Like in real life, players cannot stay underwater for too long in Minecraft. Without anything equipped, you can only breathe for fifteen seconds submerged. Minecraft has water-breathing potions that allow the player to breathe underwater for up to 8 minutes.
However, by using a few different techniques, players can breathe underwater even without using them. These techniques can come in handy when the player does not have any potions on them.
Different ways of breathing underwater without potions in Minecraft
Here are all the methods that will help you breathe underwater for longer than usual:
Create an air column
Players can place a few items such as a door, turtle egg, or stone cutter on the ground when underwater. These blocks can create an air column underwater in which you can breathe.
Speedrunners and experienced Minecrafters often use this method to explore or loot underwater structures such as shipwrecks.
Create a bubble column
In Minecraft, bubble columns can be created anywhere underwater using soul sand or magma blocks. You can breathe the same way you do on land when inside the bubble column.
If you are on Java Edition, you will have to turn at least a few flowing water blocks above soul sand into source blocks. You can do so by placing kelps above the soul sand block and then removing them.
Using a Turtle Shell
A turtle shell is a helmet that can be crafted using five scutes. If you are unaware, scute is an item that baby turtles will drop when they turn into adults.
With a turtle shell equipped, you can breathe underwater for ten seconds longer than you usually would. Ten seconds isn’t a lot, which is why this method is the least recommended.
Using a helmet with Respiration enchantment
Respiration is a helmet enchantment that can be acquired directly from the enchanting table. It has three levels, and each level of Respiration increases the amount of time for which you can breathe underwater by fifteen seconds.
This means that with a max level Respiration helmet, you can breathe for forty-five extra seconds. If you apply it on a Turtle Shell, you will be able to breathe for almost a minute extra before you start taking suffocation damage.
Create a Conduit
Conduits are rare blocks that can be crafted using eight nautilus shells and one heart of the sea. Nautilus shells can be obtained by killing drowneds, fishing, or trading with wandering traders and one heart of the sea always generates in buried treasures.
Conduits are the best for breathing underwater as there is no time limit to how long you can breathe and it also provides a few other helpful status effects.
Here are the steps to set up Conduit with maximum range:
Step 1: After crafting the Conduit, place it underwater in a preferred spot.
Step 2: Place sixteen prismarine blocks of any type around it as shown. The Conduit’s radius will be the 96 blocks, which is the highest.