So, you’re standing in front of a brewing stand in Minecraft, staring at a glass bottle and wondering why on earth the Ghast Tear isn’t working. It happens to everyone. Honestly, brewing is one of the most unintuitive parts of the game if you don't have a recipe book open. If you want to know how to make regen potions, you have to understand that it’s a multi-step process. You can’t just chuck a Ghast Tear into water and hope for the best.
It’s about layers.
First, you need the infrastructure. You aren’t making anything without Blaze Powder to fuel the stand. You get that from Blazes in the Nether. It’s a dangerous trip, but necessary. Once you have your fuel, you need Awkward Potions. This is the "base" for almost every useful tonic in the game. If you try to skip the Nether Wart, you’ll end up with a Mundane Potion or a Thick Potion, both of which are basically garbage and a waste of your time.
The Core Ingredients for Any Regeneration Brew
To actually start, grab three glass bottles and fill them with water. Put them in the bottom slots of the brewing stand. Drop a piece of Nether Wart into the top slot. Wait. You’ll see the bubbles and the progress bar. Once it finishes, you have three Awkward Potions.
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Now comes the expensive part.
The Ghast Tear is the "active" ingredient. These are annoying to get because Ghasts like to hover over lava lakes, meaning when you kill them, their loot usually melts before you can grab it. I find it’s easiest to use a Looting III sword or wait until they fly over solid ground. Drop that tear into your Awkward Potions.
Boom. You have a Potion of Regeneration.
But wait. A standard Potion of Regeneration only lasts 45 seconds. In a real fight, like against the Wither or a Piglin Brute, 45 seconds feels like two seconds. You’re going to want to upgrade it. This is where most players get confused because you have to choose between duration and intensity.
Why You Might Want Redstone Over Glowstone
If you add Redstone Dust to your finished potion, the duration jumps from 45 seconds to 1 minute and 30 seconds (or 2:00 depending on your version and previous buffs). This is great for long-term survival. However, if you add Glowstone Dust instead, you get Regeneration II.
Regen II is a beast. It restores health twice as fast, but it only lasts for about 22 seconds.
It’s a trade-off. Do you want a slow trickle of health for a long time, or do you need your heart containers to snap back to full immediately? Most veteran players prefer the intensity of Regen II for boss fights, whereas the longer duration is better for general cave exploration where you might take fall damage or get nicked by a stray skeleton arrow every few minutes.
Making Your Potion Practical with Gunpowder
Drinking a potion takes time. You have to stand there, slow down, and go through the animation. In the middle of a frantic fight, that’s a death sentence. To fix this, you add Gunpowder.
Adding Gunpowder turns your bottle into a Splash Potion of Regeneration.
Now, instead of drinking it, you throw it at your feet. It’s instant. It can also heal your friends or your pet wolf if they’re standing close enough. Just be careful—if you’re fighting an undead mob like a Zombie or a Wither Skeleton, don't mix this up with a Potion of Healing. Regeneration works on undead, but Splash Potions of Healing actually hurt them because of the "Instant Health" mechanic being inverted for the undead. It's a weird quirk of Minecraft logic, but it’s vital to remember.
There is also a third tier: Lingering Potions. These require Dragon's Breath, which you get by clicking a glass bottle on the purple clouds the Ender Dragon spits out. If you add Dragon's Breath to a Splash Potion, it creates a cloud on the ground. Anyone who walks through it gets the effect. This is the gold standard for team raids.
Common Mistakes That Ruin Your Batch
I’ve seen people try to put the Glowstone in before the Ghast Tear. It won't work. The brewing stand just sits there, looking at you. The order is non-negotiable:
- Water Bottle + Nether Wart = Awkward Potion.
- Awkward Potion + Ghast Tear = Potion of Regeneration.
- Regen Potion + (Redstone OR Glowstone) = Enhanced Potion.
- Enhanced Potion + Gunpowder = Splash Potion.
If you mess up the order, you usually just end up with a potion that can't be modified further. Also, keep an eye on your Blaze Powder levels. One piece of powder lasts for 20 brewing operations, but it’s easy to run out right when you’re mid-craft.
Advanced Tactics and the "God" Potion Myth
Some players think you can stack Regeneration with a Golden Apple to become invincible. Technically, they do stack, but there’s a cap on how much health you can regain per tick. If you're under the effect of a Potion of Regeneration II and you eat an Enchanted Golden Apple (the "Notch" apple), you aren't actually gaining much more benefit from the potion itself because the apple's regen effect is so high.
Save your potions for when you don't have apples.
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Another nuance: Fermented Spider Eyes. If you add one of these to a Potion of Regeneration, you get a Potion of Weakness. Why would you do that? Usually, you wouldn't, unless you're trying to cure a Zombie Villager. In that specific case, a Splash Potion of Weakness followed by a Golden Apple is the only way to turn them back into a regular villager. It's a niche use, but it shows how interconnected these recipes are.
Practical Steps for Your Next Session
To get started with a solid supply of health, you should set up a small "pharmacy" near your nether portal.
Gather about ten Ghast Tears and a stack of Nether Wart. Don't bother brewing just one bottle at a time. The brewing stand consumes one ingredient but applies it to all three bottles in the lower slots. It’s a 3-for-1 deal every time. If you only put one bottle in, you’re essentially throwing away 66% of your materials.
Start by mass-producing Awkward Potions. Keep a chest full of them. When you’re heading out for a raid, take nine of those Awkward Potions and turn them into Regeneration II Splash Potions.
It takes exactly:
- 3 Ghast Tears
- 3 Glowstone Dust
- 3 Gunpowder
- 9 Awkward Potions
This setup gives you enough burst healing to survive a Bastion Remnant or a deep dive into an Ancient City. Keep your materials organized and always brew in threes.
Check your inventory for glass bottles and head to the nearest swamp or ocean to fill up. You’ll need a lot of water. Once you have your bottles, clear out a small area for your brewing stands—having three or four stands running at once makes the process much less of a chore. Focus on getting those Ghast Tears first, as they are the biggest bottleneck in the whole chain. If you find a Ghast spawner in a modded environment or a reliable hunting spot in vanilla, mark the coordinates. You’re going to be back there often.