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Potions & Brewing · 4 min read

How to Make a Harming Potion in Minecraft

Complete recipe for the Potion of Harming in Minecraft 1.21+. Covers both corruption paths (from Healing and Poison), Instant Damage amounts, and splash combat tactics.

Ingredients

ItemQuantitySource
Fermented Spider Eye1Crafted from Spider Eye + Brown Mushroom + Sugar
Potion of Healing or Potion of Poison1-3Brewed (see those guides)

Brewing Paths

There are two ways to brew Harming:

Path A: From Healing

  1. Water Bottle + Nether Wart = Awkward Potion
  2. Awkward Potion + Glistering Melon Slice = Potion of Healing
  3. Potion of Healing + Fermented Spider Eye = Potion of Harming

Path B: From Poison

  1. Water Bottle + Nether Wart = Awkward Potion
  2. Awkward Potion + Spider Eye = Potion of Poison
  3. Potion of Poison + Fermented Spider Eye = Potion of Harming

Variants

VariantModifierEffectDamage
Potion of Harming-Instant Damage6 HP (3 hearts)
Potion of Harming IIGlowstone DustInstant Damage II12 HP (6 hearts)
Splash Potion of HarmingGunpowderInstant Damage (throwable)6 HP
Splash Potion of Harming IIGlowstone Dust + GunpowderInstant Damage II (throwable)12 HP
Lingering Potion of HarmingDragon's Breath on SplashInstant Damage (area cloud)6 HP per tick

Harming is instant, so Redstone Dust has no effect.

Splash and Lingering Variants

Add Gunpowder to any finished potion to create a Splash Potion you can throw. Splash potions affect all entities within a small radius on impact. Durations for splash variants are reduced to 75 % of the drinkable version. Add Dragon's Breath to a Splash Potion to create a Lingering Potion that leaves an area-of-effect cloud on the ground. Lingering potion durations are 25 % of the drinkable version.

Best Uses

  • PvP: Splash Harming II deals 6 hearts of instant, armour-bypassing damage. It ignores Protection enchantments entirely because the damage type is magic. This makes it one of the deadliest PvP tools in the game.
  • Undead healing: Harming potions actually heal undead mobs. Splash Harming on your own tamed zombie horse or wither skeleton minions restores their health.
  • Tipped Arrows: Arrows of Harming II are devastating in ranged PvP since the arrow damage stacks with the potion effect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Harming bypass armour?

Yes. Instant Damage is classified as magic damage and bypasses all armour and Protection enchantments. Only the Resistance effect reduces it.

Which path is more efficient: Healing or Poison?

Both produce identical results. Use whichever ingredient you have more of. If you are mass-producing Harming II, the Healing path is slightly more common because Glistering Melon Slices are easier to farm than Spider Eyes in bulk.

Does Harming heal undead?

Yes. Instant Damage heals undead mobs the same way Instant Health damages them. This is due to the inverted potion mechanics for undead entities.

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