How to Make a Water Breathing Potion in Minecraft

Ingredients

Item	Quantity	Source
Pufferfish	1	Fishing (uncommon catch), or Pufferfish mob bucket
Nether Wart	1	Nether Fortress stairwells
Blaze Powder	fuel	Crafted from Blaze Rods
Glass Bottle	1-3	Crafted from Glass

Brewing Chain

1. Fill Glass Bottles with water to get the Water Bottles a batch of Water Breathing starts from.
2. Add Nether Wart to brew the Awkward Potions that Water Breathing needs as a base.
3. Add Pufferfish to produce Potion of Water Breathing (3:00).

Variants

Variant	Modifier	Effect	Duration
Potion of Water Breathing	-	Breathe underwater, no drowning	3:00
Potion of Water Breathing (Extended)	Redstone Dust	Breathe underwater	8:00
Splash Potion of Water Breathing	Gunpowder	Underwater breathing (throwable)	2:15
Lingering Potion of Water Breathing	Dragon's Breath on Splash	Underwater breathing (area cloud)	0:45

Water Breathing has no enhanced (level II) variant.

Splash and Lingering Water Breathing

Add Gunpowder to a finished Water Breathing potion to create a Splash Potion of Water Breathing you can throw. A splash Water Breathing affects every entity within a small radius on impact, and the Water Breathing it applies is at full strength where the bottle lands, dropping away with distance until it is nothing four blocks out. Add Dragon's Breath to a Splash Potion of Water Breathing to create a Lingering Potion of Water Breathing, which leaves an area-of-effect cloud of Water Breathing on the ground. A lingering Water Breathing cloud applies a quarter of the drinkable duration each time it touches you, and it keeps applying that Water Breathing for as long as the cloud sits there.

Best Uses

• Ocean Monuments: Essential for raiding Ocean Monuments and fighting Elder Guardians. Combine with Night Vision for full underwater clarity and Depth Strider boots for faster swimming.
• Underwater building: The extended 8-minute version gives you plenty of time for construction work beneath the surface.
• Shipwreck and ruin exploration: Useful for looting underwater structures without rushing back to the surface.

Water Breathing in exact numbers

Water Breathing sits on the same clock as Night Vision and Fire Resistance: three minutes at base, eight when extended, and no enhanced version, because an unlimited air supply has no second level. That shared timing is useful in practice, since an ocean monument run wants all three at once and one brewing session with Redstone Dust puts them on the same eight minute countdown.

Water Breathing: what was checked	Value in Java 26.2
What Water Breathing applies	Water breathing, counted as a beneficial effect
Water Breathing base duration	3600 ticks (3:00)
Water Breathing particle colour	#98DAC0, stored as 10017472
Extended Water Breathing with Redstone Dust	9600 ticks (8:00)
Splash Water Breathing at the point of impact	3600 ticks (3:00), the same as drinking it yourself
Splash Water Breathing one block away	2701 ticks (2:15.1); the share shrinks with every block and is nothing at four
Lingering Water Breathing cloud	901 ticks (0:45.1) per application, a quarter of the bottle
Tipped arrow of Water Breathing	451 ticks (0:22.6), an eighth, and eight arrows come out of one bottle
Brewing Water Breathing	a Pufferfish on an Awkward Potion

Water Breathing and the monument clock

Water Breathing is a trip potion rather than a fight potion. Water Breathing runs three minutes at base and eight extended, exactly the same clock as Night Vision and Fire Resistance, which is why an ocean monument raid is one brewing session and not three. Water Breathing does nothing about mining fatigue, nothing about the guardians and nothing about your movement speed under water, so pack it alongside a door, a conduit or a bucket rather than instead of them. Water Breathing has no second level, because there is no more air than unlimited air.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Water Breathing prevent Mining Fatigue from Elder Guardians?

No. Mining Fatigue is a separate debuff inflicted by Elder Guardians. Water Breathing only prevents drowning. You need to kill the Elder Guardians or drink milk to remove Mining Fatigue.

Can I combine Water Breathing with Respiration enchantment?

Water Breathing makes the Respiration enchantment redundant while active, since you do not consume air at all. However, Respiration is useful as a backup when your potion expires.

How do I get Pufferfish reliably?

Fishing with a Luck of the Sea III rod increases your chance of catching Pufferfish as a treasure item. Alternatively, you can find them as a mob in warm ocean biomes and pick them up with a water bucket.

How long does Water Breathing last in ticks?

3600 at base and 9600 extended, with no enhanced version, because an unlimited air supply cannot be made more unlimited. It shares that exact clock with Night Vision and Fire Resistance, which is convenient: one brewing session with Redstone Dust puts all three of your monument potions on the same countdown.

Is a Water Breathing potion worth throwing?

Only deliberately. At the point of impact the target gets the full 3600 ticks, but the share falls with distance and hits zero at four blocks, so a splash aimed at a diving partner needs to land close to be worth the Gunpowder.

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Questions about Make a Water Breathing Potion

Make a Water Breathing Potion: what is the short version?

Fill Glass Bottles with water to get the Water Bottles a batch of Water Breathing starts from.

What should Make a Water Breathing Potion measure out at?

Underwater building: The extended 8-minute version gives you plenty of time for construction work beneath the surface.

What separates the options in Make a Water Breathing Potion?

For Pufferfish, the table on this page lists Quantity: 1, Source: Fishing (uncommon catch), or Pufferfish mob bucket.

What should you avoid while doing Make a Water Breathing Potion?

Water Breathing makes the Respiration enchantment redundant while active, since you do not consume air at all.