There are five Empty Bottles in Ocarina of Time on Switch 2, one more than the 1998 original. The new one comes from the Potion Shop in Hyrule Castle Town and is the easiest of the lot. The rest are the Lon Lon Ranch milk bottle, the Kakariko Village Cucco Lady, Ruto’s Letter at the bottom of Lake Hylia, and a Poe Collector reward you can only earn as Adult Link.
This guide follows two launch-week walkthroughs of the remake, from Nintendo Life (Matthew Reynolds) and VGC (Dave Aubrey), both published on November 8. Where only one of them gives a detail, we say which. Checked November 8, 2026, 17:11 UTC, three days after the Switch 2 release.
Table of Contents
Quick answer: all 5 Empty Bottle locations
- Bottle 1, Potion Shop (new in the remake): catch a bug for the shopkeeper as Child Link. No requirements.
- Bottle 2, Lon Lon Ranch: win Talon’s Super Cucco game. Wake Talon at Hyrule Castle first.
- Bottle 3, Kakariko Village: return the Cucco Lady’s seven Cuccos to her pen.
- Bottle 4, Lake Hylia: collect Ruto’s Letter from the lake bed with the Silver Scale. It is part of the story, so you can’t miss it.
- Bottle 5, Poe Collector: sell him five Big Poes as Adult Link. You need Epona and the Fairy Bow.
All Ocarina of Time Switch 2 bottle locations at a glance
| # | Where | Link | What you do | You need |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Potion Shop, Hyrule Castle Town | Child | Catch the loose bug | Nothing |
| 2 | Lon Lon Ranch | Child | Find 3 Super Cuccos | Talon woken at Hyrule Castle |
| 3 | Kakariko Village | Child | Return 7 Cuccos | Nothing |
| 4 | Lake Hylia | Child | Grab Ruto’s Letter, show King Zora | Silver Scale |
| 5 | Poe Collector, Hyrule Castle Town | Adult | Sell 5 Big Poes | Epona, Fairy Bow |
The game lets you collect them in any order. The sequence above roughly follows the story, which is how Nintendo Life lists them.
Bottle 1: Potion Shop in Hyrule Castle Town (new)
This is the bottle the remake adds. When you first reach Hyrule Castle Town as a child, walk into the Potion Shop. According to Nintendo Life it is in the east row of shops in the main square, marked with a potion above the door. Inside, the shopkeeper is dealing with a bug. Catch it using the bottle he hands you and you keep the bottle.
VGC adds that you can sell the bug afterwards to the kneeling man in the market. VGC also points out why this one matters: with a spare bottle early on, the later bottle quests, including the Big Poe hunt, become easier.
Bottle 2: Lon Lon Ranch Super Cucco game
First you have to sneak into Hyrule Castle and wake Talon. Nintendo Life says you can also trigger it once you hold Zelda’s Letter. Talon then returns to Lon Lon Ranch, and you find him in the first building on your left. His game hides three Super Cuccos among regular ones in the barn.
- VGC says Super Cuccos hold their heads higher than ordinary Cuccos in the remake, which makes them easier to pick out.
- Nintendo Life suggests herding as many normal Cuccos as you can to one side before the game starts, so the special ones stand out when they are thrown in.
Win and you get a bottle filled with Lon Lon Milk (VGC counts two servings). The bottle is yours to keep once it is empty. In the original game, Talon’s dialogue says you can bring the bottle back for a refill, as quoted on the Zelda Wiki on Fandom. Neither remake guide says that changed, but neither confirms it either.
Bottle 3: Kakariko Village Cucco Lady
Talk to the Cucco Lady beside the pen in the south-west corner of Kakariko Village. She wants her seven Cuccos back, and the reward is an empty bottle. Nintendo Life has a separate Cucco locations guide, and here is its list in short:
| Cucco | Where to look |
|---|---|
| 1 | The construction site in the middle of the village |
| 2 | Near the west entrance to Hyrule Field |
| 3 | Down the steps from the Death Mountain entrance |
| 4 | On a pile of bricks west of the House of Skulltula; carry another Cucco and jump off the ledge to the south to drift over |
| 5 | In a wobbling crate in the corner by the northernmost ground-level house; roll into it |
| 6 | Behind the fence in the east; carry a Cucco and jump from north of the windmill entrance to fly over |
| 7 | In the same fenced area, up the ladder by the windmill |
VGC’s N64 guide describes some Cucco spots differently, so don’t rely on an old route from the original. It also warns that entering a building or leaving the area resets every Cucco in the N64 game, so finish the round in one go. Neither remake guide says whether that still applies, so treat it as a precaution.
While you are in the village, our Gold Skulltula guide and heart piece list cover the other collectibles nearby.
Seven runaway Cuccos stand between you and the Kakariko bottle. AI-generated illustration
Bottle 4: Ruto’s Letter at Lake Hylia
This is the only bottle the story forces on you. Both guides describe the same route:
- Finish Dodongo’s Cavern and go to Zora’s Domain (Nintendo Life).
- Complete the diving minigame at the top of the waterfall to earn the Silver Scale (VGC).
- Dive down the channel in Zora’s Domain that leads to Lake Hylia.
- Look just in front of where you surface in Lake Hylia: a bottle with Princess Ruto’s message sits on the lake bed.
- Take the message to King Zora. He lets you keep the empty bottle.
For the Silver Scale diving game, VGC has its own guide to the Silver and Golden Scale dives.
Ruto's Letter sits in a bottle on the Lake Hylia lake bed, reached with the Silver Scale. AI-generated illustration
Bottle 5: Big Poes for the Poe Collector (Adult Link)
This is the only bottle you can’t get as a child, and it is the one the remake changed most. In the N64 original you had to catch ten Big Poes, and the Zelda Wiki lists a 50-rupee payment per Big Poe. VGC says the remake asks for five instead and that finding them is simpler.
What you need first, as Adult Link: Epona from Lon Lon Ranch and the Fairy Bow from the Forest Temple. Both guides agree on that. Then:
- VGC says haunted fences with a purple glow now stand across Hyrule Field. Jump one on Epona and a Big Poe appears.
- Shoot it twice with arrows (VGC).
- Get off the horse and catch the fallen spirit with an empty bottle.
- Take it to the Poe Collector, in the building at the entrance to Hyrule Castle Town (Nintendo Life).
VGC reports 30 rupees per Big Poe and an extra reward of 200 rupees if you sell all ten, which suggests keeping going after the bottle is yours if you want the money. We have only seen that figure in VGC’s guide.
You can only carry as many Poes as you have free bottles, so the first bottle from the Potion Shop helps here. Our Biggoron’s Sword trading guide covers another long Adult Link quest worth planning around.
Big Poe spirits go in an empty bottle before you take them to the Poe Collector. AI-generated illustration
What changed from the N64 original
| N64 original | Switch 2 remake | |
|---|---|---|
| Total bottles | 4 | 5 |
| New bottle | None | Potion Shop bug catch |
| Poe Collector | 10 Big Poes | 5 Big Poes |
| Finding Big Poes | Ride through spawn areas in Hyrule Field and hunt them down | Jump the glowing haunted fences on Epona |
| Cucco hunt, Super Cuccos | Same quests | Same quests, with some Cucco spots described differently; Super Cuccos hold their heads higher |
Sources for the original column: the Zelda Wiki and VGC’s separate N64 bottle guide.
What can you put in an empty bottle?
The Zelda Wiki notes that in Ocarina of Time you swing an empty bottle to catch things directly, with no net. VGC mentions that bottles can hold a wide variety of substances, creatures and items, and the series-wide behavior is that a fairy in a bottle revives Link automatically when he falls. The remake’s Potion Shop quest has you catch a bug with the bottle, and Nintendo Life notes bottles hold “restorative Potions, Fairies and anything else you might need”. The guides we read don’t list any remake-specific fillings, so we haven’t added any.
FAQ
How many Empty Bottles are in Ocarina of Time on Switch 2?
Five. Both Nintendo Life and VGC count one more than the four in the N64 original, and the new one is the Potion Shop bottle.
Which bottle can I not miss?
The Lake Hylia bottle with Ruto’s Letter, because it is part of the main story. The others are optional side quests.
Which bottle needs Adult Link?
Only the Poe Collector reward. You need Epona and the Fairy Bow before you can start collecting Big Poes.
Sources: Nintendo Life, All Bottle Locations (Nov 8); Nintendo Life, Kakariko Cucco locations; VGC, OoT Remake: All Empty Bottle locations (Nov 8); VGC, N64 Empty Bottle locations; Zelda Wiki on Fandom, Empty Bottle and Poe Collector.
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Featured image: AI-generated illustration
