POTION HARMFUL Added in 1.21

Potion of Infestation how to brew it in Minecraft

A Potion of Infestation gives the Infested effect: each time the affected creature takes damage, there is a 10% chance that one or two Silverfish crawl out of it. It is a harassment potion, best thrown at other players, and brewed from plain Stone.

Brew it step by step

Put Blaze Powder in the fuel slot and up to 3 bottles at the bottom, then add each ingredient at the top.

01 + → Awkward PotionNether Wart + Water Bottle
02 + → Potion of InfestationStone + Awkward Potion
+ + → OptionalSplash PotionGunpowder · Throwable
+ + → OptionalLingering PotionDragon's Breath · Leaves a cloud, base for Tipped Arrows

// Fuel: Blaze Powder

At a glance

Effect: Infested
Duration: 3:00
With Redstone: —
Level II: Doesn’t exist
Key ingredient: Stone

All variants and durations

Variant	Normal	With Redstone	Level II
Potion	3:00	—	—
Splash Potion	3:00	—	—
Lingering Potion	0:45	—	—
Tipped Arrow	0:23	—	—

■ Normal · ■ With Redstone · Lingering = ¼ of the duration, Tipped Arrow = ⅛

What Infested does

HarmfulInfested

When the affected entity is hit, silverfish can come out of it.

Commands

Potion/give →

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

Splash Potion/give →

/give @s minecraft:splash_potion[potion_contents={potion:"minecraft:infested"}]

Lingering Potion/give →

/give @s minecraft:lingering_potion[potion_contents={potion:"minecraft:infested"}]

How Infested works

The trigger is damage, not death. Every hit the target takes rolls the dice, so the more often it gets hurt, the more Silverfish appear around it. Silverfish are small and fast, they go after players, and they are hard to hit in a crowded fight.

When to use it

PvP. Splash an opponent, then hit them with quick attacks or arrows. Each hit can add Silverfish nibbling at their feet and blocking their aim.
Team fights. A lingering cloud at a chokepoint makes everyone who crosses it a Silverfish spawner for a while.
Pranks on friends. It is harmless on its own, the trouble only starts when they take damage.

Pitfalls

Silverfish attack you, not the mob. Splashing hostile mobs with Infestation just surrounds you with more enemies. Against mobs, other potions do a better job.
Silverfish are immune. They cannot be infested themselves, so there is no chain reaction.
They can hide. Silverfish can burrow into stone blocks nearby and turn them into Infested Stone. Fighting next to a stone wall can leave hidden silverfish behind, the same kind of surprise you meet in a stronghold.
No long or level II version. Redstone and Glowstone have no effect.

The ingredient: real Stone

You need Stone, not Cobblestone. Mining stone with a normal pickaxe gives cobblestone, so either smelt cobblestone in a Furnace or use a pickaxe with Silk Touch. It is the cheapest ingredient of all the brewable potions. Like the Potion of Weaving and the Potion of Oozing, this is a potion made for others.

✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026