The Best Potions In Minecraft

Potions are just one of the many RPG features in Minecraft, but they’re often a bit underrated by players. When you’re dealing with a horde of mobs or looking to conquer an underwater ocean monument, potions can be a total lifesaver. Many of them are also not terribly expensive to craft.

To start brewing, you first need to visit the Nether. After slaying a Blaze and getting a Blaze Rod, you can craft a brewing stand. Every potion also requires Nether Wart, which is a red plant found growing inside Nether Fortresses. So make sure to grab a bunch, as well as soul sand, and start a small farm in the overworld.

Updated November 22, 2024 by Jacqueline Zalace: There aren’t too many potions in Minecraft, so we’ve converted this list into a ranking of all the craftable (or brewable) potions in the game. Now, you can find a ranked list of all the best potions in Minecraft from worst to best.

15 Poison

The worst potion of the bunch is the Potion of Poison. While you can poison others, it doesn’t have the most amount of uses. Unlike the Potion of Harming (which appears next), poison will do damage over time.

If you are looking to cause some poison damage, you can easily make this potion by just combining an Awkward Potion with a spider eye. If you have a spider farm, then you definitely have a few stacks of eyes that you can use to mass produce these potions.

14 Harming

This potion does not require an Awkward Potion to make.

The Potion of Harming is a great potion to give to an unsuspecting friend if you’re playing co-op. It does six hearts of damage and will certainly shock anyone who drinks it, or you can drink it yourself. However, it’s recommended to turn this into a Splash Potion of Harming to throw at enemies.

To make this, you’ll need to make a Potion of Poison and a Potion of Healing. Then simply combine that with a fermented spider eye and you’ll create a Potion of Harming. You can then drink it yourself or give it to a friend. Alternatively, add gunpowder to make it a splash potion. It’s great for dealing with creepers from a safe distance.

13 Slowness

This potion does not require an Awkward Potion to make.

The Potion of Slowness is the first negative effect potion on our list that does not deal any damage. As such, it’s a great way to prank friends without causing them any harm. Additionally, if you set up PvP games on your server, this could be a fun addition.

Like the Potion of Harming, the Potion of Slowness is made of two existing potions in the game; Swiftness and Leaping. Interestingly, both of these potions are used to speed up and reach new places, which is the exact opposite of this potion.

12 Weakness

The Potion of Weakness is the highest-placing ‘negative’ potion on our list. This is due to the fact that it has great practical abilities in both PvP and PvE. You can apply this to mobs, or other players if you are looking to have a combat-based game.

With a Potion of Weakness used in a PvP battle, you can draw out the combat so it doesn’t end after one swing of an enchanted sword. Overall though, this still places relatively low on our list, and most players probably won’t make this.

11 Turtle Master

In its simplest form, the Potion of the Turtle Master is a Slowness IV and Resistance III potion that makes you feel just like a turtle. The only issue is that it can take a fair amount of time to gather the required ingredients. You will also need to make friends with some turtles and nurse some turtle babies to adulthood.

To make the Potion of the Turtle Master, simply grab a Turtle Shell. Of course, this requires you to gather scute from baby turtles (this drops when babies grow into adults) and turn five of them into a shell.

10 Leaping

Reaching high places fast is made much easier with a Potion of Leaping. If you’re going caving or you plan on traveling across mountain biomes, this potion might come in handy in the long run. That being said, it requires one fairly rare ingredient: a rabbit’s foot, dropped by any rabbit when killed.

When combined with the Jump Boost effect from Beacons, you’ll be able to reach some incredible heights. If you manage to boost your speed as well, you can clear some serious distance in just one jump.

9 Invisibility

This potion does not require an Awkward Potion to make.

Invisibility is another more niche potion, but it does have its advantages. It’s a bit more expensive to make, requiring you to craft a Night Vision Potion first (with a Golden Carrot). Add in a Fermented Spider Eye, and you’ll get Invisibility.

Invisibility is powerful, but Mojang has balanced the effect by making it so that any items that are equipped or worn still appear. This means that for the potion to be fully effective, you’ll need to unequip everything, which makes you extremely vulnerable. If you have this effect while crouching, your name will also be invisible from other players.

8 Swiftness

A highly underrated potion, the Potion of Swiftness is incredibly useful in numerous situations. Exploring and combat are significantly improved thanks to this potion, which will up your movement speed by a fair amount. All you need is sugar, which is incredibly easy to find by collecting and farming sugarcane.

This potion is great for exploring and wanting to get from one place to another faster, or if you simply want to escape a sticky situation. If you happen to have a very large base that you are trying to look at (from the ground), this potion can come in handy too.

7 Healing

In combat situations, any extra health is always welcome. That’s why Potions of Healing are extremely valuable items in the game, and fairly expensive to make. You need to craft a Glistering Melon Slice first, which requires gold nuggets and a slice of melon.

These are a must-have in tough fights, such as in the Nether, against the Ender Dragon or the Wither, or inside an End City. It’s not quite as high as others on our list because at low health, four hearts may not be very helpful.

6 Regeneration

Aside from just restoring pure health, the Regeneration potion is almost more powerful, as it continuously provides you with value long after consuming the potion. The cost for it, however, is a Ghast Tear, which is dropped when a Ghast is killed. If you weren’t aware, this is generally no easy task.

The Potion of Regeneration is helpful if you want to maintain health over a set period of time, making it a bit more long-term than the Potion of Healing. Still, both are great to have on hand when you’re preparing for a tough battle.

5 Strength

For sheer strength and damage, the Potion of Strength is the best option. It’s not a particularly expensive potion either, as it simply requires Blaze Powder. If you’re brewing potions in the first place, you most likely will have some additional Blaze Powder. Your attack damage is increased by three points, to one and a half hearts.

The Potion of Strength is ideal if you are venturing into the Nether to places like Nether Fortresses or Bastions. Rather than falling victim to Wither Skeletons and Piglins, just take this potion and slay them all.

4 Slow Falling

The Potion of Slow Falling may should like a niche potion, but it’s particularly useful for those who have to worry about taking fall damage. If you’re flying around using an Elytra, visiting the End, or even fighting the Ender Dragon, chances are you might fall from a high place. This potion will make you fall slower, and nullify any fall damage.

To craft it, you need a Phantom Membrane, which comes from a Phantom. Stay awake for three full nights in the overworld and Phantoms will soon swarm outside of your base. When killed, they have a chance to drop a membrane.

3 Water Breathing

Ever since the 1.13 update, swimming in oceans has become much more interesting due to the many cool shipwrecks and dungeons. It has also made enchantments like Respiration III and Aqua Affinity into some of the best enchantments in the game. If you can’t afford those enchantments, then the Potion of Water Breathing is absolutely vital to have.

It’s incredibly cheap to craft, as it just requires pufferfish. These can be captured with a fishing rod or with a bucket. This will allow you to breathe underwater for its duration, without the bubbles ever depleting.

2 Fire Resistance

The Potion of Fire Resistance is a must-have for anyone wanting to explore and travel in the Nether or get their hands on Netherite. Fire Resistance is so powerful it will allow players to swim and walk in lava without a care in the world.

To make it, you’ll need Magma Cream, which is dropped by Magma Cubes found in the Nether. These aren’t too uncommon, so we highly suggest finding Magma Cubes and slaying them to farm Magma Cream.

1 Night Vision

When traveling at night time or when looking for ocean ruins and shipwrecks, Potions of Night Vision are a huge boon. They allow you to see clearly underwater and in the dark; going caving with this potion in hand can be a huge relief if you happen to be out of coal for torches.

To make this useful potion, you need a Golden Carrot, which requires gold nuggets and a regular carrot to make. Overall, this potion is a lifesaver in the dark, especially if you plan on exploring the Deep Dark.