Last updated: 4 July 2026
Minecraft Potion Brewing Chart — Interactive Recipe Tool
Every potion in Minecraft follows the same structure: fill Glass Bottles with water, convert them to Awkward Potions using Nether Wart, then add a single effect ingredient. Optional modifiers — Redstone Dust, Glowstone Dust, Gunpowder, Dragon's Breath — extend the duration, boost potency, or change the delivery method. The interactive chart below maps the full brewing chain for all 19 potions in Java Edition 26.2 (including the four new potions added in 1.21: Oozing, Weaving, Infestation, and Wind Charging). If you need help setting up a brewing stand and Nether Wart farm from scratch, see the Complete Brewing Guide.
01How Every Potion Is Made
The brewing process always starts the same way. Fill up to three Glass Bottles from a water source block, then place them in the three bottom slots of a brewing stand. Drop Nether Wart into the top ingredient slot — after 20 seconds you have three Awkward Potions. Awkward Potions have no effect on their own; they are the required base for almost every potion.
The only exception is the Potion of Weakness, which skips the Nether Wart step entirely: add a Fermented Spider Eye directly to Water Bottles to get Weakness in one 20-second step. Three corrupted potions — Invisibility, Harming, and Slowness — need a three-step chain instead of two because they are made by corrupting an already-brewed potion with a Fermented Spider Eye.
Each step takes exactly 20 seconds and consumes one unit of Blaze Powder fuel (one Blaze Rod yields two Blaze Powder; each piece fuels 20 operations). Always brew three bottles simultaneously — the stand processes all three at the same cost and time.
02Interactive Brewing Chart
03The Four Modifiers Explained
Once a potion has its primary effect, four ingredients can modify it further. Redstone Dust and Glowstone Dust are mutually exclusive — applying one after the other replaces the first, so a potion can be long or strong, but never both.
- Redstone Dust → Extended duration: Roughly triples the base duration — a 3:00 potion becomes 8:00, a 1:30 potion becomes 4:00. Cannot be applied to instant-effect potions (Healing, Harming) because they have no duration to extend.
- Glowstone Dust → Level II (enhanced): Doubles the effect strength at the cost of roughly halving the duration. Strength II deals +6 damage instead of +3; Swiftness II gives +40% speed instead of +20%. Cannot be applied to potions that have no enhanced form (Fire Resistance, Night Vision, Water Breathing, Invisibility, Slow Falling, Weakness).
- Gunpowder → Splash Potion: Converts the potion into a throwable bottle that shatters on impact and applies the effect to all entities within a ~4 block radius. Essential for curing zombie villagers (Splash Weakness + Golden Apple) and for combat buffs thrown to allies.
- Dragon's Breath → Lingering Potion: Must be applied to a Splash Potion. Creates a cloud that lingers for the potion's duration divided by 4, applying the effect every second to any entity standing in it. Dragon's Breath is collected by right-clicking the Ender Dragon's breath cloud with an empty Glass Bottle during the End fight.
04The Corruption Branch: Fermented Spider Eye
The Fermented Spider Eye (crafted from Brown Mushroom + Sugar + Spider Eye) is the most versatile single ingredient in brewing. It both creates Weakness directly from a Water Bottle and inverts the effect of already-brewed potions to create three new ones:
- Night Vision → Invisibility: The only route to Invisibility. Brew Awkward Potion → Golden Carrot → Night Vision, then add Fermented Spider Eye.
- Healing or Poison → Harming: Either route works — adding Fermented Spider Eye to a Potion of Healing or Potion of Poison both yield Harming. The Poison route uses cheaper ingredients (Spider Eye vs Glistering Melon).
- Swiftness or Leaping → Slowness: Again, either base works. Swiftness requires only Sugar; Leaping requires a Rabbit's Foot. Both corrupt identically into Slowness.
Corrupted potions take one additional brewing step (60 seconds total instead of 40), so plan your ingredient supply accordingly.
FAQ
What is an Awkward Potion and why do I need it?
An Awkward Potion is the mandatory intermediate base for almost every effect potion. You make it by adding Nether Wart to a Water Bottle in a brewing stand (20 seconds). On its own it has no effect — it only exists so you can add the second, effect-defining ingredient in the next step. The only potions that skip Awkward Potions are Weakness (uses Water Bottle directly) and Thick/Mundane potions which are byproducts with no practical use.
Why can't I use both Redstone and Glowstone on the same potion?
Redstone Dust and Glowstone Dust occupy the same modifier slot internally. Adding the second one replaces the effect of the first — the earlier modifier is wasted. This means you must commit to either extended duration (Redstone) or enhanced potency (Glowstone) per potion. You can work around this by keeping two sets: one batch with Redstone for long duration (e.g., Swiftness I for 8 minutes), and a second batch with Glowstone for max strength (Swiftness II for 1:30).
How do I make a Splash Potion of Weakness to cure zombie villagers?
You need just three steps: (1) Add Fermented Spider Eye to Water Bottles to brew Potion of Weakness (20 s — no Nether Wart needed). (2) Add Gunpowder to Weakness to make Splash Potion of Weakness (20 s). (3) Throw the splash potion at the zombie villager, then immediately feed it a Golden Apple. The villager will shake for 2-5 minutes before converting back to a regular villager, during which it should be protected from sunlight and further damage.
What is the difference between a Splash Potion and a Lingering Potion?
A Splash Potion (Gunpowder modifier) is thrown and applies the full effect to all entities in a roughly 4-block radius on impact, then disappears. A Lingering Potion (Dragon's Breath on top of a Splash Potion) shatters and leaves a colored cloud that persists for one-quarter of the original duration, applying the effect to everything that walks through it every second. Lingering Potions are weaker per application but affect multiple targets over time and can be used to fill a cauldron for crafting Tipped Arrows.
Can I brew the new 1.21 potions (Oozing, Weaving, Infestation, Wind Charging) in Bedrock Edition?
Yes — all four 1.21 potions are available in both Java and Bedrock Edition. They follow the standard Awkward Potion route and use the same ingredients: Slime Block (Oozing), Cobweb (Weaving), Stone (Infestation), and Breeze Rod (Wind Charging). None of them can be extended with Redstone or enhanced with Glowstone. These potions apply their effect to the entity that has them — when it dies, the triggered effect (slime spawn, cobweb spawn, silverfish spawn, or wind burst) activates.
Why does Slowness II have such a dramatic effect?
Adding Glowstone Dust to a Potion of Slowness does not create Slowness II — it creates Slowness IV. Minecraft's internal potion level system means the enhancement jumps two levels rather than one, reducing movement speed by 60% instead of the base 15%. The duration also drops to just 0:20. This makes it a very powerful crowd-control option in splash form but too short to be useful as a self-buff.
How long does a Lingering Potion cloud actually last?
The cloud from a Lingering Potion lasts exactly one-quarter of the drinkable version's duration. A standard Potion of Swiftness lasts 3:00, so its lingering cloud lasts 0:45. An Extended Potion of Swiftness lasts 8:00, so its lingering cloud lasts 2:00. The cloud itself always has a 30-second radius-fade timer in addition to the duration, but the effect application stops when the duration expires. Instant-effect lingering clouds (Healing, Harming) apply the effect on contact for the cloud's remaining lifetime.
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