Potion

Potions are brewable items that confer specific effects in Minecraft. Potion effects were initially introduced in Beta 1.8. 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 as a weapon.

As of Beta 1.9 Pre-release 3, potions can only have one effect. Because the data values for different potions were changed, Potions made in 1.9 Pre-release 2 will be altered if loaded into 1.9 Pre-release 3

There are 2 tiers of potion (e.g.: Speed I, Speed II).

Brewing


For ingredients that go into Potions, Splash Potions, and known Potion recipes see Brewing. According to Jeb there are 161 possible potion combinations in Beta 1.9 Pre-release 3, and there may be 2,653 potions in future updates.

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 potions legitimately obtained by adding glowstone or redstone to an already upgraded potion which does not support the added ingredient, or by adding fermented spider eye to an already reverted potion or a potion which is already upgraded with an ingredient (glowstone or redstone) not supported by the corrupted result. Example: healing II + redstone -> healing (reverted) Example: poison (extended) -> harming (reverted) In the inventory, they will look identical to their base potion, much like mundane and mundane (extended). 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.

Base potions
All 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 seem to be the 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. A schematic of all available potions in-game is available from the forums. See the Potion Damage Values Table below for a complete set of what is included.

Unused potions
There are 17 unused potions which all appear to be base potions. These are the potions that were left behind in Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2. Below is a list of their names and damage values. Adding multiple of 64 to damage value will result in the same potion. As with other potions, adding 16384 will result in a splash version of given potion. These items can still be obtained by use of the  command.


 * Clear Potion: 7
 * Diffuse Potion: 11
 * Artless Potion: 13
 * Thin Potion: 15
 * Bungling Potion: 23
 * Smooth Potion: 27
 * Suave Potion: 29
 * Debonair Potion: 31
 * Charming Potion: 39
 * Refined Potion: 43
 * Cordial Potion: 45
 * Sparkling Potion: 47
 * Potent Potion: 48
 * Rank Potion: 55
 * Acrid Potion: 59
 * Gross Potion: 61
 * Stinky Potion: 63

Data value table
(r) = Reverted Potion

Bits 0-3 (1, 2, 4 and 8) determine the potion effect. The highest legitimately available is currently 14decimal = 1110binary. Bits 0-5 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 bit 5 and 6 set to true cannot be brewed. Bit 14 (16384) determines whether the potion is a drinkable potion or a splash potion. If bit 14 is false, it's drinkable. If 14 is true, it's a splash potion. Bits 7-13 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.

History
Alchemy was first hinted in July 2010, when Notch explained why redstone ore disintegrates into "dust". He states that dust will be used later in potions.

A couple of months later, Notch did a Q&A session on Reddit. He was asked about Alchemy, and responded "Oh Yes! Definitely!". All of his posts in that thread are now deleted, but records can be found in other places.

Bugs

 * If you right click with a potion on a cauldron, it will show the effect of the player breaking a block with the potion instead of drinking it.
 * A bug with the night vision potions in 12w34a involves making distant objects pink and white. This appears to happen only in the End (also, directly looking at the rising sun rarely causes a glitch which turns that landscape temporarily pink).

Trivia

 * 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 Resistance III, drinking a potion with Resistance II will not have any effect.
 * An Instant Damage III Potion is powerful enough to instantly kill its victim(s).
 * Upon death, all potion effects are lost.
 * A player can drink two potions quickly by switching to another potion immediately after drinking one, making it so that the second drinking animation will not be shown.
 * When you drink a potion, the animation uses the eating animation, showing the player "chewing" into the bottle. However, unlike the eating animation, no bits of bottle are thrown out when a potion is drunk.
 * As the smallest Slimes only have a half a heart of Health, poison potions are ineffective against them.
 * Drinking a potion or milk makes a kind of slurping sound.
 * Despite the speed bonus, a potion of swiftness, at any level, will not increase jump distance while walking.
 * 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.
 * Hacking the game to give yourself stacked Potions surprisingly works fine; like filling a stack of bottles with water, the empty bottle will attempt to place itself in your inventory, and failing that, will throw itself onto the ground.
 * Splash potions of poison can prove useful for obtaining record discs from creepers, as they can damage the creeper enough for a skeleton to kill it, but will never kill the creeper by itself.
 * In SMP, drinking a potion and then entering The Nether will cause the inventory marker and particle effect to stop appearing. However, the potions effect will still function.
 * If one sets their FOV to Quake Pro, drink a Potion of Swiftness II, Sprint, and fly in Creative, the screen will stretch as much as it possibly can.
 * The slowest way possible to walk in the game is to sneak and block with your sword while walking backwards through cobwebs and still lava on soul sand with ice underneath it, with the effects of the potion of slowness.
 * A Splash Potion of Night Vision used on mobs will seemingly give them the effects and emanating particles of it, but it makes absolutely no change to them, as all mobs' visions are unaffected by any amount of lighting.
 * Splash Damage Potions affect the player the same amount no matter what kind of armor they have. (Example: You throw an Instant Damage II potion at another player. Even if they have Diamond armor they will still take the same amount of damage as a person without any armor.) This makes Instant Damage II Potions effective when taking on players with better armor and tools.
 * While under the effects of invisibility, wearing armor will allow mobs to see and attack you. Wielding a weapon (or any item), however, will not cause hostile mobs to see you.
 * The inclusion of a Golden Carrot in the recipe of the Potion of Night Vision is probably a reference to the urban legend that carrots will improve your vision.
 * When you use a potion with data 16384, it will not result in a splash Water Bottle, but a splash mundane potion.