Snow

This article is about the thin cover caused by snowfall. For the full block, see Snow Block. For the weather condition, see Snowfall. For the projectile, see Snowball. For other uses, see Snow (disambiguation).

Snow

Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool
Blast resistance	0.1
Hardness	0.1
Luminant	No
Transparent	Yes
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	No

Snow is a ground cover block that is commonly caused by snowfall.

Obtaining

Breaking

In Java Edition, the only way to mine snow is via a shovel enchanted with Silk Touch. Destroying snow with a non-Silk-Touch shovel yields one snowball per layer. Any other tool, even if enchanted by Silk Touch, destroys the snow and drops nothing. Explosions by TNT or creepers also cause snow to yield a snowball. Snow can also be obtained by causing it to drop into an invalid block space, in which case it drops itself.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} The dropped snow layer also corresponds with how many layers were in the broken snow pile. If there are 8 layers of snow, a full snow block drops instead.

In Bedrock Edition, using a shovel on snow (left or right click) yields 1-4 snowballs. 4 snow balls can be crafted into a full snow block, which can in turn be crafted into snow layers (3 full snow blocks = 6 snow layers). Snow layers cannot be "mined" with silk touch. Silk touch has no effect on the number of snow balls acquired when using a shovel. The number of snow balls acquired is as follows: 1 snow ball for snow layers 0-2, 2 snow balls for snow layers 3-4, 3 snow balls for snow layers 5-6 and 4 snow balls for snow layer 7 and full snow blocks.

Block	Snow
Hardness	0.1
Tool
Breaking time
Default	0.5
Wooden	0.1
Stone	0.05
Iron	0.05
Diamond	0.05
Netherite	0.05
Golden	0.05

Natural generation

Snow naturally generates in snowy biomes – snowy plains, ice spikes, frozen oceans, snowy taiga, frozen river, snowy beach, grove, snowy slopes, jagged peaks and frozen peaks – and in the windswept hills biomes above y-level 120. Only blocks with direct access to the sky can generate snow layers naturally (with the exception of some snowy villages, which are intentionally made to generate extra snow in areas inaccessible to the sky).

Snow generates where there is sky access atop buildings in snowy taiga villages. ‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

Snow generates in multiple layers as part of many snowy plains village structures.

Snow generates exclusively in single layers in Java Edition, but can generate in multiple layers in Bedrock Edition.

Snow also generate in ancient cities.

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Snow Block	6

Post-generation

Weather

In snowy biomes or in cold biomes at higher altitudes, the weather can produce snow instead of rain. In snowy weather, snow generates on random blocks with a complete solid top surface at integer y-values, with a block light level of 9 or less, with the exception of ice and packed ice.

Below are the altitudes at which rain ends and snow begins, depending on the biome. The exact height of the snow line is randomized: take taiga for example, the lowest possible snow layer forms at y level 153, and the lowest height where snow forms at all locations is y=168, with snow lines ranging between y levels 153 and 168 across different locations.

Biome	Layer
All snowy biomes	y -64 (All altitudes)
Windswept Gravelly Hills Windswept Hills Stony Shore Windswept Forest	y 113–128
Taiga Old Growth Spruce Taiga	y 153–168
Old Growth Pine Taiga	y 193–208
All others except Dry/Hot Biomes	Above y 320 (not possible)
Frozen Ocean Deep Frozen Ocean	Depends on location

In Bedrock Edition, multiple snow layers are built up naturally during snowfall; in Java Edition, snowfall creates only one layer.

Snow layers do not generate if the gamerule doweathercycle has been set to false.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

Snow golems

See also: Tutorials/Snow farming

Snow golems generate a trail of snow in snowy, cold, and some medium biomes, or any non-dry biome in Bedrock Edition.

Usage

Various thicknesses of snow.

Snow can be placed only on a solid block that is not ice. In Java Edition, snow breaks if its support block is removed. In Bedrock Edition, snow is affected by gravity and falls if it becomes unsupported, and breaks if it falls onto an unsuitable block. A player can jump up 1 block and 3 snow layers.

Cover

Snow cover grass block, mycelium or podzol.

If the snow is on a grass block (or mycelium or podzol in Java Edition) the ground cover turns white on the top and around the sides. Snow does not damage tilled and hydrated field areas – it cannot be placed on farmland. A gravity-affected block like sand or gravel does not fall if snow covers the block below it, but the gravity-affected block does replace a snow layer when falling onto it. The texture of the grass block changes to snowy when a single layer of snow is placed on top. Thicker layers of snow causes the grass block to revert to plain dirt when the block receives a random tick, similar to regular grass when covered by an opaque block. A plain dirt block with a single layer of snow on top gains a snowy texture if grass spreads to it.

In Bedrock Edition, if leaves are topped with a layer of snow, particles of snow appear to fall through the leaves from the snow layer.

In Bedrock Edition, snow layers can occupy the same space as one-block flowers, mushrooms, and one-block ferns and grass, (however two-block tall plants do not work) and can be layered and mined normally. Placing snow on already-existing plant blocks causes snow to appear around them, but placing plants into an area where there is snow removes the snow.

Snow layers can be used to kill nylium.

Melting

Powered redstone lamps melting nearby snow.

Snow melts if there is a heat block‌^{[BE & EE only]}, or block light level of 12 or more. In Bedrock Edition, it also melts in dry biomes, regardless of block light or daylight level. If there are multiple layers, layers melt gradually in Bedrock Edition, but they melt all at once in Java.

Most light sources can melt snow but some cannot.

Item	Melt	Melt Radius
Beacon	Yes	3
Campfire	Yes	3
Soul Campfire	No	-
Conduit	Yes	3
Glow Lichen	No	-
Glowstone	Yes	3
Jack o'Lantern	Yes	3
Lantern	Yes	3
Soul Lantern	No	-
Lava	Yes	3
Redstone Lamp	Yes	3
Respawn Anchor 1/4 Charge	No	-
Respawn Anchor 2/4 Charge	No	-
Respawn Anchor 3/4 Charge	No	-
Respawn Anchor 4/4 Charge	Yes	3
1 Sea Pickle	No	-
2 Sea Pickles	No	-
3 Sea Pickles	No	-
4 Sea Pickles	Yes	3
Shroomlight	Yes	3
End Rod	Yes	2
Torch	Yes	2
Soul Torch	No	-
Redstone Torch	No	-
Ender Chest	No	-
Furnace	Yes	1
Blast Furnace	Yes	1
Smoker	Yes	1
Crying Obsidian	No	-
Magma Block	No	-
Brewing Stand	No	-
Brown Mushroom	No	-
Dragon Egg	No	-
Redstone Ore	No	-
End Portal Frame	No	-
Fire	Yes	3
Soul Fire	No	-
Nether Portal	No	-
Sea Lantern	Yes	3

Foxes

When a fox gets stuck in the snow after missing an attack on prey, it emits particles as it emerges from the snow.

Sounds

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.snow.break	subtitles.block.generic.break	1.0	0.8	16
	None	Blocks	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.snow.fall	None	0.5	0.75	16
	Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.snow.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit	0.25	0.5	16
	Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.snow.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	1.0	0.8	16
	Footsteps	Blocks	Walking on the block	block.snow.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition: ^{[needs in-game testing]}

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
?	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.snow	?	0.8
?	Blocks	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.snow	?	?
?	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.snow	?	0.5
?	Blocks	Jumping from the block	jump.snow	?	?
?	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.snow	?	?
?	Blocks	Walking on the block	step.snow	?	?
?	Blocks	When the block is placed	use.snow	?	0.8

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Translation key
Snow	snow	Block & Item	inside_step_sound_blocks snow mineable/shovel	block.minecraft.snow

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID	Translation key
Top Snow	snow_layer	78	Block & Giveable Item	Identical	tile.snow_layer.name

Block states

See also: Block states

Java Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
layers	1	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	The number of layers thick. Each layer adds two pixels to the block height, and each layer after the first adds two pixels to the collision box.

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Metadata Bits	Default value	Allowed values	Values for Metadata Bits	Description
height	0x1 0x2 0x4	0	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7	The number of layers in addition to the bottom layer.
covered_bit	0x8	false	true false	0 1	True if the snow is covering a plant.

History

Java Edition Classic
May 20, 2009					Notch briefly mentioned, "Winter is an awesome idea. I can see snow and tiles slowly getting covered in a layer of snow. Also, ice on lakes. :D"
May 21, 2009					Notch reveals that snow "on top of topmost tiles" was on his to-do list.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.4					Snowfall has been added to maps only in winter mode. When creating a new save, a map has a 1/4 chance of having worldwide snowfall. When falling on exposed land, a thin snow layer is created.
					Snow can not fall onto any non solid blocks, and instead falls through them. The exception to this is leaves.
v1.0.5					Disturbing a snow layer by any means other than replacing it now causes a snowball to drop. This includes melting and mining snow or the block under it.
					A player can now easily harvest snow by placing a block of water. By doing so, the player receives a large amount of snowballs with little effort.
					Snow can now fall onto many non solid blocks including glass, stairs, slabs, doors, signs, and pressure plates.
v1.0.5_01					Snowballs can now be harvested from snow only by using with shovels.
v1.0.17					Snow can no longer fall on non solid blocks, including leaves. Any snow on top of non solid blocks break given a block update.
v1.2.0		preview			With the removal of Winter Mode, snow can no longer regenerate.
Java Edition Beta
1.5					Stacked snow layers have been added. They do not generate naturally and cannot be placed. Layers 1-3 have no collision, while 4-8 all have a half block collision.
					Snow regeneration has now returned as part of the new weather features.
					Snow can now occur in arctic biomes.
1.7					The side textures of snow layers 1-7 are now aligned to the bottom of the block instead of the top.
1.8		Pre-release			Snow biomes have been temporarily removed as Notch is currently trying to improve them.
					Dropped snow layer items no longer appear larger than normal blocks.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease			Snow biomes have been re-added.
					Snow now occurs in tundra biomes, as well as arctic biomes.
1.3.1		12w21a			Snow has been made available in the creative inventory.
1.5		13w05a			Snow can now be crafted and is obtainable in Survival mode.
					Stacked snow layers now have correct collisions, and can be placed.
?					Single snow layers now have collision. Walking on top of them is equivalent to walking atop a full block below them.
?					Single snow layers no longer have collision.
1.8		14w28b			The number of snowballs dropped from snow has been increased from 1-8 to 2-9, depending on thickness.
1.13		17w47a			The ID of snow has been changed from snow_layer to snow.
					Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 78.
					Layer 1 snow now has empty collision instead of solid collision of height 0, allowing entities to once again pass through it.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of snow has been changed.
		19w03c			Seven layer high snow now uses correct cullface arguments.
Upcoming Java Edition
1.19		22w13a			Snow now generate as part of ancient city.
Pocket Edition Alpha
Pre-release					Added snow to the world generation.
v0.4.0					The model of snow has been changed.
v0.8.0		build 2			Added snow to the Creative mode inventory.
v0.12.1		build 1			Stacked snow layers have been added. They can be placed. Layers 1-3 have no collision, while 4-8 all have a half block collision.
					Snow is now affected by gravity, so that unsupported snow layers show falling dust particles.
					Snow can now be placed inside flowers, mushrooms and tall grass.
					Snow is now obtained by using a shovel on it. Previously, snow was mined like any dirt-type block.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0		?			Snow layers can now generate in extreme hills biomes.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of snow has been changed.
1.16.0		beta 1.15.0.51			Snow now drops itself when mined with a Silk Touch shovel.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added snow.
TU54	CU44	1.52	Patch 24	1.0.4	Snow can now be placed on top of upside-down stairs.
TU69	CU57	1.76	Patch 38		Snow is now affected by gravity.
		1.90			The texture of snow has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added snow.

Issues

Issues relating to "Snow", "Snow layer", or "Top snow" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

• Snow can be stacked to a full block beside a cactus without destroying the cactus.
• Snow layers of 2 to 7 thickness prevent hostile mobs from spawning.
• In Spectator mode, a player positioned at the correct height can see the snowy texture of the top of the grass blocks.

Gallery

Java Edition

• 

  Naturally generated snow in a snowy plains biome.

• 

  Naturally generated snow in an ice spikes biome.

• 

  Naturally generated snow in a snowy taiga biome.

• 

  Naturally generated snow in windswept hills.

Bedrock Edition

• 

  Naturally generated snow in a snowy taiga.

• 

  Snow as seen having the ability to bury certain plants.

References

Entities

View at: Template:Entities/content [edit]