When Minecraft: Java Edition was fully released back in 2011, Mojang added some new and exciting elements that changed the game forever. Alongside enchanting and breeding, brewing was added to improve overall gameplay by spicing things up.
Whether you’re playing on a gaming PC or enjoying Minecraft: Pocket Edition, we’ll show you that making potions in Minecraft is both simple and fun. Let’s get to it!
Minecraft Potion-Making Guide
If you don’t know how it works, brewing involves crafting potions that—as seen in The Witcher series—have many different effects on your character. These effects include fire resistance, instant health, and speed which you can certainly benefit from in Minecraft. Sound intriguing? Then we should probably tell you how to make potions in Minecraft.
Let’s get brewing, shall we?
#1 Collect Your Supplies
Before you get too excited about making potions, you’re going to first need to collect all of the supplies necessary for creating them. Unfortunately, some of the ingredients required to make potions can’t be obtained on land. Which is why you’ll have to start gathering some materials in order to build a portal to the Nether.
Travel to the Nether
Ingredients:
- Obsidian
- Flint and Steel
Or
- Fire Charge
In order to collect all of the ingredients that you can only get in the Nether, you’ll have to build a portal to get down there in the first place. To do this, you’ll require 14 Obsidian blocks and either 1 Flint and Steel or 1 Fire Charge. Once acquired, you’ll have to simply build a frame out of the obsidian blocks (4 wide x 5 high). Lastly, you’ll need to activate the portal using either the flint and steel or the fire charge.
If you’ve never been to the Nether before, watch out: you will require some heavy armour and sturdy weapons to survive. Since you will need to take down a Blaze to obtain materials required to make potions, we suggest taking a Bow with you for long-range shots.
Gather Ingredients from the Nether
Ingredients:
- Nether Wart
- Soul Sand
- Blaze Rod
Now, you must find and enter a Nether Fortress that will randomly spawn in the Nether. If you don’t know what a Nether Fortress is, it’s essentially a fortress made out of red Nether Bricks. In these buildings, you will often find Nether Wart growing around a staircase in Soul Sand. When you find some, you’ll need to dig up and collect the Nether Wart as well as the Soul Sand underneath it. Now that you have some Nether Wart and Soul Sand, it’s time to look around the Fortress for a Blaze.
Blazes are uncommon, yellow-colored mobs that are basically always on fire. Since they are constantly on fire, we recommend using a bow and arrow in order to kill them from a distance. After you have killed one, it should drop a Blaze Rod required to craft a Brewing Stand and Blaze Powder. Note that in this step-by-step guide we’ll be using two Blaze Rods and therefore you should collect at least two. Now that you have all of the ingredients you need from the Nether, head back through the portal so that you can start setting up your brewery.
#2 Set up your Brewery
After traveling to the Nether to collect the three important ingredients, it’s time to start setting up your brewery in order to craft potions. First, and most importantly, you’ll have to learn how to craft a Brewing Stand.
Craft a Brewing Stand
Ingredients:
- Three cobblestone blocks
- Blaze Rod
Once you have obtained a Blaze Rod, crafting a Brewing Stand is a very simple process. To begin with, you’ll have to open your Crafting Table and place 3 Cobblestones along the bottom of the 3 x 3 grid. Next, place a Blaze Rod in the middle of the row above the Cobblestone.
After you have crafted a Brewing Stand, simply add it to your Inventory.
Craft Some Glass Bottles
Ingredients:
- Glass Blocks
Next, you’ll have to craft three Glass Bottles used to store the water and potions. To do this, open up your Crafting Table once again and place one Glass Block in the middle-left square on the 3 x 3 grid, the middle-right square, and the bottom-middle square.
Craft Blaze Powder
Ingredients:
- Blaze Rod
Finally, you’ll have to craft some Blaze Powder using the second Blaze Rod to power the Brewing Stand. In order to do this, simply place a Blaze Rod in any of the squares in the Crafting Table and add the powder to your Minecraft Inventory.
#3 Collect Potion Ingredients
After you have set up your Brewing Stand, it’s time to gather some ingredients used to create different potions. Below, we have listed all of the secondary and modifying ingredients that you can use to craft a range of potions in Minecraft.
Accumulate Secondary Ingredients
As base potions such as Water Bottles have no actual effects on the player, you will need to collect ingredients that do have effects. The ingredients you select will determine the type of potion that you create. Here are all of the secondary ingredients used to create potions in Minecraft:
| Name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Rabbit's Foot | Jump Boost |
| Sugar | Speed |
| Glistering Melon Slice | Instant Health |
| Golden Carrot | Night Vision |
| Blaze Powder | Strength |
| Magma Cream | Fire Resistance |
| Ghast Tear | Regeneration |
| Spider Eye | Poison |
| Puffer Fish | Water Breathing |
| Phantom Membrane | Slow Falling |
| Turtle Shell | Slowness, Resistance |
However, that’s not all, you can also collect potion modifiers.
Gather Potion Modifiers
Potions can be modified even further using ingredients fittingly known as potion modifiers. Each one has a different effect that will change the way potions work. Below, we have listed all of the potion modifiers in Minecraft:
| Name | Modifier Effect |
|---|---|
| Nether Wart | Allows you to create more complex potions |
| Fermented Spider Eye | Corrupts effect |
| Glowstone Dust | Enhances level |
| Redstone Dust | Extends duration |
| Dragon's Breath | Turns Splash Water Bottle into Lingering Water Bottle |
| Gunpowder | Turns normal into Splash Water Bottle |
#4 Brew the Potions
Now that you have crafted the brewing stand and obtained all of the materials you need, it’s time to start brewing some potions. For this example, we will be selecting two random ingredients in order to create a potion. But before we use those, you will need to load your brewing stand.
Load Your Brewing Stand
Congratulations, you have obtained all of the materials necessary to start creating some potions in Minecraft. Now, you’ll have to start loading your brewing stand to get started. Here’s how to do it:
- Right-click on the Brewing Stand to open up the brewing interface
- Find a body of water or a full Caldron and fill the three Glass bottles
- Place the three Water Bottles in the bottom three slots in the Brewing Stand
Add the First Ingredient
The potion modifier you will pretty much always use when creating potions is Nether Wart. This will need to be placed at the very top of the brewing stand. Now, to begin the brewing process, you’re going to need some Blaze Powder that you previous crafted. Once you add both of these items, your potion will begin to brew.
Add the Secondary Ingredient
After about 20 seconds, your simply Water Bottles will turn into Awkward Potions that are essentially useless alone. Which is why you have to add a second ingredient. For this example, we will be using a Golden Carrot to create a potion of Night Vision. To do this, simply place the carrot at the top of the stand where you previously placed the Nether Wart and away you go. After a few moments, you will have three potions that you can use in Minecraft. It’s truly that simple!
Here’s a detailed video guide.
Conclusion
Potions are an excellent way to protect yourself against mobs and other dangerous things in the world of Minecraft. This is why we decided to create this handy step-by-step guide on how to make potions in Minecraft. Do you have a favorite potion? Maybe you’re new to the game and you wish to brew your very first potions? Feel free to let us know in the comments below!
Want to know more about Minecraft? Then you may be interested in reading our convenient guide on how to change your skin in Minecraft. After all, who wants to use the basic Steve skin when you can choose from a wide variety of popular MC skins to look like your favorite TV star or game character? Certainly not us!