Snow Golem

Snow Golems are the game's first utility mob, which Notch defines as any player-created mob. They are friendly to their creator. Snow Golems are created using pumpkins and snow blocks, and will throw snowballs at enemy mobs. As Snow Golems move, they can leave a trail of snow on the ground. If a Snow Golem walks over a mushroom, the mushroom will be destroyed and dropped as an item. Snow Golems do not take fall damage. Once killed, the Snow Golem will drop a maximum of 15 snowballs. Like Endermen and Blazes, Snow Golems take damage upon contact with water.

Creation
To create a Snow Golem, the player must vertically stack two snow blocks on the ground and then place a pumpkin on top of them. A Jack 'o' Lantern can also be used instead of a pumpkin, but this has no effect on the snow golem's appearance or statistics.

Players should be aware that Snow Golems cannot be made on the crafting table, and are only created when the pumpkin is placed last. Pistons cannot create Snow Golems, as they cannot push pumpkin blocks. Endermen are capable of creating Snow Golems by placing the necessary blocks, although this is an extremely rare event because they do not do so deliberately. The creation of snow golems can be automated in vanilla survival as of snapshot 14w04 now that pumpkins can be placed by a dispenser. They can also be created by spawning in a falling sand entity with a tile ID of 86 and dropping it onto two snow blocks (/summon FallingSand x y z {TileID:86,Time:10})

Behavior


Snow Golems move towards hostile mobs and throw snowballs at them up to 10 blocks away provoking them, however the thrown snowballs do not do any damage, except to Blazes and the Enderdragon. Snow Golems do not attack creepers and aggressive wolves. Note that in Xbox 360 1.6.1, they WILL attack creepers, which will then approach and explode, (This also happens in PC when a stray snowball hits a creeper when targeting another mob,) so be careful placing Snow Golems near your structures. Snow Golems attract enemies and do not follow the player, making them useful for luring enemies into traps. Snow Golems have good path-finding skills, and will not jump off cliffs or into lava. Snow Golems "melt" (take damage) in Deserts, Mesas, Jungles, Savannas, the Nether, and when in contact with rain or water. Snow Golems are also useful for dispatching Endermen, as the snowball will cause them to teleport away.

Snow Golems are also able to be pushed up ladders; they are able to climb as high as one square naturally as well. (This is similar to Iron Golems.) They can also be put on leads and tied to a fence.

Defense
A Snow Golem's primary purpose is to defend the player from mobs. Four Snow Golems throw snowballs quickly enough to continuously push a zombie back. Due to their small health, however, players are advised to use many all at once. Snow Golems will attack Zombie Pigmen regardless of whether or not they attacked the player, but will not trigger any other Zombie Pigmen in the area, either towards the Snow Golem or the player.

Since pumpkins can be found in Taiga biomes, it may be a nice idea to build a few Snow Golems when first starting out if one is desperate.

Here are a few examples of efficient ways to defend yourself and your valuables:

A horde of Snow Golems kept between two lines of fence provides a wall that constantly pushes back mobs at a distance, and in an emergency, they can be released to push back approaching enemies. Another way is to place them into guard towers, shielding them from damage. To create such a guard tower, make a small 3x3, 1-4 block high tower. Add another block 4 blocks up from the center to protect it from rain. Surround the top with fencing and create a Snow Golem in the center. Don't use pressure plates in your shelter if snow golems will be around them. They are able to walk on them and it can lead to them running off.

Attack
Snow Golems deal no damage to most mobs, but Blazes are an important exception. Given enough splash potions of Fire Resistance, they can also be used to farm Blaze rods from Blazes.

Farming


Because Snow Golems leave a constant trail of snow cover as they move (except in Plains, Swamps, Deserts, Beaches, Jungles, Mushroom Islands, and the Nether), it is possible to farm that snow. However, because of their habit of attacking hostile mobs, it would be wise to ensure the Snow Golem is in an enclosed, safe place in the beginning. The simplest method is to create a 1x1 hole that is 2 blocks deep, and to put both the player and the Snow Golem in. Then the player would look straight down and dig the snow layer beneath the golem. This creates an unlimited number of snowballs very quickly, because the snow layer regenerates as quickly as it is mined. A shovel must be used to collect the snow as snowballs—with other tools or none, it is simply destroyed. (Note that the shovel will wear out quickly—a diamond shovel will be completely used up in 2 minutes 30 seconds.) Since snowballs only stack to 16, they can quickly fill the inventory, but of course they can be condensed into snow blocks (which do stack to 64, and store 4 snowballs each). If one wants to farm snow in a Desert, Beach, Jungle or Mushroom Island, the golem can sometimes be put on a platform above a river, as rivers count as a separate "River" biome.



Appearance


Snow Golems look similar to real-life snowmen. They have two snow blocks for a body, each having three seemingly coal buttons in the middle, and a snow block as a head with coal dots in the shape of a slightly wonky smiley face, however this head block is covered by a pumpkin helmet. The face can be seen when standing on the same block as the Snow Golem or after changing the pumpkin helmet's texture to clear. They also have sticks for arms. There are no apparent legs, and they seem to just glide around on the bottom snow block.

Trivia

 * Snow Golems are called SnowMan in the game code.
 * Although Snow Golems will attack most hostile mobs, they will only agitate skeletons, spiders, cave spiders, Witches and Zombie Pigmen. Endermen simply teleport away.
 * A Zombie can only be agitated if there is a Villager present and a Snow Golem is blocking his way to the Villager by throwing snowballs at him. A Zombie will then retaliate and momentarily forget about the Villager that was there, until the Snow Golem that attacked him is slain.
 * Iron Golems can be agitated if the Snow Golem accidentally hits one while aiming at another mob. Same goes for creepers.
 * Snow Golems wear their pumpkin as a helmet just like the player does. Their actual Snowman-type head is hidden beneath it. If the player occupies the same space as a Snow Golem, the Snow Golem's Pumpkin helmet will be seen through, revealing their snowman-style face.
 * Using a texture editor with the pumpkin texture invisible, the true Snow Golem's face can be seen.
 * The throwing sound is actually the bow firing sound, even though Snowballs have their own throwing sound.
 * Snow Golems cannot be made by pistons because the code for generating Snow Golems are found in the Pumpkins "OnBlockPlace" (When placed by a player) event, Also pumpkins will be dropped as an entity when pushed by a piston.
 * In the same way Snow Golems can only be crafted by placing a pumpkin on top of two snow blocks; placing the pumpkin then snow underneath will produce no Snow Golem.
 * This also means Enderman can create Snow Golems if they are roaming around with a pumpkin and happen to place them on two snow blocks crafted by the player.
 * If trapped underwater, Snow Golems can drown.
 * Snow Golems do not create ice when moving onto a water block.
 * When constructing a Snow Golem, it will be 3 blocks high, but when it activates it becomes only 2 blocks high.
 * Snow Golems, Witches, and squid are the only mobs that do not make any sound (except when Snow Golems are attacking).
 * Since the damage Snow Golems take in hot biomes is fire damage, a splash potion of Fire Resistance thrown immediately after the creation of one will make it survive. With redstone dust, this means around six minutes. In the Nether it will prevent damage from fire, lava and Blaze fireballs, but not Blaze contact.
 * Snow Golems do not leave behind snow when they move on the top half-slabs.
 * Snow Golems were given path finding AI when they were introduced, making them the first mobs to have path finding AI.
 * If a wall of Snow Golems is attacking a mob, the snow balls may hit other Golems thus pushing the wall forward.
 * Snow Golems cannot yet be created in Pocket Edition; if the player places two Snow Blocks and puts a Pumpkin on top, nothing will happen. This also applies for Iron Golems.