How to Make Healing Potions in Minecraft

To make healing potions in Minecraft, fuel a Brewing Stand with Blaze Powder, brew Water Bottles with Nether Wart, then brew the resulting Awkward Potions with a Glistering Melon Slice. This produces Potion of Healing with the Instant Health effect. The recipe works in current vanilla Java Edition and Bedrock Edition, and you can brew up to three bottles at once.

Prepare your Brewing Stand and bottles

At a Crafting Table, craft a Brewing Stand using one Blaze Rod and three Cobblestone. Craft Glass Bottles using three Glass blocks, then hold the bottles and use them on water to obtain Water Bottles. Place the Brewing Stand where you want to brew.

Gather Blaze Powder for fuel, Nether Wart for the base potion, and a Glistering Melon Slice for the healing ingredient. Open the Brewing Stand and put Blaze Powder in its fuel slot. You will use the top slot for ingredients and the three bottom slots for bottles.

Craft the Glistering Melon Slice

Open a Crafting Table and put one Melon Slice in the center of its 3×3 crafting grid. Place one Gold Nugget in each of the eight surrounding slots, then collect the Glistering Melon Slice. Save it for the healing stage, after you have brewed your Water Bottles into Awkward Potions.

Brew the standard Potion of Healing

Put one to three Water Bottles in the Brewing Stand's bottom slots. Place Nether Wart in the top ingredient slot and let brewing finish. The bottles now contain Awkward Potion.

Leave those bottles in place and put a Glistering Melon Slice in the top ingredient slot. Wait for brewing to finish again, then collect your Potion of Healing bottles. Each occupied bottle slot produces one potion with the Instant Health effect.

Upgrade your potion to Healing II

Leave Potion of Healing in the Brewing Stand's bottom slots, or put it back there if you already collected it. Add Glowstone Dust to the top ingredient slot and let brewing finish, keeping Blaze Powder available as fuel. Collect the upgraded potion and check its tooltip for Instant Health II.

Choose the Glowstone Dust upgrade when you want more health from each bottle. You can then convert the upgraded bottles into throwable versions.

Make splash and lingering healing potions

For a splash potion, put Potion of Healing or its Healing II variant in the bottom slots of a fueled Brewing Stand. Add Gunpowder to the top ingredient slot and let brewing finish. Collect the Splash Potion of Healing, select it in your hotbar, and use it to throw it.

To make a lingering potion, first collect Dragon's Breath by using a Glass Bottle on the Ender Dragon's purple breath cloud. Put Splash Potion of Healing or its Healing II variant in a fueled Brewing Stand, then add Dragon's Breath to the top ingredient slot. After brewing finishes, collect the Lingering Potion of Healing and throw it to create an effect cloud.

In Java 26.3, you can also start with an existing splash or lingering Awkward Potion. Put it in a fueled Brewing Stand's bottom slots and add a Glistering Melon Slice to the top slot, then let brewing finish to obtain Healing in the same bottle form. Add Glowstone Dust afterward and finish brewing again if you want Instant Health II.

Get ready made potions in Creative mode

While in Creative mode, open your inventory using E with the default keyboard controls. Search for healing and move the desired Potion of Healing, Splash Potion of Healing, or Lingering Potion of Healing into your hotbar. Check its tooltip for Instant Health or Instant Health II before choosing it.

You can use the Creative inventory in both Java and Bedrock. In Java 26.3, open the pause menu and choose World Options > General > Personal Game Mode to control your game mode, subject to your permissions.

Create healing potions with commands

In current Java Edition, you need command permission to create a potion with /give. For Java 26.3 singleplayer, open the pause menu, choose World Options > General, then turn on Allow Commands. Open chat and enter this command for one standard Potion of Healing:

/give @s minecraft:potion[minecraft:potion_contents={potion:"minecraft:healing"}] 1

For Healing II, replace minecraft:healing with minecraft:strong_healing. To create a throwable version, replace minecraft:potion with minecraft:splash_potion or minecraft:lingering_potion.

In Bedrock Edition, commands require cheats and command permission, and enabling cheats disables achievements for that world. Microsoft lists potion values 21 for Healing and 22 for Healing II for Bedrock 1.21.111, and warns that you should check those values in later releases. On Bedrock 1.21.111, open chat and enter:

/give @s potion 1 21

Replace 21 with 22 for Healing II. If you are playing a later Bedrock release and the command gives you a different potion, use the brewing recipe above.

On a server or Realm that permits commands, ask an operator to run the appropriate edition's command with your player name in place of @s. Operators can also run commands through a server console, command blocks, or functions. A server-console command needs an explicit player name rather than @s, and multiplayer command access requires sufficient permissions.

Find healing potions while exploring

In Java 26.3, find an End ship beside an End city on the End's outer islands. Enter the ship, open its Brewing Stand, and transfer its two Healing II potions into your inventory. You do not need brewing ingredients to collect them.

In current Java and Bedrock editions, find a Trial Chamber and inspect its dispensers. Open a dispenser and collect any Lingering Potions of Healing inside. You may find two to five potions, but the loot is random, so finding them is not guaranteed.

In Java 26.3 and Bedrock's Wilderness Bound releases, search an Abandoned Camp for its hidden chest. Open the chest and collect any Potion of Healing it contains. Healing is one possible result, so a particular chest may have none.

Fix brewing and command problems

If brewing is not progressing, check that you have Blaze Powder in the fuel slot, bottles in the bottom slots, and the correct ingredient in the top slot. The healing stage needs Awkward Potion as its base. In Java 26.3, adding Glistering Melon Slice directly to Water Bottles produces Mundane Potion, so start again with Water Bottles and brew them with Nether Wart first.

If an older Java potion command fails, replace it with the bracketed minecraft:potion_contents command above. Java 1.20.5 replaced the older item-NBT potion syntax with item components. Also check your command permissions, or ask an operator to supply the potion if you are playing on a server or Realm.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can another player give me a healing potion?

In Java and Bedrock multiplayer, have another player select an existing potion and drop it using Q with the default keyboard controls, then walk over the bottle to collect it. They can also put it in a chest you can access.

Does the dripstone trick still make unlimited potions?

No, the old Bedrock trick stopped working when Mojang removed potion-cauldron filling by dripping water in version 1.17.30. Use a fueled Brewing Stand to make additional healing potions in current vanilla Bedrock.

What happens if I add Fermented Spider Eye to Healing?

In Java 26.3, Fermented Spider Eye converts Healing into Harming. Keep it out of the recipe when you want a healing potion.

Can a custom world use a different healing potion recipe?

Yes, if you administer a Java 26.3 world, you can define a minecraft:brewing recipe in a data pack with input, reagent, and output fields. Set the output item to minecraft:potion and its minecraft:potion_contents component to {"potion":"minecraft:healing"}, or use minecraft:strong_healing for Healing II. Enable the data pack in the world, then brew using its specified input and reagent. This changes your world's recipe.

Can I extend a healing potion with Redstone?

In Java 26.3, Redstone does not extend a healing potion through brewing. Healing uses the Instant Health effect, so choose Glowstone Dust if you want to increase its strength.