POTION HARMFUL Present since 1.14 or earlier

Potion of Poison how to brew it in Minecraft

A Potion of Poison drains health over time, but it can never kill: it stops at half a heart. That makes it a softening tool, not a finisher. Its other big use is in the brewing stand, as the cheapest base for a Potion of Harming.

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 PoisonSpider Eye + Awkward Potion
+ + → OptionalPotion of Poison (+)Redstone Dust · Extends the duration · 1:30
+ + → OptionalPotion of Poison IIGlowstone Dust · Level II, shorter · 0:21
+ + → OptionalSplash PotionGunpowder · Throwable
+ + → OptionalLingering PotionDragon's Breath · Leaves a cloud, base for Tipped Arrows

// Fuel: Blaze Powder

At a glance

Effect: Poison
Duration: 0:45
With Redstone: 1:30
Level II: 0:21
Key ingredient: Spider Eye

All variants and durations

Variant	Normal	With Redstone	Level II
Potion	0:45	1:30	0:21
Splash Potion	0:45	1:30	0:21
Lingering Potion	0:11	0:23	0:05
Tipped Arrow	0:06	0:11	0:03

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

What Poison does

HarmfulPoison

Deals 1 damage every 1.25 seconds at level I, but can't kill you: it stops at half a heart.

Other ways to get Poison

UsePoisonous Potato

I · 5 s · 60%

UsePufferfish

II · 60 s

UseSpider Eye

I · 5 s

UseLily of the Valley

Suspicious Stew · 11 s

Applied byCave Spider

Applied byBee

Applied byBogged

Applied byPufferfish

Commands

Potion/give →

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

Splash Potion/give →

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

Lingering Potion/give →

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

What Poison is good for

Softening a target. Splash or lingering Poison on a group of mobs, or on a player in PvP, then finish them with a sword, an arrow or a splash Potion of Harming.
Arrows of Poison. Tipped Arrows keep chipping away at the target after the hit, which helps against mobs that hide or flee.
Brewing Harming without gold. A Fermented Spider Eye turns Poison into Harming, and Poison II into Harming II. Spider Eyes are far easier to collect than Glistering Melon Slices.

Who it does not affect

Poison does nothing to undead mobs: Zombies, skeletons, Phantoms, the Wither and their variants all ignore it. Spiders and Cave Spiders are immune too. Against those, pick another effect.

Pitfalls

It cannot finish the job. A poisoned enemy at half a heart is still alive. Plan the last hit.
It stops your natural healing from mattering. While poisoned, you lose health faster than you regain it. If you get poisoned by mistake, a Milk Bucket removes every effect, and a Honey Bottle removes Poison alone, which is handy when you want to keep your other potions.
Level II is shorter. It drains faster but for less time, so the total damage is not much higher. The long version is usually better for arrows.

Where Spider Eyes come from

Spider Eyes drop from spiders and cave spiders, and Witches drop them too. A cave spider spawner in a mineshaft makes an easy farm. The Bogged, the swamp skeleton, shoots Arrows of Poison and sometimes drops them.

✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026