Potion

Potions are brewable items that imbue the consumer with specific, time limited effects in Minecraft. Potions are made using water and various ingredients combined in a brewing stand. Combining a potion with gunpowder will result in a splash potion - a variant which may be thrown to give other mobs an effect, and can be used as a weapon.

Potions can only have one effect. There are 2 tiers of potion (e.g.: Speed I, Speed II), though tiers can reach levels up to 127, but will render as potion.potency.# (e.g.: Speed potion.potency.126 = Speed 127)

Obtaining
Almost all potions can be obtained by brewing.

Witches
Witches may drop Potions of Healing, Swiftness, Fire Resistance or Water Breathing only if killed while they are drinking them.

Potions
Here is a full list of the names, effects, and damage values of potions that are currently obtainable through brewing.

Potions have a different effect according to their damage value (DV), with the exception of reverted potions being identical to their base potions. By using the command or an Inventory Editor to modify the damage value of a water bottle, a player can hack a potion directly into their inventory.

Reverted potions are obtained by adding an opposite ingredient such as glowstone dust if extended by Redstone or Redstone if extended by glowstone dust to an already upgraded potion.

In the inventory, they will look identical to their base potion, much like Mundane and extended Mundane potions. Their usage is also identical to their base potions, with the exception of turning into reverted potions rather than base potions when adding fermented spider eyes as described above.

Modifiers
Potions can be modified in certain ways after you have the potion.
 * Gunpowder will convert a potion into a splash potion.
 * Redstone will increase the duration of the potion's effect and it cancels any previous glowstone dust effect.
 * Glowstone dust magnifies the effect (damage done, health healed, etc.) and it cancels any previous redstone effect.
 * Fermented Spider Eyes will "corrupt" a potion and invert the effect (Example: Healing to Harming).

Base potions
Base potions have no effect when you drink them.

Primary potions
Note, that the duration of tier II potion is always half the duration of its base potion, and the duration of extended tier I potion is 8/3 the duration of base.

Unbrewable potions
This class of potions exist in the game code and are functional, but cannot be brewed. They are extended and empowered versions of existing potions, but the brewing process normally only allows for one of the two to take precedence. Thus, these potions result from custom data values that place both effects on the potion. The data values for these potions are essentially the values of the original potions added by 96 (e.g. the data value for Potion of Strength (8201) + 96 = 8297 (the data value of Potion of Strength II (extended))) See the table below for the complete set of what is included.

Unused potions
There are 29 unused potions that were left behind in. All unused potions have no effect and appear to be re-textures of other potions. Below is a list of their names and values.

These potions can only be obtained by using the command. Adding a multiple of 64 to the value will result in the same potion. As with other potions, adding the value with 16384 will result in a splash version of given potion.

Values with a * do not require  at the end of the command.

Data value table
Using this table, creating a custom potion is simple:

The duration is in ticks, and there are twenty ticks in a second. The amplifier counter starts with zero.

For example, would give the player "Notch" a potion of Nausea II for 2 minutes.

(r) = Reverted Potion


 * Bits 0-3 (1, 2, 4 and 8) determine the potion effect. The highest legitimately available is currently 14 decimal = 1110 binary.
 * Bits 0-5 (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32) determine the potion's name.
 * If bit 5 (32) is true, the potion is a level II potion (or, in some cases, a reverted potion).
 * If bit 6 (64) is true, the potion is an extended potion (or, in some cases, a reverted potion).
 * Potions with bits 5 and 6 set to true cannot be brewed.
 * Bits 13 and 14 (8192 and 16384) determines whether the potion is a drinkable potion or a splash potion. If bit 13 is true, it's drinkable. If 14 is true, it's a splash potion.
 * Bits 7-12 and 15 are ignored, so many potions with distinct data values will have the same properties.

Potion effects
Potion effects are conferred by Potions, or alternatively through Splash Potions. A player affected by a potion effect emits swirling particles the color of the potion for the duration of the effect.

Trivia

 * In the early stages of development, potions were brewed by combining ingredients and other potions in cauldrons. In total there were 161 possible potion combinations, and 2,653 different types of potions.
 * Taking a potion while already under the effects of another potion does not add onto the effects time, but simply resets it. A potion effect will not "downgrade" if a lower level is activated. For example, if a player has Regeneration II, drinking a regular Potion of Regeneration will not have any effect.
 * There is more than one legitimate damage value for each potion, such as how there are two kinds of Mundane potion; as reverted potions are legitimate copies of their base potion.
 * Upon death, all potion effects are lost.
 * A potion can reach a maximum tier of 127, but using the command, effect levels can reach 255.
 * When a player drinks two potions by quickly switching to another potion immediately after drinking one, the second drinking animation will not be shown.
 * An Instant Damage potion IV is powerful enough to instantly kill players.
 * A potion of Poison II actually lasts for 22.5 seconds, but it is displayed as 22 seconds because the item hover display only shows rounded-down integer values.
 * Sugar being the ingredient for the Potion of Swiftness may refer to the common misconception of sugar making people hyper.
 * In the console version, there are bars underneath each potion. One means it is weak, the second means glowstone added, the third means redstone added, and the fourth means both (creative only).