How to Brew Potions in Minecraft: Every Recipe and Modifier

To brew a potion, fuel a brewing stand with blaze powder, put water bottles in the three bottom slots, and add nether wart to make awkward potions. Then add an effect ingredient (magma cream for fire resistance, sugar for swiftness, and so on). After that, you can add modifiers: redstone for a longer duration, glowstone for a stronger effect, or gunpowder to make it throwable.

The diagram above shows the whole tree. This page explains each step and what to collect before you start.

What you need before your first brew

• A brewing stand. One blaze rod and three cobblestone. The blaze rod means at least one trip to a Nether fortress.
• Blaze powder for fuel. Craft it from blaze rods (1 rod = 2 powder). One powder lasts 20 brews.
• Glass bottles filled with water. Fill them from any water source or a cauldron.
• Nether wart. It grows on soul sand in Nether fortresses. Plant a few on soul sand at home and you’ll never run out.

The brewing order

1. Put blaze powder in the fuel slot (top left).
2. Put up to three water bottles in the bottom slots.
3. Add nether wart to the top slot. About 20 seconds later you have three awkward potions. They do nothing on their own; they’re the base.
4. Add an effect ingredient to turn them into a real potion.
5. Optionally, add one modifier.

Each step uses one ingredient for all three bottles, so always brew in threes.

Effect ingredients

Add these to awkward potions:

Ingredient	Potion
Magma cream	Fire Resistance
Sugar	Swiftness
Blaze powder	Strength
Ghast tear	Regeneration
Glistering melon slice	Healing
Golden carrot	Night Vision
Pufferfish	Water Breathing
Spider eye	Poison
Rabbit’s foot	Leaping
Phantom membrane	Slow Falling
Turtle shell	Turtle Master
Breeze rod	Wind Charging
Cobweb	Weaving
Slime block	Oozing
Stone	Infestation

The last four came with the 1.21 update. Wind Charging, Weaving, Oozing and Infestation all trigger when the affected mob dies, so they’re more useful in splash form for fights than for drinking.

Modifiers

• Redstone dust extends the duration.
• Glowstone dust raises the level to II but shortens it. You can’t use redstone and glowstone on the same potion.
• Fermented spider eye corrupts the effect: Swiftness becomes Slowness, Healing becomes Harming, Night Vision becomes Invisibility, Poison becomes Harming, and Leaping becomes Slowness.
• Gunpowder makes a splash potion.
• Dragon’s breath, collected with an empty bottle during the Ender Dragon fight, turns a splash potion into a lingering one.

Which potions to brew first

Fire Resistance is the one to make before any serious Nether trip: you become immune to lava and fire for 3 minutes, or 8 with redstone. Healing and Regeneration are the next most useful for fights, and splash Weakness is what you need to cure a zombie villager. Night Vision and Swiftness are nice to have when mining or exploring. Each potion has its own page with exact durations.

Setting up a brewing room

Keep your brewing stands, a cauldron of water, and chests sorted by ingredient in one spot. Three stands side by side let you brew nine potions at a time. Brewing is slow work, so it’s worth building near your bed or a nether wart farm rather than in a corner of the base you never visit.