The player holding a potion of harming in their hand while standing around in third person view.

Minecraft: How to Make a Potion of Harming


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There aren’t many kinds of potions that have instant effects in Minecraft. However, Potions of Harming do; they instantly cause whoever consumes them to lose 3 Hearts. You have multiple ways of making them, though, one recipe needs fewer rare ingredients.

Table Of Contents

    Step 1: Make an Awkward Potion

    Making 3 awkward potions with 1 nether wart.

    Like with many other complex potions, you’ll need to start with a base potion. In this case, both of the potions that you can turn into Potions of Harming can be made with Awkard Potions. These are simple to brew, as all you need are Water Bottles and Nether Wart. You need to put the Water Bottles on the bottom slots of a Brewing Stand and the Nether Wart on the top slot.

    How to Get Water Bottles

    You can make Water Bottles by using Glass Bottles on water. This is pretty much the same as using a Bucket to scoop up water and obtain a Water Bucket.

    Glass Bottles can be made from 3 Glass blocks in a pattern similar to how you make a Bucket with Iron Ingots. On a Crafting Table, put 1 Glass block on the bottom-middle slot, 1 on the middle-left slot, and 1 more on the middle-right slot to make a “v” shape.

    How to Get Nether Wart

    The best way to find Nether Wart is to seek out a Nether Fortress, which, as you can guess, only spawns in the Nether. Nether Wart can be found within the indoor rooms of a Nether Fortress. You can spot them growing in small rows upon Soul Sand.

    Step 2: Make a Potion of Healing or a Potion of Poison

    The top image is the player making 3 potions of healing with 1 glistening melon slice and the bottom image is the player making 3 potions of poison with 1 spider eye.

    There are 2 kinds of potions that you can turn into Potions of Harming, and one is much easier to make than the other.

    How to Make a Potion of Healing

    The more expensive potion is the Potion of Healing. To make these, you’ll have to put Awkward Potions on the bottom slots of a Brewing Stand and a Glistening Melon Slice on the top slot.

    Glistening Melon Slices are pretty costly to make, which makes this method of getting Potions of Harming inefficient. You need to place a Melon Slice on the centermost slot of a Crafting Table and then surround it with 8 Gold Nuggets to get a single Glistening Melon Slice. Since Melons are rare and 8 Gold Nuggets is basically a full Gold Ingot, you’ll have to invest a lot of resources here.

    How to Make a Potion of Poison

    While sounding less appealing, making Potions of Poison is a better way to get Potions of Harming. All you need to make Potions of Poison are Awkward Potions and Spider Eyes. Place Awkward Potions on the bottom slots of a Brewing Stand and a Spider Eye on the top slot.

    Compared to Glistening Melon Slices, Spider Eyes are way easier to come across. Spiders are one of the most common mobs that can spawn at night in the overworld. They, and the much-hated Cave Spiders, both have a 33% chance to drop 1 Spider Eye when they die. Furthermore, you’ll need extra Spider Eyes for the last step in obtaining Potions of Harming.

    Step 3: Turn a Potion of Healing or a Potion of Poison into a Potion of Harming

    Making 3 Potions of harming with 1 fermented spider eye.

    The final step to getting a Potion of Harming requires you to infuse some lesser potions with a Fermented Spider Eye. First, on a Brewing Stand, place either some Potions of Healing or Potions of Poison on the bottom slots. Afterward, place a Fermented Spider Eye onto the top slot of the Brewing Stand. This recipe will give you the Potions of Harming that you desire.

    How to Make a Fermented Spider Eye

    This sinister brewing ingredient can be made from Spider Eyes, Brown Mushrooms, and Sugar. You’ll need 1 of each ingredient to make 1 Fermented Spider Eye. On a Crafting Table, you’ll need to put the Sugar on the centermost slot, then put the Spider Eye below it on the bottom-middle slot. Lastly, place the Brown Mushroom on the middle-left slot to get a Fermented Spider Eye.

    You’re already familiar with how to get Spider Eyes, but what about the Brown Mushrooms and Sugar? Brown Mushrooms, like all kinds of Mushrooms, only grow in areas with a light level of 12 or lower. You’re most likely to find them in the caves beneath Swamp, Old Growth Taiga, and Mushroom Field biomes. You can craft Sugar from either Sugar Cane or Honey Bottles. Each piece of Sugar Cane will give you 1 Sugar and each Honey Bottle will give you 3 Sugar.