What is a potion of decay in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition?

Potion brewing is a time-worn tradition in Minecraft, but Minecraft: Bedrock Edition and its Java-based counterpart, possess two potions in particular that are exclusive to their version: such as Bedrock's potion of decay.

Potions of decay are player-brewed potions that can inflict the Wither status effect on their opponent. With this status effect, targets will continuously take damage until the effect is removed or expires.

Unlike poison, Wither can kill the target. It is normally inflicted by Wither skeletons, the Wither boss, the Wither rose, or a suspicious stew made with a Wither rose. The only entities immune to the effects of Wither are Wither skeletons, the Wither boss, and the Ender Dragon. Witches are also 85% resistant to the effect.

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Minecraft: Obtaining a potion of decay

The Wither is one of the few entities immune to the effects of Wither, including potions of decay (Image via Mojang)

At the moment, for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition players, obtaining or creating a potion of decay in the vanilla build of the game isn't possible. Players will either need to access the potion or its variants in the Creative Mode inventory, console commands, or by using different third-party mods that allow decay potions to be created via the brewing stand and other methods.

Potions of decay can be found in the Creative Mode inventory under the equipment category in Minecraft's most recent build (1.17.10). Players who have cheats enabled and access to commands can also use the command "/give @p potion 1 36" to give the nearest player one potion of decay.

This can also be modified by changing the 1 into a different number, to increase the amount of potions received or changing the target with designators like @s (self), @r (random player) or @a (all players).

Since the /give command's syntax is the kind that works in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, it will also work on other Bedrock-oriented platforms, including Minecraft: Pocket Edition and Minecraft: Education Edition. For players who are unable to obtain mods for their specific Minecraft Bedrock platform, commands and Creative Mode will be the only real way to access potions of decay.

Lastly, there are mods available on sites such as CurseForge, that allow players to craft or brew potions of decay in Survival Mode. Examples of these mods include the Better Survival Mod, which improves many facets of Minecraft survival mode, while also allowing players to brew potions of decay.