Potions give you powers like seeing in the dark, turning invisible, breathing underwater and walking through lava. Brewing looks complicated at first, but every potion follows the same simple pattern: make a base potion, add one main ingredient, then add modifiers. This guide shows how to make a brewing stand, then explains how to make the most searched potions, including night vision, invisibility, fire resistance and weakness, plus a full table of every potion recipe in Minecraft Java and Bedrock Edition.
How to make a brewing stand
Craft a brewing stand with 1 blaze rod and 3 cobblestone on a crafting table: the blaze rod in the top middle and the three cobblestone across the middle row. Cobbled deepslate or blackstone also work in place of cobblestone. Blaze rods drop from blazes in Nether fortresses, so you need to visit the Nether first. Brewing stands also generate in village churches (temples) and igloo basements, which lets you start brewing before fighting blazes.
Brewing stand fuel
Put blaze powder in the fuel slot at the top left. One blaze powder powers 20 brewing operations. Craft blaze powder from blaze rods: 1 rod makes 2 powder.
How brewing works
- Place up to three water bottles in the bottom slots. Fill glass bottles at any water source.
- Add nether wart to the top slot to make awkward potions, the base for almost every useful potion. Nether wart grows on soul sand and is found in Nether fortresses and bastions.
- Add the main ingredient to turn the awkward potion into an effect potion.
- Optionally add a modifier: redstone to make it last longer, glowstone dust to make it stronger, gunpowder to make a splash potion, or dragon’s breath to turn a splash potion into a lingering potion.
- Add fermented spider eye to corrupt some potions into a different effect.
Each step takes 20 seconds. You can brew three potions at once with one ingredient, so always fill all three bottle slots.
How to make a night vision potion
Brew awkward potion + golden carrot to get a Potion of Night Vision lasting 3 minutes. Add redstone to extend it to 8 minutes. Night vision lets you see clearly in caves and underwater, which makes it excellent for mining, ocean monuments and building at night. Craft golden carrots from 1 carrot surrounded by 8 gold nuggets.
How to make an invisibility potion
Brew a Potion of Night Vision + fermented spider eye to get a Potion of Invisibility lasting 3 minutes, or use an extended night vision potion to get 8 minutes. Mobs have a much harder time detecting you, but armor and held items are still visible, so take off armor for full stealth. Craft a fermented spider eye from a spider eye, a brown mushroom and sugar.
How to make a fire resistance potion
Brew awkward potion + magma cream for 3 minutes of Fire Resistance, or add redstone for 8 minutes. It makes you immune to fire and lava damage, perfect for the Nether, collecting obsidian or fighting blazes. Magma cream drops from magma cubes, or craft it from a slimeball and blaze powder.
How to make a weakness potion
Weakness is special: it does not need nether wart. Brew a water bottle + fermented spider eye to get a Potion of Weakness lasting 1:30, or add redstone for 4 minutes. Weakness reduces melee damage. Its most important use is curing zombie villagers: throw a splash potion of weakness at a zombie villager, then feed it a golden apple, and it turns back into a villager with discounted trades. Add gunpowder to make it a splash potion.
Every potion recipe in Minecraft
| Potion | Recipe | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Awkward (base) | Water bottle + nether wart | No effect; base for others |
| Night Vision | Awkward + golden carrot | See in the dark |
| Invisibility | Night Vision + fermented spider eye | Become invisible |
| Fire Resistance | Awkward + magma cream | Immune to fire and lava |
| Strength | Awkward + blaze powder | More melee damage |
| Weakness | Water bottle + fermented spider eye | Less melee damage; cures zombie villagers with a golden apple |
| Swiftness | Awkward + sugar | Move faster |
| Slowness | Swiftness or Leaping + fermented spider eye | Move slower |
| Leaping | Awkward + rabbit’s foot | Jump higher |
| Healing | Awkward + glistering melon slice | Instant health |
| Harming | Healing or Poison + fermented spider eye | Instant damage |
| Regeneration | Awkward + ghast tear | Regenerate health |
| Poison | Awkward + spider eye | Damage over time (never kills) |
| Water Breathing | Awkward + pufferfish | Breathe underwater |
| Slow Falling | Awkward + phantom membrane | Fall slowly, no fall damage |
| Turtle Master | Awkward + turtle shell | Huge resistance but slowness |
| Infestation | Awkward + stone | Silverfish spawn when you are hurt |
| Oozing | Awkward + slime block | Slimes spawn when you die |
| Weaving | Awkward + cobweb | Cobwebs spread when you die; move faster in cobwebs |
| Wind Charged | Awkward + breeze rod | Wind burst when you die |
Modifiers explained
| Modifier | What it does |
|---|---|
| Redstone dust | Extends duration (for example 3:00 to 8:00) |
| Glowstone dust | Increases level to II but shortens duration |
| Gunpowder | Turns any potion into a throwable splash potion |
| Dragon’s breath | Turns a splash potion into a lingering potion that leaves a cloud |
| Fermented spider eye | Corrupts certain potions into their opposite |
You cannot add both redstone and glowstone to the same potion: adding one replaces the other. Lingering potions can also be used to make tipped arrows with 8 arrows around them on a crafting table.
Best potions to brew first
- Fire Resistance: makes the Nether far safer.
- Night Vision: for mining, caving and building underwater; pairs well with diamond hunting.
- Water Breathing: for ocean monuments and shipwrecks.
- Healing and Regeneration: for boss fights.
- Strength: for the Ender Dragon and the Wither.
- Splash Weakness: for curing zombie villagers and getting cheap trades.
- Slow Falling: for building high and exploring End cities.
Brewing tips
- Use a hopper to feed ingredients and fuel automatically.
- Brew in batches of three to save ingredients.
- Label chests by potion type; potions do not stack in Java.
- Grow a nether wart farm on soul sand at home, so you never run out of the base ingredient.
- Cauldrons can store water to refill bottles without a water source nearby.
Java vs Bedrock
Potion recipes are the same in both editions. Bedrock also lets you dip arrows in a cauldron filled with a potion to make tipped arrows. Durations can differ by a few seconds in rare cases.
Potions FAQ
How do you make a brewing stand?
Craft 1 blaze rod above 3 cobblestone on a crafting table.
How do you make a night vision potion?
Brew an awkward potion with a golden carrot.
How do you make an invisibility potion?
Brew a night vision potion with a fermented spider eye.
How do you make a fire resistance potion?
Brew an awkward potion with magma cream.
How do you make a weakness potion?
Brew a water bottle with a fermented spider eye. No nether wart is needed.
Where to find potion ingredients
| Ingredient | Where to get it |
|---|---|
| Nether wart | Nether fortresses and bastions; farm it on soul sand |
| Blaze rod and powder | Blazes in Nether fortresses |
| Golden carrot | 1 carrot + 8 gold nuggets |
| Magma cream | Magma cubes, or slimeball + blaze powder |
| Fermented spider eye | Spider eye + brown mushroom + sugar |
| Ghast tear | Ghasts in the Nether |
| Glistering melon slice | Melon slice + 8 gold nuggets |
| Rabbit foot | Rabbits (rare drop) |
| Pufferfish | Fishing or warm oceans |
| Phantom membrane | Phantoms, which appear when you skip sleep |
| Turtle shell | 5 turtle scutes from baby turtles growing up |
| Breeze rod | Breezes in trial chambers |
Potion durations at a glance
Most standard potions last 3 minutes, and redstone extends them to 8 minutes. Strength, Swiftness and Leaping last 3 minutes at level I or 1:30 at level II with glowstone. Regeneration and Poison are shorter: 45 seconds at level I. Healing and Harming are instant, so they cannot be extended. Splash potions keep the same duration as the drinkable version, while lingering potions spread a shorter effect over an area, so they work best for groups and for making tipped arrows.
Remember to keep a few extra water bottles on hand, because a brew that goes wrong cannot be undone and has to start again from water.