How to Get Nether Wart in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Nether wart grows in nether fortress stairwell gardens (about 20 plants) and in housing-unit bastion courtyards (1, 5 or 6 plants). Plant it on soul sand in any dimension - no light or water needed - and harvest at full growth for 2-4 warts.

What you need

A nether fortress or bastion remnant
Soul sand for the farm
Fortune tool (optional, for +drops)

Step by step

Find a nether fortress: the standard source. Check the small soul sand gardens beside interior stairwells - about 20 nether wart plants grow there per garden, and fortress chests can hold more.
Or raid a bastion: housing-unit bastion remnants grow nether wart in their central courtyards - exactly 1, 5 or 6 plants per courtyard.
Harvest everything you find: break any mature crop (tall, deep red) for 2-4 nether wart, and younger ones for 1. Take it all - one garden is enough to start an infinite farm.
Use Fortune: a Fortune tool raises the mature drop by +1 per level, up to 7 warts from one fully grown crop. Young crops always drop just 1.
Plant on soul sand: nether wart grows ONLY on soul sand - not soul soil, not dirt. Place the farm anywhere: the Overworld, your base, even the End.
Forget light and water: growth ignores light level and hydration completely. A dark closet works as well as a garden.
Skip the bone meal: bone meal does nothing on nether wart. It grows through 4 stages on random ticks - about 34 minutes from planting to full growth on average.
Scale the farm: each mature crop replants into 2-4 more plants, so every harvest multiplies your field. A few cycles turn 20 warts into hundreds.
Spend it on brewing: nether wart + water bottle = awkward potion, the base of almost every useful potion in the game. It also crafts red nether bricks and nether wart blocks for building.

Java vs Bedrock

Identical mechanics in both editions: soul sand only, 4 stages, no bone meal, Fortune scaling on mature crops. In Java the debug screen shows the exact growth stage (age 0-3).

Versions: Nether wart was added in Java Beta 1.9 Prerelease in September 2011, together with blazes and brewing - it has been the foundation of alchemy ever since. Pocket Edition got it in v0.12.1.

Frequently asked questions

Where do you find nether wart in Minecraft?

In nether fortresses (soul sand gardens near stairwells, about 20 plants, plus chest loot) and in the central courtyards of housing-unit bastion remnants (exactly 1, 5 or 6 plants). It generates nowhere else.

Can you grow nether wart in the Overworld?

Yes - nether wart grows in any dimension as long as it is planted on soul sand. Light, water and biome are all irrelevant; it grows through 4 stages in about 34 minutes on average.

Does bone meal work on nether wart?

No - bone meal has no effect. Nether wart advances one stage on random ticks only (10% chance per tick), so patience is the only accelerator.

Why won't my nether wart plant?

It only plants on soul sand. Soul soil does not work, and neither does farmland or dirt. Bring soul sand back from the Nether and the farm works anywhere.