Here's how to make a potion of weakness in Java Edition: put water bottles in a brewing stand and add a fermented spider eye. That's the whole recipe: no Nether Wart and no awkward potion. It's the only potion that skips Nether Wart, and it takes 20 seconds to brew. The result lasts 1:30. Everything here is current as of Java 26.3, per the Minecraft Wiki.
To make it a splash potion of weakness, brew it again with gunpowder. Splash is the form you want for curing a zombie villager. A brewing stand still needs blaze powder as fuel, so there's no honest way around that one (more on this below).
Quick answer: every form of Weakness
| Form | Ingredients | Regular | Extended (redstone) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potion | Water bottle + fermented spider eye | 1:30 | 4:00 |
| Splash potion | Potion of Weakness + gunpowder | 1:30 | 4:00 |
| Lingering potion | Splash potion of Weakness + dragon's breath | 0:22 | 1:00 |
| Tipped arrow | 8 arrows around 1 lingering potion | 0:11 | 0:30 |
Weakness has no level II. Redstone is the only upgrade.
What you need
- A brewing stand. Craft it from a blaze rod and a stone-tier block (cobblestone, blackstone or cobbled deepslate all work). One also generates in igloo basements.
- Blaze powder as fuel. Each piece gives 20 charges, and each brewing step uses one.
- Water bottles. Fill glass bottles from a cauldron or a water source block.
- A fermented spider eye. Craft it, shapeless, from a spider eye, a brown mushroom and sugar.
- Optional: redstone dust (longer duration), gunpowder (splash), dragon's breath (lingering).
How to brew a potion of weakness, step by step
- Fuel the stand. Put blaze powder in the fuel slot.
- Add water bottles. One to three in the bottom slots. A stand brews up to three at once.
- Add the fermented spider eye in the top slot. The brew takes 20 seconds.
- Take the potions out. You now have Potions of Weakness (1:30).
Old guides are wrong here. Before Java 1.9 (snapshot 15w31a), you could make Weakness from an awkward, mundane or thick potion, or from a Strength or Regeneration potion. Those routes were removed. In Java, the water-bottle route is the only one.
How to extend a potion of weakness with redstone
Add redstone dust to the finished Potion of Weakness and brew again. The duration goes from 1:30 to 4:00. Extend it before you splash it.
How to make a splash potion of weakness
Put the Potion of Weakness back in the stand and add gunpowder. This works on the regular or the extended potion. Splash potions last as long as the drinkable ones. The wiki also lists a shortcut: add the fermented spider eye straight to a splash water bottle.
How to make a lingering potion of weakness
Brew your splash potion with dragon's breath, which comes from the ender dragon fight. You have to make the splash version first. Lingering potions last a quarter as long as drinkable ones (0:22 regular, 1:00 extended). They can also be crafted into arrows of Weakness.
Fuel math, from the rules above: each step is one 20-second brew and one charge. Water bottle to extended lingering Weakness takes four steps, so four charges. One blaze powder covers 20 steps.
What Weakness actually does
In Java, Weakness cuts your melee damage by 4 HP (2 hearts) per level. An attack reduced to zero or less doesn't connect and causes no knockback. Enchantments that add damage (Sharpness, Smite, Bane of Arthropods, Impaling) make attacks connect regardless. Per the wiki, it doesn't reduce ranged damage or spear charge attacks, and drinking milk removes it.
Withers, ender dragons and parched are immune, as is any mob that can't attack or only uses projectiles. Bedrock works differently: the reduction there is a percentage-based formula, not a flat 4 HP, and Bedrock accepts extra recipes (fermented spider eye on an awkward, mundane or thick potion works there). Everything else here is Java.
Using Weakness to cure a zombie villager
This is why most people brew it. Curing needs Weakness on the zombie villager, followed by a golden apple. The wiki's instructions use a splash potion, so that's the form to brew. The timing, protection and discount details are in our zombie villager cure guide, and our villager trading hall guide covers where cured villagers fit in a full hall.
Other ways to get a potion of weakness
- Igloo basements: the brewing stand there holds a splash Potion of Weakness (Java).
- Trial Chambers: dispensers can hold splash and lingering Weakness, with a small chance of each.
- Witches can throw splash Weakness at you, but you can't pick the potion up, so it isn't a source.
Chance-based and one-off sources aren't a plan, so brewing is the dependable route.
Weakness potion FAQ
Can you make a potion of weakness without Nether Wart?
Yes. A fermented spider eye on a water bottle is enough. Weakness is the only potion brewed without Nether Wart, and in Java it doesn't use an awkward potion either.
Can you make weakness without blaze powder?
Not by brewing. A brewing stand needs blaze powder as fuel, and the wiki gives no fuel-free way to brew. Your only other options are the loot sources above.
How long does Weakness last?
1:30 for drinkable and splash potions, 4:00 extended. Lingering potions give 0:22, or 1:00 extended.
How do I make a fermented spider eye?
Combine a spider eye, a brown mushroom and sugar in a crafting grid. The order doesn't matter.
Does the recipe differ on Bedrock?
Bedrock accepts extra recipes, such as fermented spider eye on an awkward, mundane or thick potion. This guide covers Java only.
Once you have a stand set up, our enchanting table setup guide is a natural next build. And if the blaze rods mean a Nether trip anyway, our piglin bartering guide covers another thing worth doing while you're there.