Dreamhowl has been playing "Minecraft" since 2012. She enjoys building, farming, and breeding animals. She especially enjoys magic modpacks!

What Are Potions?

In Minecraft, potions are brewable items that place different timed effects on the target player. By mixing different ingredients with water, numerous types of potions can be crafted to harm, heal, and enhance the player or enemies. Potions can only have one effect at a time: for example, a potion cannot both heal the player and increase their running speed. To do both, you would need to use a Potion of Healing and a Potion of Swiftness.

Ever since the change made to potions in the 1.9 Beta Prerelease 2, there are a number of potions that are unused and cannot be crafted. These potions can still be acquired using the "/give" command, but they are otherwise not found in the game. Many of these potions appear to be base potions that are no longer of use, such as Clear Potion or Potent Potion. Usable potions can be crafted in a brewing stand with the proper ingredients.

How to Brew Potions

In Minecraft, potions are acquired by brewing water with different ingredients to obtain certain effects. There is one base potion and twelve basic primary potions available in-game, with the option to enhance their duration, effectiveness, and area of effect. Let’s learn the basic potion recipes before we try to enhance them, though!

To craft a brewing stand, all you need are one blaze rod and three cobblestone.

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1. Craft a Brewing Stand

A brewing stand is required to brew all types of potions in Minecraft. Right-clicking on a brewing stand brings up four slots; the bottom three spots are reserved for bottles or potions, while the top is reserved for a potion ingredient. This one ingredient will distill into the three bottles below, making it possible to craft three potions from one ingredient. To craft a brewing stand, complete the following steps:

1. Right-click on a crafting table.
2. Fill the bottom row with cobblestone.
3. Place one blaze rod in the middle.

To use the brewing stand, the bottles must always be filled with either water or a potion—nothing will happen if the bottles are empty. As seasoned players know, cobblestone is easily found while mining underground. However, blaze rods can only be found in the Nether by killing Blazes, fire-throwing mobs that float in the air. Blaze spawners are usually found in Nether Fortresses. A Nether Portal is required to access the Nether in Minecraft.

Awkward potions are easy to brew and are the base to all primary potions.

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2. Craft an Awkward Potion

An Awkward Potion is the base of all other potions in Minecraft. It is crafted in the brewing stand with a Water Bottle and Nether Wart. Nether Wart is found in the Nether, where it spawns by naturally growing in Soul Sand. If the player brings both Soul Sand and Nether Wart back through the Nether Portal, they can start their own farm for potion making! Awkward Potions are brewed with the following steps:

1. Right-click on the brewing stand.
2. Place Nether Wart in the top slot.
3. Place Water Bottle in the bottom row.

It takes the brewing stand about 19 seconds to craft a potion once the ingredients and bottles are inserted. Brewing one Nether Wart into three Water Bottles will result in three Awkward Potions. This means that the player only needs one Nether Wart to brew three base potions. Awkward Potions are the base potions of most other recipes and have no actual effect on their own.

3. Combine Base With Ingredients

Once you’ve brewed some Awkward Potions, you can begin to craft up some primary potions! These are potions with actual effects, such as increased strength, health, and even invisibility. These potions will require more varied ingredients than Nether Wart, such as Blaze Powder, Magma Cream, and Ghast Tears. You’ll need to do a lot of adventuring to craft primary potions, so be prepared to go dungeoneering! The table below lists the types of primary potions available and their ingredients.

Primary Potions and Their Ingredients

Potions can either help the player or harm them, depending on the recipe used. Specific potions are great for certain situations; Potion of Fire Resistance, for example, is great for fighting mobs like Blazes in the Nether. If you are in a multiplayer environment, the Potion of Invisibility is a great way to sneak up on your enemies or hide from their detection. Knowing how to brew potions is a great skill in all aspects of Minecraft, so don’t overlook it!

Brewing a Potion of Fire Resistance with Redstone Dust will increase the duration.

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4. Combine Potions With Powders

Did you know that you can enhance your primary potions to be more effective and last longer? By combining your potions with different powders, you can (for example) increase the duration of your Potion of Regeneration or turn your Potion of Slowness into a splash potion, increasing the number of targets it can affect. Powders are the ground-down remnants of solid materials. For enhancing potions, you will only need Redstone Dust, Glowstone Dust, and Gunpowder.

Potion Enhancements and Their Ingredients

As with many potion ingredients, Glowstone Dust is acquired in the Nether: Players can mine Glowstone, which will break down into dust when placed in a crafting table. On the other hand, Redstone Dust is simply mined underground from redstone ore. Redstone ore can be smelted, but placing it on the ground and mining it with an iron pickaxe will yield up to five redstone dust in exchange. Gunpowder is the only dust that cannot be mined: it can be obtained by killing Creepers, Ghasts, or Witches, as well as looting dungeon chests.

Potions are great in a pinch, especially when it comes to boss battles or multiplayer maps. You can make a secret lava shelter accessible only to you with Potions of fire Resistance, or rig a dispenser to toss Potions of Poison at whoever activates a pressure plate. If your brewing backfires, remember that potion effects can be cured by drinking a Bucket of Milk. Feel free to leave more potion ideas in the comment section below!

Questions & Answers

Question: How do you make an invisibility potion?

Answer: A potion of invisibility is made by brewing a fermented spider eye over a potion of night vision.

Question: How do you make a potion of slow falling?

Answer: You will need to place blaze powder in a brewing stand to activate it, place an Awkward Potion on the bottom of the stand, and a Phantom Membrane on the top.

Question: How do you make a Potion of Night Vision?

Answer: You can make a Potion of Night Vision by brewing a Golden Carrot over an Awkward Potion. Awkward Potions are made by brewing Nether Wart over a water bottle.

Question: How rare is nether wart in the game Minecraft?

Answer: Nether wart only generates in nether fortresses (in soul sand), but can also be found in nether fortress chests.

© 2014 Jessica Peri

Comments

Jessica Peri (author) from United States on October 22, 2019:

@Ernst I'm glad you found it useful!

Ernst on October 15, 2019:

I have been playing minecraft for years but could not get a recipe on how to brew potions but finnaly I found this page

Genevieve on June 22, 2017:

I love Minecraft it's awesome !

Jessica Peri (author) from United States on September 24, 2014:

@SimilarSam: Thanks! They are fun to mess around with, though I don't use them a lot (especially since I mostly play modded Minecraft).

Samuel Franklin on September 24, 2014:

Great overview of potion brewing! Unfortunately I stopped playing Minecraft just as they were coming into the game so I never really got to play around with them.

Jessica Peri (author) from United States on July 02, 2014:

I love Minecraft as well! Thanks for reading. :)

Lolly on July 01, 2014:

I love minecraft

Jessica Peri (author) from United States on February 08, 2014:

@ilikegames: I'm so excited! This hub wasn't getting a lot of love, so this was a pleasant surprise. Thank you!

Jessica Peri (author) from United States on February 08, 2014:

@amiebutchko: Thank you so much! Potions are so underrated.

Sarah Forester from Australia on February 08, 2014:

Here I've been slowly going through your Minecraft guides and now I'm getting alerts that you got Hub of the Day? Big congrats and another great Minecraft related page.

Amie Butchko from Warwick, NY on February 08, 2014:

Great hub! My sons would love to read. I am going to pass along to them.

Jessica Peri (author) from United States on January 13, 2014:

No problem! I hope it helps him out.

Stephanie from Texas on January 12, 2014:

Minecraft. My son got this game for Christmas and has loved it every since. I think I'll send this hub to him to read. Thanks for sharing!