Potion — Minecraft item

Overview

A Potion is a drinkable status effect, and the brewing system behind it is the most under-used mechanic in Minecraft. Everything starts with a water bottle and Nether Wart, which makes the Awkward Potion — a base with no effect that every useful recipe builds on. From there one ingredient decides the effect: a golden carrot gives Night Vision, magma cream gives Fire Resistance, a ghast tear gives Regeneration, sugar gives Swiftness, a rabbit's foot gives Leaping, glistering melon gives Healing, blaze powder gives Strength, a pufferfish gives Water Breathing, and a phantom membrane gives Slow Falling. Two modifiers then apply: redstone dust extends the duration, usually to 8 minutes, and glowstone dust upgrades the effect to level II at the cost of duration. A brewing stand brews three bottles at once for a single ingredient, so brewing in threes costs the same as brewing one and is always correct. Potions do not stack, which is the practical constraint on carrying them — a fight kit is usually three or four bottles at most. Learning the tree is a single evening's work and it changes what the rest of the game costs you.

Buying capability you cannot get any other way — fire immunity, underwater breathing, night vision, extra damage or speed — for the length of a single expedition.

Potion is a brewing item in Minecraft Java Edition 1.21.4. It is unstackable. No recipe takes it as an ingredient.

How to get it

Brew at a Brewing Stand fuelled with Blaze Powder. Start with 3 water bottles and 1 Nether Wart for Awkward Potions; 1 powder fuels 20 brewing operations.

Tips

Always fill and brew three bottles at a time; the ingredient cost is identical whether you brew one or three.
Redstone extends and glowstone strengthens, and the two are mutually exclusive in any single potion.
Potions do not stack, so plan a fight kit around three or four bottles rather than a full inventory.
The brewing guide lists every recipe in order, including the corrupted branch.