How to make potions last longer in Minecraft

Potions are powerful magical liquids that you can brew in Minecraft. There are a plethora of potions to brew in the game, all with different effects and uses. Some can be used by you, while others need to be used on enemies since they have negative effects. Since brewing is quite extensive in the game, Mojang has also added a way to extend the duration of most potions.

Here is a short step-by-step guide on increasing the duration of Minecraft potions.

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Steps to increase potion duration in Minecraft

1) Brew any potion that has a time limit

Brew any potion that has a duration (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

First, you need to brew any potion that has a duration, since only the potions with a duration can be extended. Potions like fire resistance, regeneration, strength, swiftness, etc., can be brewed with their respective items mixed with an awkward potion on a brewing stand.

For this guide, I chose to brew a potion of swiftness. The base potion has a three-minute duration.

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2) Brew redstone dust with the potion

Brew redstone dust with the potion to increase its duration (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

After your basic potion is brewed, keep it in the brewing stand and place redstone dust in the top slot of the GUI. Redstone dust is required to increase the duration of any potion in Minecraft.

Once the redstone dust is mixed with the potion, its duration will increase. As shown in the picture, one redstone dust was added to a potion to increase its duration from three to eight minutes.

It is worth mentioning that redstone dust can only be added to a potion once. Furthermore, after a potion's duration is increased, its potency cannot be increased by adding glowstone dust. This means that redstone dust and glowstone dust's effects are mutually exclusive.

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How to find redstone dust?

Redstone dust can be found by mining redstone ore (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

For those who might not know, redstone is an earth mineral that is frequently used as a component to craft various blocks that can connect and automate actions in Minecraft. Apart from that, they can be used to increase potions' duration.

To get redstone dust, players first have to find redstone ore, which is commonly found anywhere between Y level 15 and -62. It can be mined using an iron, diamond, or netherite pickaxe. Once the ore is mined, redstone dust gets dropped. This is the simplest way to get the item.