Brewing potions is an often-overlooked feature in Minecraft, yet it offers a huge range of possibilities. Potions unlock powerful status effects you can’t get otherwise. From Invisibility to Strength, there’s a wide selection to choose from. Brewing is also varied, with splash potions, tipped arrows and lingering potions for different situations. If you want to automate your brewing, check out our automatic potion brewery (Build an Automatic Potion Brewer in Minecraft: Guide & Tips) .
1. Brew and use the Potion of Water Breathing
- Ingredient: Pufferfish
Normally you can only hold your breath for a short time in Minecraft, but drinking this potion pauses your air meter, and adding Redstone extends the duration to 8 minutes. It’s essential when you’re diving for ocean treasures or planning long underwater builds. A permanent alternative is an activated Conduit, which grants underwater breathing, better vision and faster mining.
2. Use Fire Resistance properly in the Nether
- Ingredient: Magma Cream
If you’re exploring the Nether or descending into deep caves, a Potion of Fire Resistance is your best insurance. One misstep can drop you into lava and you’ll burn in seconds. With this potion you’re immune to fire damage and can even bathe in lava without burning. You can also occasionally obtain it via Piglin bartering as a splash potion.
3. Night Vision for perfect sight in darkness
- Ingredient: Golden Carrot
Carrots are good for the eyes, and in Minecraft a Golden Carrot lets you see perfectly. Night Vision makes even the darkest places such as caves, the Nether, underwater or night-time areas clear and bright. It’s extremely useful and should be in your inventory whenever you head somewhere dark.
4. Potion of Weakness for curing zombie villagers
- Ingredient: Fermented Spider Eye
Don’t drink a Potion of Weakness yourself — it reduces the damage you deal. It’s crucial, however, when you want to cure a zombie villager back into a normal villager. Find out why that matters in our guide (Minecraft villager trading: permanent discounts with zombie curing) . You’ll also need a Golden Apple.
5. Slow Falling to prevent fall damage in the End
- Ingredient: Phantom Membrane
Fall damage can be deadly in any game, but in Minecraft it’s especially tragic. It’s easy to misjudge a drop or slip into a hole. A Potion of Slow Falling negates fall damage. It’s particularly useful in the End when fighting the Ender Dragon or Shulkers. The last thing you want is to lose a run to a hard landing.
6. Potion of Harming as a lingering potion for crowd control
- Ingredient: Fermented Spider Eye + Potion of Healing
Don’t drink this one either — it deals 3 hearts of damage instantly, or 6 hearts at level II. It shines as a Lingering Potion to control groups: it damages every second while mobs or players remain in the cloud, dealing between 7.5 and 15 hearts over five seconds. Note: it’s ineffective against the undead — it heals them instead.
7. Invisibility for PvP and multiplayer
- Ingredient: Fermented Spider Eye + Potion of Night Vision
You can corrupt a Potion of Night Vision to brew Invisibility. It’s less useful in single-player, but in multiplayer you can outsmart opponents with it. Keep in mind your armour remains visible, and potion particles still appear around you — so you’re not completely unseen. In PvP it can still buy you a few valuable seconds.
8. Potion of the Turtle Master for extra resistance
- Ingredient: Turtle Shell
This potion is often underestimated. You’ll be slower, but you also gain Resistance to incoming damage (everything except hunger). That’s great in both PvE and PvP, helping you survive sticky situations or boost your defence. Yes, you move slower, but the Resistance is absolutely worth it.
9. Strength for maximum weapon damage
- Ingredient: Blaze Powder
There’s also a potion that simply makes you stronger. Use Blaze Powder to brew a Potion of Strength, which is especially good against bosses. Sometimes you can also find it as loot, for example in Trial Chambers. Per level, in Java Edition you deal 1.5 hearts more damage (3 hearts at level II). This applies to every hit, regardless of weapon.
10. Swiftness: move and farm faster
- Ingredient: Sugar
The Potion of Swiftness increases your movement speed, making it ideal for exploration, quick escapes in PvP, and long journeys. Redstone extends the duration up to 8 minutes. In tight caves, on long routes and during large builds, it saves noticeable time and keeps you more agile.
Conclusion: Minecraft potions are underrated and extremely useful
Don’t sleep on potions in Minecraft — they’re helpful in a wide range of situations. Whether in combat, for movement, or even certain farms, potions are highly versatile. You can even build an automatic brewing setup so you’ll never have to hunt down ingredients and brew manually again. Gear up for your adventures accordingly and avoid needless deaths with smart potion use.
If you want to try potions with friends, rent one of our Minecraft servers and play together. Potions really shine in PvP, helping you swing fights in your favour.
