.