Last updated: 26 June 2026

How to Make Potions in Minecraft: The Complete Brewing Guide (1.21)

Potions are some of the most powerful tools in Minecraft — granting fire resistance in the Nether, healing mid-combat, or turning invisible to slip past enemies. Learning how to make potions in Minecraft requires a brewing stand, blaze powder, the right ingredients, and a trip to the Nether for Nether Wart. This guide covers every recipe, modifier, and tip for Java and Bedrock 1.21.

01Setting Up Your Brewing Stand

A brewing stand is the only block that brews potions. Craft it by placing a Blaze Rod in the center of the top row and three Cobblestone blocks across the bottom row of a crafting table. Blaze Rods drop from Blazes in Nether Fortresses — so reaching the Nether is a prerequisite for any serious brewing.

Once placed, open the brewing stand interface. It has five slots: the top slot accepts the ingredient being applied, the three bottom slots hold up to three potion bottles simultaneously (all three process at once), and the fuel slot on the left takes Blaze Powder. One piece of Blaze Powder fuels 20 brewing operations, so a single Blaze Rod (which yields two Blaze Powder) covers 40 brews.

Before brewing, fill Glass Bottles with water by right-clicking a water source block, cauldron, or water bottle. You need at least one water-filled bottle to start. Keep a stack of glass and a nearby water source to restock quickly.

02The Brewing Sequence: From Water Bottle to Finished Potion

Every potion follows the same two-step pattern. First, convert your Water Bottles into Awkward Potions using Nether Wart. Second, add a secondary ingredient to the Awkward Potion to produce the desired effect. The only exception is the Potion of Weakness, which brews directly from a Water Bottle using a Fermented Spider Eye — no Nether Wart needed.

Step 1 — Make Awkward Potions: Place up to three Water Bottles in the bottom slots, add Nether Wart to the top slot, and wait 20 seconds. Nether Wart grows on Soul Sand in Nether Fortresses and can be farmed in the Overworld by planting it on Soul Sand.

Step 2 — Add the Effect Ingredient: With Awkward Potions in the bottom slots, place your chosen ingredient in the top slot. The potions will take on the corresponding effect. All three bottles process simultaneously, so always brew in batches of three.

03Every Potion Recipe and Its Ingredient

The table below lists every primary potion effect and the ingredient added to an Awkward Potion (unless otherwise noted). Ingredients come from mobs, farming, and exploration — plan your supply runs accordingly.

• Potion of Healing — Glistering Melon Slice (craft: Gold Nuggets surrounding a Melon Slice)
• Potion of Regeneration — Ghast Tear (drops from Ghasts in the Nether)
• Potion of Swiftness — Sugar (craft from Sugar Cane)
• Potion of Strength — Blaze Powder (from Blaze Rods)
• Potion of Fire Resistance — Magma Cream (drops from Magma Cubes, or craft Blaze Powder + Slimeball)
• Potion of Night Vision — Golden Carrot (craft: Gold Nuggets surrounding a Carrot)
• Potion of Invisibility — Fermented Spider Eye added to a Potion of Night Vision
• Potion of Water Breathing — Pufferfish (caught by fishing in any water)
• Potion of Leaping — Rabbit's Foot (drops from Rabbits)
• Potion of Slow Falling — Phantom Membrane (drops from Phantoms that spawn when you skip sleep)
• Potion of Poison — Spider Eye (drops from Spiders)
• Potion of Harming — Fermented Spider Eye added to a Potion of Healing or Potion of Poison
• Potion of Slowness — Fermented Spider Eye added to a Potion of Swiftness or Potion of Leaping
• Potion of Weakness — Fermented Spider Eye added directly to a Water Bottle (no Nether Wart needed)
• Potion of the Turtle Master — Turtle Shell helmet item (from scutes dropped by baby turtles)
• Potion of Oozing — Slime Block added to an Awkward Potion (1.21+)
• Potion of Weaving — Cobweb added to an Awkward Potion (1.21+)
• Potion of Infestation — Stone added to an Awkward Potion (1.21+)
• Potion of Wind Charging — Breeze Rod added to an Awkward Potion (1.21+)

04Modifiers: Extend, Enhance, and Change Potion Types

Once a potion has its primary effect, four modifiers let you upgrade it further. Redstone Dust and Glowstone Dust are mutually exclusive — applying the second overwrites the first, so choose one per potion.

• Redstone Dust → Extended duration: Roughly triples the base duration (e.g., Swiftness goes from 3 min to 8 min). Does not apply to instant-effect potions like Healing or Harming.
• Glowstone Dust → Level II (enhanced effect): Doubles the potency but cuts duration in half (e.g., Strength II deals more damage but lasts 1:30 instead of 3 min). Cannot be combined with Redstone.
• Gunpowder → Splash Potion: Converts any drinkable potion into a throwable splash potion that affects all entities in the blast radius. Essential for combat and for curing zombie villagers (Weakness splash + Golden Apple).
• Dragon's Breath → Lingering Potion: Must be applied to a Splash Potion. Creates a cloud that persists on the ground for 30 seconds, continuously applying the effect. Dragon's Breath is collected by right-clicking the Ender Dragon's breath cloud with an empty Glass Bottle.
• Fermented Spider Eye → Corruption (inverts effect): Flips Night Vision to Invisibility, Swiftness or Leaping to Slowness, and Healing or Poison to Harming. Adding it to a Water Bottle brews Weakness directly. This is the most versatile negative modifier in the game.

05Priority Potions to Brew First

Not all potions are equally useful early in a playthrough. Focus on the following in roughly this order once your brewing stand is operational:

1. Potion of Fire Resistance — Invaluable in the Nether. Brew it before going deep into fortress hunting or visiting lava lakes. Ingredient: Magma Cream.
2. Potion of Healing II — Your emergency mid-combat recovery. Glistering Melon Slice + Glowstone Dust. Instant effect means no waiting.
3. Potion of Strength II — Dramatically boosts melee damage, critical for boss fights and Piglin Brute encounters.
4. Potion of Slow Falling — Prevents fall damage entirely and is mandatory for the End. Phantom Membrane is the only ingredient.
5. Splash Potion of Weakness — Required to cure zombie villagers into regular villagers, unlocking cheap trades. Pair with a Golden Apple.
6. Potion of Night Vision — Eliminates the need for torches while mining. Extended with Redstone gives 8 full minutes of complete visibility.

06Tips for Efficient Brewing

Always brew three bottles at a time — the stand processes all three slots simultaneously at no extra fuel cost. Running a single bottle wastes two-thirds of each fuel unit and time investment.

Set up a Nether Wart farm as soon as possible. Plant Nether Wart on Soul Sand; it grows in both the Nether and Overworld (it does not need light or water). A small 3x3 farm yields enough Wart to keep a busy brewing operation stocked indefinitely.

Keep a dedicated chest next to your brewing stand stocked with: Glass Bottles, Blaze Powder, Nether Wart, and the ingredients for your most-used potions. Labeling with item frames prevents fumbling during a timed brew session before a boss fight.