Snowy Plains

The snowy plains is a snow-covered grassland biome in the Overworld that usually generates near other snowy biomes.

Description
Snowy plains are grasslands covered with snow layers, which are often stacked $$. Spruce trees, tall grass, dandelions and poppies generate infrequently. The exposed grass and leaves take an aqua tone. Aquifers and springs freeze over soon after generation due to the temperature if not exposed to light; thus, any sugar cane that generates alongside water sources uproot themselves shortly after. In the even rarer ice spikes variety, packed ice generates naturally in form of an ice spike or ice lake. Lava lakes that generate within the tundra melt the snow layers around them. River biomes that cut through tundra are frozen.

Pillager outposts and Igloos are also found. Igloos are difficult to spot in the plains, due to the snow blocks camouflaging among the snow layers. Villages that generate in snowy plains are made of spruce wood, snow blocks, ice, blue ice and packed ice. Polar bears and strays spawn here, the latter a variant of the skeleton that shoot arrows of Slowness.

Survival in snowy plains is quite difficult due to the sparseness of the biome and the lack of animals; only polar bears and rabbits may naturally spawn here, though cows, sheep, pigs and horses may spawn as part of villages. Infrequent spruce trees are the only natural source of wood in this biome and maintaining water sources, for farming crops for exemple, can be tough due to water in this biome freezing into ice, if it is not protected by light or a roof. Strays often spawning in place of skeletons can make dealing with hostile mobs even more difficult, due to their slowness arrows and aggravating polar bears, or even coming near one, if accompanied by cubs, can lead to fatal consequences if unprepared. The ice spikes variety can be valuable to late-game players due to the occurrence of ice spikes towers that can be used for a base. As the snowy plains is a snow-covered biome, lightning never strikes in these biomes.

In Bedrock Edition, no hostile mobs other than strays and skeletons can naturally spawn here, excluding spawners, outposts and raids. As strays can only spawn on surfaces exposed to sky, it leaves caves underneath devoid of hostile mobs other than those spawned by spawners and slimes.

Variants
There are two snowy plains biome variants (snowy plains and ice spikes), with one removed variant (snowy mountains) in previous versions.

Snowy Plains
This is the standard snowy plains variant.

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Ice Spikes
This rarer variety features large numbers of packed ice spikes dotting across its landscape. Additionally, all grass blocks are replaced with snow blocks and ice patches generate as well. The spikes come in two sizes: a short, wide spike, and a tall, thin spike. The short spikes generate more often than the tall spikes. Short spikes are about 15 blocks tall, while tall spikes can be over 50 blocks tall. No buildings may generate in this biome, though polar bears, rabbits and strays still spawn. Trees do not generate in this variant either. Snow layers still form atop the snow blocks, making them seem taller than they actually are.

$$, ice spikes use the same mob spawning chances as snowy plains.

$$, ice spikes use the same mob spawning chances as snowy plains for passive categories. Strays and skeletons, however, are more likely spawn while other hostile and neutral mobs are slightly less likely to spawn:

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