Potions of Water Breathing are positive effect potions in Minecraft which will allow you to breathe underwater. The tier 1 version of this potion will last for 3 minutes at a time.
It’s one of the very few items in Minecraft which actually allow you to breathe underwater in Minecraft, besides the Turtle Shell.
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How to Craft a Potion of Water Breathing
To craft a Potion of Water Breathing in Minecraft, follow these steps:
- Open up a Brewing Stand, add Blaze Powder into the left slot for fuel.
- Place a Pufferfish in the top slot, which is the main ingredient.
- Add an ‘Awkward Potion’ into the bottom slot.
- Let the Potion brew, which will give a ‘Potion of Water Breathing’ which will last for 3 minutes.
For a more in-depth guide on how you can get all those ingredients, read the detailed steps below.
Where to Find Pufferfish in Minecraft
Pufferfish are a species of fish, and spawn in Ocean biomes, specifically warm ones. When they do spawn, it will often be in groups with sizes between 1-3. However, if you’re playing on Minecraft Bedrock Edition, they will spawn in groups of 3-5 in Warm Ocean Biomes, specifically around 20 blocks away from the player.
You should be careful around Pufferfish, as they have defences of their own. If a player gets too close to one, it will inflate and become fully-puffed. If you do get close once a Pufferfish is fully-puffed, you will be hit with the poison debuff.

The easiest way to collect them is by using an Empty Bucket and interacting with it. You will then have a Bucket of Pufferfish in your inventory. Place the bucket down on land, and kill the Pufferfish to collect it in your inventory.
How to Craft an Awkward Potion in Minecraft
You can’t craft a Potion of Water Breathing from a Water Bottle in Minecraft. Instead, you have to use an ‘Awkward Potion’. You will need Blaze Powder to begin brewing, which can be obtained by killing Blazes in the Nether, and placing their Blaze Rods in a Crafting Table to turn it into Blaze Powder.

Open up the Brewing Stand, and place a piece of Nether Wart in the top slot and a Water Bottle in the bottom slots. Add your fuel in the form of Blaze Powder. After a few seconds, the Water Bottle will be turned into an Awkward Potion instead.
Brewing the Potion
Now that you have the key ingredients, which are Awkward Potions and Pufferfish, you can start crafting Potions of Water Breathing. Open the Brewing Stand, and add your Awkward Potion into the bottom slot, and Pufferfish into the top slot. Add some Blaze Powder to the fuel slot on the left, and the potions will start to craft.

The Potion will start to brew. You can go ahead and drink it, and you will have 3 minutes worth of time to breathe underwater in Minecraft.