Snow Golem

A snow golem is a buildable passive mob that throws snowballs at monsters, which provokes them into attacking it. Depending on the biome temperature it will also either produce a trail of snow, or take heat damage and die.

Creation[]

Snow golems are created by placing 2 snow blocks in an I shape (as shown in the image), and then placing a pumpkin‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}, a carved pumpkin, or a jack o'lantern on top. The pumpkin may be placed by the player, a dispenser, or an enderman.^[1] The building pattern also works when arranged sideways or upside-down, as long as the pumpkin is the last block placed. The player can place the snow blocks in any pattern and then place an uncarved pumpkin.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

The snow golem spawns at the location of the snow block as its feet when created horizontally.

Drops[]

A snow golem drops between 0 to 15 snowballs upon death and a carved pumpkin when sheared.

Behavior[]

A snow golem wanders aimlessly and tries to avoid water, obstacles and environmental hazards, but is immune to damage from powder snow.

A snow golem wears its carved pumpkin like a helmet. Its actual head is hidden beneath the pumpkin. Shearing a snow golem removes the pumpkin, revealing its face and making it drop the pumpkin. The pumpkin is stored using the Pumpkin tag instead of ArmorItems; a snow golem does not display its HandItems or its ArmorItems. After shearing the pumpkin, the player can give a snow golem a new pumpkin only by using a command, such as /data‌^{[Java Edition only]}.

As a snow golem moves, it leaves a trail of snow on the ground if the blocks can support it^[2] in any biome regardless of the temperature, unless you are in a mushroom field biome, in which it does not spread snow. If the mobGriefing game rule is false, a snow trail does not appear.

Snow golems are damaged in contact with rain or water and in biomes with a temperature greater than 1.0. Examples include savannas, badlands, deserts or biomes in the Nether. The Fire Resistance effect allows them to survive in these biomes.‌^{[Java Edition only][3]}

Snow golems move toward all monsters (except ghasts) and throw snowballs at them up to 10 blocks away, provoking them, regardless of whether they attack the player.^[4] When captured, they throw snowballs up to 16 blocks away. They throw one snowball per second. Thrown snowballs do not deal damage except to blazes and wolves,^[5] but the snowballs knock back any mobs that they hit.

Additionally, snow golems also attack creepers and never intentionally attack the player.

The snow golem's snowballs can set other mobs on fire in addition to knockback, if the shot flies through a lava block or a block that is on fire.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

A snow golem is not provoked by another golem (snow or iron) attacking it, although an iron golem that is hit accidentally by a snow golem's snowball attacks the snow golem.

Provocation by other mobs[]

Java Edition[]

Entity	Snow golem attacks the mob?	Attacks the snow golem?	Notes
Bee	Accidentally	When attacked, group retaliates
Blaze	Yes	When attacked, group retaliates
Chicken Jockey	Yes	When attacked	Snow golems attack the rider, but the golem can accidentally hit the chicken. The rider attacks the golem. When a zombified piglin rider is attacked, the group of zombified piglins retaliate.
Creeper	Yes	When attacked
Ender Dragon	Yes	Accidentally[verify]	When in near vicinity, snow golems try to attack the ender dragon, although they are rarely able to.
Enderman	Yes	No	The enderman teleports away when hit by a snowball.
Endermite	Yes	When attacked, group retaliates
Ghast	Accidentally	Accidentally	Fireballs can hit snow golems, dealing damage and setting them on fire.
Giant[unused mob]	Yes	No	Giants cannot move or attack due to lacking AI.
Goat	Accidentally	Randomly	A snow golem doesn't retaliate to being rammed, but it may attack a goat by accident.
Guardian Elder Guardian	Yes	No
Hoglin	Yes	When attacked, group retaliates	A group of hoglins does not retaliate if babies are attacked.
Illagers: Evoker Illusioner[unused mob]‌[Java Edition only] Pillager Ravager Vex Vindicator	Yes	When attacked	Snow golems also attack unarmed pillagers, despite them being passive in Java Edition.
Iron Golem	Accidentally	When attacked
Killer Bunny	Accidentally	When attacked
Llama Trader Llama	Accidentally	When attacked	A snow golem attacks a llama that accidentally hits the golem with its spit. After being hit by the golem, the llama deliberately attacks the golem.
Magma Cube	Yes	No
Phantom	Yes	No
Piglin	Yes	When attacked, group retaliates	Snow golems also attack baby piglins, despite them being passive.
Piglin Brute	Yes	When attacked, group retaliates
Player	No	At player's discretion	Unlike iron golems, snow golems are passive to the player.
Polar Bear	Accidentally	When attacked
Pufferfish	No	Defensive
Shulker	Yes	When attacked, group retaliates
Silverfish	Yes	When attacked, group retaliates
Skeleton Skeleton Horseman Stray Wither Skeleton	Yes	When attacked	Snow golems attack Skeletons riding skeleton horses, but the golem can accidentally hit the skeleton horse.
Slime	Yes	When attacked
Spider Cave Spider Spider Jockey	Yes	When attacked
Warden	Yes	When attacked or noticed	Snow golems always attack wardens that are in range.
Witch	Yes	When attacked
Wither	Yes	Yes	Snow golems always attack withers, even when the attacks do no damage while the wither is generating health after being summoned.
Wolf (wild)	Accidentally	When attacked, group retaliates
Wolf (tamed)	When attacked	In defense of owner	Tamed wolves attack the snow golem if the owner attacks the golem. When attacked by the wolf, the golem retaliates.
Zoglin	Yes	Yes	Unlike hoglins, a group does not attack the golem if the golem attacks one zoglin.
Zombie variants: Drowned Husk Zombie Zombie Villager	Yes	When attacked	Swimming drowned do not attack any mob that is not touching water during daytime.
Zombified Piglin	Yes	When attacked, group retaliates
All other mobs	Accidentally	No

Bedrock Edition[]

Sounds[]

Java Edition:
Snow golems use the Friendly Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
None	None[sound 1]	None	Unused sound event	entity.snow_golem.ambient	None[sound 1]	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	Snow Golem dies	Friendly Creatures	When a snow golem dies	entity.snow_golem.death	subtitles.entity.snow_golem.death	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	Snow Golem hurts	Friendly Creatures	When a snow golem is damaged	entity.snow_golem.hurt	subtitles.entity.snow_golem.hurt	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	Shears click	Players	When a snow golem is sheared	entity.snow_golem.shear	subtitles.item.shears.shear	1.0	1.0	16
	Snowball flies	Friendly Creatures	When a snow golem shoots a snowball	entity.snow_golem.shoot	subtitles.entity.snowball.throw	1.0	1⁄3-0.5	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Friendly Creatures	When a snow golem dies	mob.snowgolem.death	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Friendly Creatures	When a snow golem is damaged	mob.snowgolem.hurt	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Friendly Creatures	When a snow golem is sheared	mob.sheep.shear	1.0	1.0
	Friendly Creatures	When a snow golem shoots a snowball	mob.snowgolem.shoot	1.0	0.33-0.5

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Translation key
Snow Golem	snow_golem	entity.minecraft.snow_golem

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Translation key
Snow Golem	snow_golem	21	entity.snow_golem.name

Entity data[]

Snow golems have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

History[]

Java Edition
1.0.0		September 21, 2011			Snow golems were first showcased by Notch on Twitter as a new mob[6] that is "craftable, is friendly, and throws snowballs at enemies. Also melts in hot biomes."[7] and that it would "spread snow by walking around."[2]
					They were stated on Reddit to appear in Beta 1.9.[8]
					Notch originally planned to call this mob Snowmen. However, soon after revealing the name, Reddit user Cuttleman stated he would call them Snow Golems, a name Notch approved of and made official.[9]
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease			Added snow golems.
					Snow golems flee when attacked.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2			Snow golems can be bred with wheat and attack other snow golems nearby. They also attack players holding wheat and continue attacking even after the wheat isn't being held anymore. However, they do not attack immediately.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3			Reverted the above changes.
1.2.1		12w06a			Snow golems have a new path-finding AI and can form a wall to attack mobs.
					Snow golems now takes damage from rain and water.
		12w07a			Snow golems now take damage in deserts, jungles, the Nether.
1.8		14w04a			Snow golems can now be created by dispensing the pumpkin from a dispenser atop two snow blocks.
		14w05b			Snow golems' pumpkin heads are no longer visible when they have the Invisibility effect.
		14w25a			Snow golems can now be built sideways and upside-down instead of just upright.
		14w26c			Jack o'lanterns can no longer be used to build snow golems.
		14w33a			Snow golems now attack creepers, provoking them.
1.8.1		pre1			Jack o'lanterns can now be used to build snow golems again.
1.9		15w31c			Snow golems can no longer cause damage to ender dragons.
		15w46a			Snow golems no longer create a trail of snow layers, if the game rule mobGriefing is set to false.
		15w49a			Snow golems' pumpkin can now be removed with shears.
		15w50a			Added sounds entity.snowman.ambient, entity.snowman.hurt, and entity.snowman.death.
1.11		16w32a			Snow golems now use a byte data tag Pumpkin to determine whether they have a pumpkin head, allowing sheared snow golems to save and reload in their sheared state.
					The entity ID has been changed from SnowMan to snowman.
1.13		pre5			The entity ID has been changed from snowman to snow_golem.
1.14		18w43a			The textures of snow golems have been changed.
1.16		20w07a			Snow golems now drop a pumpkin when sheared.[10]
		20w15a			Snow golems can now be sheared by dispensers.
		pre1			Snow golems are now damaged by splash water bottles and lingering water bottles.
1.17		21w13a			Snow golems are immune to freezing.
1.19.3		22w44a			Added spawn eggs for snow golems.[11]
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.12.1		build 1			Added snow golems.
		build 2			Snow golems now spawn wearing a pumpkin.
		build 3			Snow golems' pumpkin can now be removed with shears.
		build 9			Snow golems can now leave a trail of snow in plains biomes.
v0.14.0		build 1			Snow golems can now be created by dispensing the pumpkin from a dispenser atop two snow blocks.
v0.16.0		build 5			Added sounds entity.snowman.ambient, entity.snowman.hurt, and entity.snowman.death.
Pocket Edition
1.0.5		alpha 1.0.5.0			Snow golems are no longer able to leave a trail of snow layers, if the game rule mobGriefing is set to false.
1.1.0		alpha 1.1.0.0			The entity ID has been changed from snowgolem to snow_golem.
Bedrock Edition
?					The health of snow golems has been reduced from 10 to 4.
1.2.0		beta 1.2.0.2			The snow golem's face can now be seen only after shearing it.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The textures of snow golems have been changed.
1.11.0		beta 1.11.0.1			Snow golems now take damage from walking over campfires.
1.16.100		beta 1.16.100.51			Snow golems now drop a pumpkin when sheared.[12]
1.17.0		beta 1.16.230.54			Snow golems are now immune to freezing.
		beta 1.17.0.52			Snow golems are now damaged by splash water bottles and lingering water bottles.
1.19.60		beta 1.19.60.20			Added spawn eggs for snow golems.
Legacy Console Edition
TU7	CU1	1.0	Patch 1		Added snow golems.
TU11					The limit for snow golems in a world has been increased.
TU12					Snow golems have a new path-finding AI and can form a wall to attack mobs.
					Snow golems now take damage in deserts, jungles, the Nether, and when in contact with rain and water.
TU43	CU33	1.36	Patch 13		Added sounds for snow golems.
PlayStation 4 Edition
1.90					The textures of snow golems have been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added snow golems.

• 

  First screenshot of a snow golem, released by Notch on September 21, 2011.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Snow Golem" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

• Snow golems cannot be made by pistons because the code for generating snow golems are found in the pumpkin’s OnBlockPlace ("placed by a player") event.
• Snow golems rarely spawn naturally in snow biomes; if two snow blocks happen to spawn naturally with a patch of pumpkins, a snow golem may spawn naturally.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Screenshots[]

• 

  Creation of a snow golem.

• 

  A snow golem attacks a spider.

• 

  A large group of snow golems in a lake.

• 

  Three snow golems that were built by endermen.

• 

  The view from inside a snow golem's head. Its real face can be seen.

• 

  A snow golem riding in a minecart.

• 

  A sheared snow golem.

• 

  A snow golem at night.

• 

  The snow golem face texture.

Cosmetics[]

• 

  A snow golem as it appears in the City texture pack.

• 

  A snow golem as it appears in the Greek Mythology mash-up pack

• 

  A snow golem as it appears in the Halloween mash-up pack.

• 

  Party Snow Golem, a skin featured in the first Birthday skin pack.

In other media[]

• 

  Official artwork of a snow golem under attack.

• 

  The Icy Golem, a unique variation of a snow golem featured in Minecraft Story Mode.

• 

  Melon Golem, another unique version featured in Minecraft Earth.

• 

  Lego Minecraft snow Golem.

Textures[]

• 
• 

  Programmer Art

• 

  Icon of a snow golem used on the Minecraft Marketplace.

References[]