The snowy plains is a snow-covered grassland biome in the Overworld that usually generates near other snowy biomes.
Contents
Description[]
Snowy plains are grasslands covered with snow layers, which are often stacked in Bedrock Edition. 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[]
| Type |
Snowy |
|---|---|
| Rarity |
Uncommon |
| Temperature |
0.0 |
| Structures | |
| Blocks | |
| Grass color |
|
| Foliage color |
|
| Water color |
This is the standard snowy plains variant.
In Java Edition:
| Mob | Spawn chance | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Passive category | ||
| Rabbit[note 1] | 10⁄11 | 2–3 |
| Polar Bear | 1⁄11 | 1–2 |
| Hostile category | ||
| Spider | 100⁄516.25 | 4 |
| Zombie | 95⁄516.25 | 4 |
| Stray | 80⁄516.25 | 4 |
| Creeper | 100⁄516.25 | 4 |
| Slime[note 2] | 100⁄516.25 | 4 |
| Skeleton | 20⁄516.25 | 4 |
| Enderman | 10⁄516.25 | 1–4 |
| Witch | 5⁄516.25 | 1 |
| Zombie Villager | 5⁄516.25 | 1 |
| Spider Jockey | 1⁄516.25 | 1 |
| Chicken Jockey | 0.25⁄516.25 | 1 |
| Ambient category | ||
| Bat | 10⁄10 | 8 |
In Bedrock Edition:
| Mob | Spawn chance | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Hostile category | ||
| Stray | 96⁄220 | 1–2 |
| Skeleton | 24⁄220 | 1–2 |
| Slime[note 1] | 100⁄220 | 1 |
| Passive category | ||
| Rabbit[note 2] | 4⁄5 | 2–3 |
| Polar Bear | 1⁄5 | 1–2 |
Ice Spikes[]
| Type |
Snowy |
|---|---|
| Rarity |
Rare |
| Temperature |
0.0 |
| Structures | |
| Blocks | |
| Grass color |
|
| Foliage color |
|
| Water color |
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.
In Java Edition, ice spikes use the same mob spawning chances as snowy plains.
In Bedrock Edition, 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:
| Mob | Spawn chance | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Hostile category | ||
| Spider | 100⁄536.25 | 1 |
| Stray | 96⁄536.25 | 1–2 |
| Zombie | 95⁄536.25 | 2–4 |
| Skeleton | 24⁄536.25 | 1–2 |
| Creeper | 100⁄536.25 | 1 |
| Slime[note 1] | 100⁄536.25 | 1 |
| Enderman | 10⁄536.25 | 1–2 |
| Zombie Villager | 5⁄536.25 | 2–4 |
| Witch | 5⁄536.25 | 1 |
| Spider Jockey | 1⁄536.25 | 1 |
| Chicken Jockey | 0.25⁄536.25 | 1 |
- ↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
Data values[]
ID[]
| Name | Resource location | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
| Snowy plains | snowy_plains | biome.minecraft.snowy_plains |
| Ice spikes | ice_spikes | biome.minecraft.ice_spikes |
| Name | Resource location | Numeric ID |
|---|---|---|
| [No displayed name] | ice_plains | 12 |
| [No displayed name] | ice_plains_spikes | 140 |
History[]
| Java Edition Alpha | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0.4 | Added Winter Mode. | ||||
| Maps now have a snowy or grassy theme randomly determined when creating the world. | |||||
| v1.2.0 | preview | Added biomes, including tundras with oak trees and frozen deserts. | |||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Biomes have now recieved an overhaul, removing the tundra. See here for more details. | |||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | September 15, 2011 | Notch teased a screenshot of what he called "snow biomes".[1][2] | |||
| Beta 1.9 Prerelease | Tundras have been re-added. | ||||
| Tundras have been renamed to ice plains. | |||||
| Ice plains contain tall grass. | |||||
| 1.7.2 | 13w36a | Ice plains no loger contain oak tress. Instead, spruce trees generate. | |||
| An ice plains spikes variant has been added, along with many other biomes. Prior to the Update Aquatic, this biome was the only source of packed ice in the game. | |||||
| In addition to the ice spikes, the terrain in this biome is more erratic and taller than the snowy mountains, comparable to the mountains. | |||||
| This biome now tends to generate near snowy and cold biomes. | |||||
| 1.9 | 15w43a | Added igloos, which now generate in ice plains and cold taigas. | |||
| 1.10 | 16w20a | Polar bears and strays have now added; both now spawn in ice plains and variants. | |||
| Ice plains, ice plains spikes and ice mountains no longer spawn most passive mobs. | |||||
| 1.13 | 18w19a | Renamed Ice Plains to Snowy Tundra. | |||
| Renamed Ice Mountains to Snowy Mountains. | |||||
| Renamed Ice Plains Spikes to Ice Spikes. | |||||
| pre5 | Changed the ID ice_flats to snowy_tundra. | ||||
Changed the ID ice_mountains to snowy_mountains. | |||||
Changed the ID mutated_ice_flats to ice_spikes. | |||||
| 1.14 | 18w49a | Villages can now spawn in snowy tundras. | |||
| 1.18 | Experimental Snapshot 1 | Snowy mountain and ice spike biomes no longer generate. | |||
| experimental snapshot 2 | Ice spike biomes generate once again. | ||||
| ? | This biome now tends to generate near other snowy biomes. | ||||
| 21w40a | "Snowy tundra" has been renamed to "snowy plains". | ||||
The ID snowy_tundra has been changed to snowy_plains. | |||||
| The snowy mountain biome has been removed. | |||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.1.0 | Added biomes, which includes tundras without trees or tall grass. | ||||
| v0.9.0 | build 1 | Added the snowy tundra and ice spikes biomes and many others. | |||
| Added tall grass and spruce trees to snowy tundras. | |||||
| v0.13.0 | build 1 | Added rabbits, which can now spawn in snowy tundra biomes. | |||
| v0.14.0 | build 1 | Chickens, cows, pigs and sheep now rarely spawn in snowy tundras. | |||
| v0.15.0 | build 1 | Added strays, which can now spawn in snowy tundra biomes and variants. | |||
| Villages can now generate in snowy tundra biomes. | |||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | alpha 0.17.0.1 | Added igloos, which can now generate in snowy tundras. | |||
| Added polar bears, which can now spawn in snowy tundra biomes and variants. | |||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| ? | Chickens, cows, sheep and pigs no longer spawn in snowy tundra biomes and variants. | ||||
| Zombies, creepers, spiders, endermen, witches, spider jockeys and chicken jockeys no longer spawn in snowy tundra and snowy mountains biomes. | |||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | Added pillager outposts, which can generate in snowy tundra biomes. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU5 | CU1 | 1.00 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added the ice plains biome, along with changes to many other biomes. |
| TU7 | Tundras have been re-added. | ||||
| Tundras have been renamed to ice plains. | |||||
| TU43 | CU33 | 1.36 | Patch 13 | Added igloos and polar bears, which are both features of ice plains. | |
| TU46 | CU36 | 1.38 | Patch 15 | Added strays, which can now spawn in ice plains. | |
| 1.91 | Added pillager outposts, which can generate in snowy tundra biomes. | ||||
Gallery[]
An Ice Plains biome in Beta 1.9 after it was re-added for the new world generator.
The image teased by Notch of snowy biomes.
Survival in the ice spikes biome was more difficult due to the steep terrain.
An igloo on the shore of a frozen lake, with some polar bears.
A pumpkin patch in snowy plains.
Another view of ice spikes.
Ice spikes that generate under overhangs can create "icefalls", such as this.
A snowy plains village reaching to the neighbouring savanna. There is also a ruined portal nearby.
A sparse jungle and snowy plains generated next to each other.
