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Most Minecraft potions follow one pattern: brew a Water Bottle with Nether Wart to create an Awkward Potion, then add the ingredient for the effect you want. The main exceptions are Weakness, which starts with a Water Bottle and Fermented Spider Eye, and the corruption recipes that turn one effect into another. Redstone Dust changes duration, Glowstone Dust can increase potency, Gunpowder creates a splash version, and Dragon’s Breath turns a splash potion into a lingering cloud.
This guide lists every recipe covered by the current recipe set, explains what each effect does, shows how to plan duration and potency upgrades, and identifies the four effects introduced with Minecraft 1.21. Exact durations and some availability rules differ between Java and Bedrock, so check the edition and version before relying on a number.
How Minecraft potion brewing works
A Brewing Stand is the workstation for combining water bottles, base ingredients, effect ingredients, and modifiers. Place up to three water bottles in the stand’s bottle slots, put the ingredient in the upper slot, and let the brew complete. Brewing three bottles together usually saves ingredients compared with processing one bottle at a time.
The standard survival sequence
- Fill bottles with water and place them in the Brewing Stand.
- Add Nether Wart. Each Water Bottle becomes an Awkward Potion, the base used by most effect recipes.
- Replace the Nether Wart with the effect ingredient from the recipe table below.
- Collect the finished potions and decide whether to leave them drinkable, extend their duration, strengthen them, or convert their delivery form.
The effect ingredient determines the potion’s purpose. Nether Wart does not provide an effect by itself; it creates the neutral base that allows the next ingredient to work.
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The important exception: Weakness
Weakness does not use an Awkward Potion. Put a Water Bottle in the stand and add Fermented Spider Eye directly. This exception is especially important when preparing the potion used to cure a zombie villager, because adding Nether Wart first puts the bottle on the wrong branch.
Every potion recipe and effect
The table uses the main recipe path. “Awkward” means Awkward Potion, and “+” means brew the second item into the first. Durations are intentionally not listed here: Java and Bedrock can differ, and modifiers can change the result.
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| Result | Recipe | Effect or use |
|---|---|---|
| Awkward Potion | Water Bottle + Nether Wart | Base for most effect potions |
| Healing | Awkward + Glistering Melon Slice | Restores health instantly |
| Fire Resistance | Awkward + Magma Cream | Prevents fire and lava damage while active |
| Regeneration | Awkward + Ghast Tear | Restores health over time |
| Strength | Awkward + Blaze Powder | Increases melee damage |
| Swiftness | Awkward + Sugar | Increases movement speed |
| Leaping | Awkward + Rabbit’s Foot | Increases jump height |
| Water Breathing | Awkward + Pufferfish | Allows breathing underwater |
| Night Vision | Awkward + Golden Carrot | Improves visibility in darkness |
| Poison | Awkward + Spider Eye | Deals periodic damage, normally stopping when the target reaches one health |
| Slow Falling | Awkward + Phantom Membrane | Slows falling and prevents fall damage |
| Turtle Master | Awkward + Turtle Shell | Provides strong resistance but causes severe Slowness |
| Weakness | Water Bottle + Fermented Spider Eye | Reduces melee damage; also used in zombie-villager curing |
| Invisibility | Night Vision + Fermented Spider Eye | Makes the player visually invisible, although armor and held items can still reveal them |
| Slowness | Swiftness or Leaping + Fermented Spider Eye | Slows movement |
| Harming | Healing or Poison + Fermented Spider Eye | Deals instant damage |
| Oozing (1.21+) | Awkward + Slime Block | Can spawn slimes when an affected mob dies under the effect’s conditions |
| Infestation (1.21+) | Awkward + Stone Block | Gives affected entities a chance to spawn silverfish when hurt |
| Weaving (1.21+) | Awkward + Cobweb | Creates cobweb-related area behavior around affected entities |
| Wind Charged (1.21+) | Awkward + Breeze Rod | Creates a wind-burst behavior when the affected entity dies |
What each ingredient contributes
Thinking in ingredient families makes the recipe list easier to remember. Nether Wart establishes the normal base, an effect ingredient chooses the outcome, Fermented Spider Eye redirects compatible effects, and the four modifiers alter how the potion is delivered or how long and strongly it works.
Effect ingredients
- Glistering Melon Slice: instant Healing.
- Magma Cream: Fire Resistance.
- Ghast Tear: Regeneration.
- Blaze Powder: Strength.
- Sugar: Swiftness.
- Rabbit’s Foot: Leaping.
- Pufferfish: Water Breathing.
- Golden Carrot: Night Vision.
- Spider Eye: Poison.
- Phantom Membrane: Slow Falling.
- Turtle Shell: Turtle Master.
- Slime Block, Stone Block, Cobweb, and Breeze Rod: the four 1.21 effects Oozing, Infestation, Weaving, and Wind Charged, respectively.
Some ingredients are routine crafting inputs, while others require you to plan a targeted expedition. Before starting a large batch, count the effect ingredients you actually have; an empty bottle run is easy to repeat, but replacing a specialized ingredient may take much longer.
Fermented Spider Eye as a corruption ingredient
Fermented Spider Eye does not simply add a second effect. It transforms a compatible potion into a different result:
- Night Vision becomes Invisibility.
- Swiftness or Leaping becomes Slowness.
- Healing or Poison becomes Harming.
- A Water Bottle becomes Weakness when Fermented Spider Eye is used directly.
Because these are branches rather than additive upgrades, brew the source potion first, then apply the Fermented Spider Eye. Do not expect to recover the original effect after the conversion.
Duration, potency, and delivery modifiers
Modifiers are separate decisions from the effect recipe. Plan the finished form before adding one, because changing duration and changing potency normally lead to different branches.
| Modifier | Apply it to | What it changes | Planning note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redstone Dust | A potion that supports an extended version | Extends duration | Use when staying power matters more than a stronger effect tier |
| Glowstone Dust | A potion that supports a stronger tier | Increases potency | Use when intensity matters; it does not serve as the normal duration upgrade |
| Gunpowder | A drinkable potion | Converts it to a Splash Potion | Enables throwing the effect instead of drinking it |
| Dragon’s Breath | A Splash Potion | Converts it to a Lingering Potion | Creates an area cloud that can affect entities in its space |
Redstone and Glowstone are not universal “better” buttons. A long Fire Resistance potion and a stronger combat potion solve different problems, and some effects do not offer every upgrade in every edition. If you need both a long version and a strong version, brew separate bottles rather than assuming one modifier can provide both.
A safe modifier order
- Finish the effect recipe, including any Fermented Spider Eye conversion.
- Choose Redstone Dust for supported duration extensions or Glowstone Dust for supported potency increases.
- After the effect and its level are correct, add Gunpowder if the potion must be thrown.
- Only then add Dragon’s Breath if you need a lingering area cloud.
This order keeps the effect legible while you are still deciding its strength. It also follows the required delivery chain: Dragon’s Breath works on a Splash Potion, not on an ordinary drinkable potion.
How to make Splash and Lingering Potions
Splash Potions
- Make the drinkable potion you want, including its effect and any duration or potency choice.
- Place the finished drinkable potion in the Brewing Stand.
- Add Gunpowder.
- Collect the Splash Potion and throw it so the effect reaches a target or group.
Splash delivery is useful when drinking would be unsafe, when several entities need the same effect, or when the intended target is another player or mob. The recipe does not change the potion’s underlying effect; it changes how that effect is delivered.
Lingering Potions
- Start with the completed Splash Potion.
- Place it in the Brewing Stand.
- Add Dragon’s Breath.
- Collect the Lingering Potion and use it to create an area cloud.
A Lingering Potion is the area-oriented form of the same effect. Because it depends on a Splash Potion first, trying to add Dragon’s Breath to a drinkable potion skips a required step.
Tipped arrows and the 1.21 effects
The official Minecraft 1.21 release documentation states that Oozing, Infestation, Weaving, and Wind Charged can be used in Splash Potions, Lingering Potions, and tipped arrows. That makes these effects more flexible than simply drinking them: a ranged attack, thrown bottle, or lingering cloud can deliver the same effect family. Exact arrow behavior and crafting details depend on the edition’s current rules.
Which potions should you brew first?
Your first batch should match the activity rather than attempt to produce every effect at once. The following priorities use the practical value of each effect, not an assumed ingredient drop rate.
| Activity | Priority potions | Why they help | Useful form |
|---|---|---|---|
| General combat | Strength, Healing, Regeneration, Fire Resistance | Damage, emergency health, sustained recovery, and protection from fire or lava cover the most common combat hazards | Drinkable for preparation; Splash when allies or targets must be affected |
| Nether or lava travel | Fire Resistance, Strength, Healing | Fire Resistance addresses the environment while Strength and Healing support fights | Keep Fire Resistance drinkable and immediately accessible |
| Fast travel and building | Swiftness, Slow Falling | Movement speed shortens travel, while Slow Falling protects against falls | Drinkable; use extended duration where the edition supports it |
| High places and dangerous drops | Slow Falling, Feather-safe planning with Healing | Slow Falling prevents fall damage and gives time to steer | Drinkable before climbing or crossing a gap |
| Ocean exploration | Water Breathing, Night Vision | Breathing time and visibility address the two main underwater constraints | Drinkable for a long excursion; Splash is less practical for a lone diver |
| Stealth | Night Vision, Invisibility | Night Vision supports visibility; Invisibility hides the player model but not armor or held items | Drinkable, with equipment checks before relying on concealment |
| Villager curing | Weakness | Weakness is the potion branch used with the curing process | Splash is generally the practical delivery choice when the affected villager must be targeted |
Turtle Master is a deliberate trade-off: it provides strong resistance but severe Slowness. Use it when surviving incoming damage is more important than moving quickly, and do not treat it as a general-purpose replacement for Fire Resistance or Healing.
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The four potion effects added in Minecraft 1.21
Minecraft 1.21 added Oozing, Infestation, Weaving, and Wind Charged. They are event-oriented effects: their value comes from what happens when an affected entity is hurt or dies, rather than from a simple player stat increase.
Oozing
Oozing is brewed from an Awkward Potion and a Slime Block. Under the effect’s conditions, a mob that dies can cause slimes to spawn. That makes it useful for encounters where the death event itself is part of the strategy, but potentially inconvenient in a confined base.
Infestation
Infestation uses an Awkward Potion and a Stone Block. An affected entity has a chance to spawn silverfish when hurt. Consider the battlefield before applying it: repeated hits can create additional hostile entities.
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Weaving uses an Awkward Potion and a Cobweb. It causes cobweb-related area behavior around affected entities. The effect is best understood as terrain control rather than a conventional speed, damage, or healing buff.
Wind Charged
Wind Charged uses an Awkward Potion and a Breeze Rod. When an affected entity dies, the effect can create a wind-burst behavior. This death-triggered result can alter nearby positioning, so leave room around the target before using it.
These four recipes are documented for Java 1.21 and later in the official release material. Bedrock players should verify the exact version and availability in their world before gathering ingredients specifically for them.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Java, Bedrock, and version differences
Do not copy a duration from one edition into the other without checking it. Exact durations, stronger or longer variants, and some obtainability rules can vary between Java and Bedrock. A reliable guide should label any duration by edition and version; when no label is available, treat the value as unconfirmed for your world.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Java’s newer releases also describe brewing recipes as data-driven. A data pack can therefore add or modify recipes, which means a server may intentionally differ from the vanilla table above. If a listed combination fails on a Java server, check whether a data pack or mod has changed the recipe rather than repeatedly consuming ingredients.
Brewing problems and how to fix them
The potion stays awkward
Check that the second ingredient is an effect ingredient, not Nether Wart again. Nether Wart only establishes the Awkward base; it does not produce a finished effect potion.
The recipe does nothing
Confirm the base shown in the recipe table. Weakness requires a Water Bottle, Invisibility requires Night Vision, Slowness requires Swiftness or Leaping, and Harming requires Healing or Poison. Putting the right ingredient into the wrong base will not create the intended branch.
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You cannot make a Lingering Potion
Use the two delivery conversions in order: drinkable potion to Splash with Gunpowder, then Splash to Lingering with Dragon’s Breath. Dragon’s Breath is not the direct conversion ingredient for a normal drinkable bottle.
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Edition and version differences are the first check. Next, decide whether Redstone Dust or Glowstone Dust was used: Redstone targets supported duration extensions, while Glowstone targets supported potency tiers. They are normally separate branches, so one does not automatically provide the other.
Invisibility is not complete concealment
Invisibility hides the player visually, but armor and held items can still reveal the player. Remove or account for visible equipment before relying on the effect for stealth.
A 1.21 recipe is unavailable
Check the world’s edition and version, then check for server data packs or other recipe changes. Java 1.21 introduced the four named effects, but a different edition or an older world may not expose the same recipes.
A repeatable brewing plan
- Sort ingredients into four groups: Nether Wart, effect ingredients, Fermented Spider Eye branches, and modifiers.
- Choose the activity you are preparing for and write down the required effects before opening the stand.
- Convert a full set of Water Bottles into Awkward Potions in one batch.
- Apply the primary effect ingredients, keeping Weakness on its separate Water Bottle branch.
- Make corruption recipes only after their source potions are complete.
- Split the finished bottles into duration, potency, and delivery batches instead of mixing modifiers indiscriminately.
- Label or store drinkable, Splash, and Lingering versions separately so a combat bottle is not accidentally consumed when a thrown bottle was intended.
- Keep one unmodified bottle of an important effect when possible. It provides a reference if a later duration or potency upgrade behaves differently in your edition.
This workflow minimizes wasted ingredients and makes edition differences easier to spot. It also keeps the central rule clear: Nether Wart creates the normal base, the effect ingredient chooses the purpose, Fermented Spider Eye redirects selected effects, and the final modifiers determine how the potion behaves in use.
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