Minecraft lets you do tons of cool stuff, some realistic, some straight-up wild like breathing underwater. Here’s a 2025 guide on four ways to stay alive under the waves, updated with the latest game tricks.

Table of Contents

How To Make Water-Breathing Potions

Breathing Underwater Minecraft
Using potions is the most popular way to breathe underwater in Minecraft.

Water-breathing potions are the go-to for chilling underwater, letting you breathe for 3 to 8 minutes. Making them takes some effort, but it’s worth it.

Ingredients for Water-Breathing Potions

  • 3 Water Bottles
  • 1 Nether Wart
  • 1 Pufferfish
  • 1 Crafting Table
  • 1 Brewing Stand
  • 1 Blaze Powder
  • Optional: 1 Redstone Dust (to make it last longer)
  • Optional: 1 Gunpowder (for a splash potion)
  • Optional: 1 Dragon’s Breath (for a lingering potion)

Steps to Make Water-Breathing Potions

Make A Water Breathing Potion
It's not difficult to make a water-breathing potion in this sandbox game.
  1. Build a Crafting Table with 4 wooden planks.
  2. Make a Brewing Stand using 3 cobblestones and 1 blaze rod (snag it from blazes in the Nether).
  3. Turn a blaze rod into Blaze Powder.
  4. Set the Brewing Stand down and open its menu.
  5. Pop Blaze Powder in the top-left slot to power it up.
  6. Put 3 Water Bottles in the bottom slots and toss a Nether Wart in the top to make Awkward Potions.
  7. Add a Pufferfish to the top slot to turn those into Potions of Water Breathing (good for 3 minutes).
  8. (Optional) Throw in Redstone Dust to stretch the potion to 8 minutes.
  9. (Optional) Use Gunpowder for a Splash Potion of Water Breathing or Dragon’s Breath for a Lingering Potion.

Once you’ve got the stuff, whipping up these potions is pretty simple for long underwater trips.

How To Breathe Underwater In Minecraft Without Potions?

Don’t want to mess with potions? No problem. Minecraft’s got three solid ways to breathe underwater: a conduit, a turtle helmet, or an airlock.

1. Use Conduit

Conduit In Minecraft
Minecraft players can also use the conduit to breathe underwater without using potions.

A conduit is like an underwater superpower, letting you breathe and see clearly in a big area. Perfect for big projects.

Ingredients for a Conduit

  • 8 Nautilus Shells
  • 1 Heart of the Sea
  • 1 Crafting Table

Steps to Make and Use a Conduit

  1. Hunt down a treasure map in shipwrecks or ocean ruins to find a Heart of the Sea.
  2. Dig at the map’s “X” to grab the chest with the heart.
  3. Get 8 Nautilus Shells from drowned mobs or trade with wandering traders (still works in 2025).
  4. Open a Crafting Table, put the Heart of the Sea in the middle, and surround it with 8 Nautilus Shells to make a Conduit.
  5. Build a frame underwater with 16-42 prismarine blocks, sea lanterns, or dark prismarine (like a 5x5 square with a cross). Stick the conduit in the center.
  6. Activate it for Conduit Power, giving you unlimited breathing, night vision, and faster mining in a 32-96 block range, depending on the frame.

Conduits are awesome for setting up camp underwater without needing potions.

2. Use Turtle Helmet

Collect 5 Turtle Shells
You need to collect 5 turtle shells to craft a turtle helmet.

Turtle helmets are a chill, renewable way to breathe longer underwater, especially if you add enchantments.

Ingredients for a Turtle Helmet

  • 5 Scutes
  • 1 Crafting Table

Steps to Craft and Use a Turtle Helmet

  1. Get two turtles to breed with seagrass (found in non-frozen oceans) so they lay 1-4 eggs.
  2. Wait for the eggs to hatch, then feed the baby turtles seagrass to grow them. They’ll drop 0-2 scutes when they’re adults.
  3. Gather 5 scutes for the helmet.
  4. Open a Crafting Table and place the scutes in an “n” shape: 3 across the top row, 1 in the left-middle, 1 in the right-middle.
  5. Equip the Turtle Helmet for 10 extra seconds of breathing per dive (resets when you surface).
  6. (Optional) Enchant it with Respiration III at an enchanting table or anvil to get about 70 seconds per dive, or add Aqua Affinity to mine faster underwater.

Turtle helmets are great for quick dives and easy to farm.

3. Use Airlock

Airlocks are a simple trick to make breathable spots underwater using doors or trapdoors.

Materials for an Airlock

  • 6 Wooden Planks (for a door) or 4 Wooden Planks (for a trapdoor)
  • Optional: Torches, signs, or sand for bigger spaces

Steps to Create an Airlock

  1. Build a small underwater room or hallway.
  2. Place a door or trapdoor at the entrance. Doors make an air pocket when opened underwater, so you can breathe.
  3. For bigger airlocks, use torches or signs to stop water, then add sand or gravel to seal gaps.
  4. Make sure the ceiling matches or is one block above the water level to keep the air pocket.

Note: In Minecraft 1.21 (the 2025 version), doors and trapdoors still work great for air pockets, but signs are trickier due to water flow changes.

Airlocks are handy for quick underwater stops without any fancy gear.

Why Need To Breathe Underwater In Minecraft?

Breathing underwater opens up a ton of fun in Minecraft’s oceans, especially with 2025’s updated biomes. Here’s why it’s worth it:

  • Exploration: Check out ocean monuments, shipwrecks, and ruins for loot like tridents, gold, and enchanted books.
  • Resources: Grab prismarine, coral, seagrass, kelp, or hunt glow squids for glow ink sacs (still around from 1.17).
  • Building: Make underwater bases, farms, or cool setups like coral reefs or glass domes.
  • Challenges: Take on guardians or elder guardians in ocean monuments for sponges and rare drops.

Additional Notes for 2025

  • The 1.21 update (rolled out mid-2024) added slicker water visuals but didn’t change these breathing methods.
  • Glow squids and axolotls (from 1.17) are still awesome for underwater vibes, with axolotls helping fight drowned.
  • Keep an eye on Minecraft’s site or snapshots past 1.21 for new aquatic features, as Mojang loves testing ocean stuff.

>>> Also Read: How To Make An AFK Fish Farm In Minecraft