Potion of Healing: Recipe and How Many Hearts It Heals
Add a glistering melon slice to an Awkward Potion for Healing: 2 hearts at once, or 4 at level II with glowstone. Splash use, the undead twist, and Regen.
A Potion of Healing restores health the moment you drink it: 4 health points (2 hearts) at level I, 8 points (4 hearts) at level II. Brew it by adding a glistering melon slice to an Awkward Potion, then glowstone for level II.
It’s the emergency button. You don’t drink Healing to top up between fights. You drink it when you’re on two hearts and something is still swinging at you.
Potion of Healing recipe
Brew in this order at a brewing stand:
| Step | Top slot | You get |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nether wart | Awkward Potion |
| 2 | Glistering melon slice | Potion of Healing (I) |
| 3 | Glowstone dust | Potion of Healing II |
| 4 (optional) | Gunpowder | Splash Potion of Healing |
A glistering melon slice is one melon slice surrounded by eight gold nuggets on a crafting table. One gold ingot makes nine nuggets, so each slice costs you just under an ingot. That’s the expensive part of this potion. A gold farm in the Nether, or the gold you pull out of a bastion, keeps it cheap.
Redstone does nothing for Healing. The effect is instant, so there is no timer to stretch.
Level I or II?
Always brew level II. The glowstone is cheap, the bottle is the same, and you get double the healing for one extra step. A stack of Healing II splash potions is the classic PvP and boss-fight kit for exactly this reason.
Drink or splash?
Splash Healing is usually better. You throw it at your feet and it lands instantly, with no drinking animation slowing you down. The catch is aim: the effect is weaker the farther you are from where the bottle breaks, so throw it straight down. Lingering Healing (add dragon’s breath) is mostly used to craft tipped arrows for a bow, or to heal a group standing in the cloud.
The undead twist
Undead mobs take damage from Healing instead of gaining health. A splash Healing II does 12 damage to a zombie, skeleton, drowned or phantom, the same as Harming II does to a living mob. So if you’re fighting a crowd of undead, one bottle can heal you and hurt them at the same time.
The flip side: Potion of Harming heals undead. Don’t throw Harming at a Wither skeleton and expect results.
Healing vs Regeneration
Regeneration heals more in total (about 9 hearts across 45 seconds at level I) but slowly. Healing gives you everything at once. Carry Healing II for the moment you’re about to die, and Regeneration for long fights where you can afford to wait. Our brewing guide covers the full setup for making both in batches.
Common questions
How much does a Potion of Healing heal?
Healing I restores 4 health points (2 hearts) and Healing II restores 8 (4 hearts). The effect is instant, so there is no duration.
Can you extend a Potion of Healing with redstone?
No. Healing is instant, so redstone has nothing to extend. Glowstone for level II is the only upgrade.
Why did my healing potion damage a zombie?
Instant Health and Instant Damage are reversed for undead mobs. Healing hurts zombies, skeletons, drowned, phantoms and the Wither, while Harming heals them.
Sources & verification
Facts on this page are checked against these references and in-game behavior for the stated edition(s). how we verify.
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