Which potion of poison deals more damage

There are two improvements that can be performed on potion of poison (and generally on most potions):

1. Redstone dust improvement - makes potion last longer but does not affect strength.
2. Glowstone dust improvement - makes the potion effect stronger while decreasing the effect duration.

Since the Potion of Poison deals damage over time, will more overall damage be dealt with increased duration (using the Redstone dust) or with lower duration but higher DPS (using the Glowstone dust)?

2 Answers

As per the Minecraft Wiki page on Potions, the extended-duration Poison potion deals 48 hearts of damage over two minutes. The increased-strength Poison II potion deals only 19 hearts' worth of damage, but deals it over the course of 22.5 seconds, which is less than a fifth of the time.

For higher total damage, go with the extended-duration version.

From the wiki. The Potion of poison II deals an extra heart of damage. So the potion that has the glowstone dust will do the most damage. However the potions will not kill players or monsters.

The longer duration one (lasting an astounding 2 minutes) deals over 48 hearts of damage.

If you want the most bang-for-buck I would suggest the glowstone dust. Save your redstone.