Snow

Snow, known as Top Snow in Bedrock Edition, is a ground cover block found on the surface in snowy biomes, and can be replenished during snowfall.

Obtaining[]

Breaking[]

In Java Edition, destroying snow with a non-Silk-Touch shovel yields one snowball per layer. Explosions by TNT or creepers also cause snow to yield a snowball. Snow drops one item of itself per layer when mined using a shovel enchanted with Silk Touch, except for 8 layers of snow, which drops a snow block.^[1] Any other tool, even if enchanted with Silk Touch, destroys the snow and drops nothing.

In Bedrock Edition, destroying top snow with a shovel yields 1-4 snowballs. The number of snowballs dropped is as follows: 1 snowball for 1-3 layers, 2 snowballs for snow 4-5 layers, 3 snowballs for 6-7 layers, and 4 snowballs for 8 layers. Unlike Java Edition, shovels enchanted with Silk Touch cause top snow to drop snowballs.^[2] Top snow can also be removed by using a shovel on it if there is no block directly above the snow layer, yielding 1-4 snowballs. One snowball is dropped&emdash;regardless of the number of layers&emdash;if top snow falls into an invalid block space after its support block is destroyed.

Block	Snow
Hardness	0.1
Tool
Breaking time[A]
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, cold biomes, and other biomes depending on the elevation and temperature. Only blocks with direct access to the sky can generate snow layers naturally (with the exception of some buildings in snowy villages, which generate extra snow in areas inaccessible to the sky).^[3]

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

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

By default, snow generates exclusively in single layers in Java Edition. Top snow can generate in multiple layers in Bedrock Edition.

Snow also generates 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. The rate at which snow forms is affected by the game rule randomTickSpeed.

Below are the altitudes at which rain ends and snow begins, depending on the biome. The exact height of the snow line is randomized. In 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 Windswept Forest Stony Shore[4] Dripstone Caves‌[BE only][5]	y 113–128
Taiga Old Growth Spruce Taiga	y 153–168
Old Growth Pine Taiga Meadow‌[BE only][needs testing] Cherry Grove‌[BE only][needs testing]	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, up to two layers of top snow can build up during snowfall. In Java Edition, snowfall creates one layer of snow by default, and the number of layers that can accumulate can be altered by the game rule snowAccumulationHeight: the default value being 1, while setting it to 0 makes no snow form at all, and setting it to 8 or above lets snow form up to the level of a full block.

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

Snow golems[]

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

Usage[]

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[]

If the snow is on a grass block (or mycelium or podzol in Java Edition^[6]) 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.^[7][8] 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)^[9] 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.^[10]

Snow layers can be used to kill nylium.^[11]

Melting[]

Snow melts if there is a heat block,‌^{[BE & edu 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.

Some light sources can melt snow but many cannot. The melt radius is taxicab distance.

Item	Melt radius
Beacon	3
Campfire	3
Soul Campfire	-
Conduit	3
Glow Lichen	-
Glowstone	3
Jack o'Lantern	3
Lantern	3
Soul Lantern	-
Lava	3
Redstone Lamp	3
Respawn Anchor 1/4 Charge	-
Respawn Anchor 2/4 Charge	-
Respawn Anchor 3/4 Charge	-
Respawn Anchor 4/4 Charge	3
1 Sea Pickle	-
2 Sea Pickles	-
3 Sea Pickles	-
4 Sea Pickles	3
Shroomlight	3
Froglight	3
End Rod	2
Torch	2
Soul Torch	-
Redstone Torch	-
Ender Chest	-
Furnace	1
Blast Furnace	1
Smoker	1
Crying Obsidian	-
Magma Block	-
Brewing Stand	-
Brown Mushroom	-
Dragon Egg	-
Redstone Ore	-
End Portal Frame	-
Fire	3
Soul Fire	-
Nether Portal	-
Sea Lantern	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
	Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.snow.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	1.0	0.8	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
	None[sound 1]	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.snow.fall	None[sound 1]	0.5	0.75	16
	Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.snow.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.snow	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	When the block is placed	dig.snow	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.snow	0.35	0.5
	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.snow	0.4	1.0
	Players	Walking on the block	step.snow	0.3	1.0
	Players	Jumping from the block	jump.snow	0.12	1.0
	Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.snow	0.22	1.0

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[i 1]	Translation key
Top Snow	snow_layer	78	Block & Giveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3]	tile.snow_layer.name

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.[12]
					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.
					Added snow golems, which leave a trail of snow behind them, making snow easier to farm.
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.
		17w48a			Snow now drops itself when mined with a Silk Touch shovel.[13]
		?			Mining 8 layers of snow with a Silk Touch shovel now drops a snow block.[1]
1.14		18w43a			The texture of snow has been changed.
		18w49a			Snow now generate in the updated snowy tundra villages.
		19w03c			Seven layer high snow now uses correct cullface arguments.
1.19		22w13a			Snow now generate as part of ancient cities.
1.19.3		22w44a			Added the game rule snowAccumulationHeight.
1.20.2		23w31a			The rate of snow accumulation is now affected by the game rule randomTickSpeed.
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 1			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.
					Snow now melts in any non-snowy biome.
?					Snow now only melts in dry/hot biomes.
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.

• 

  Floating snow.

Bedrock Edition[]

• 

  Naturally generated snow in a snowy taiga.

• 

  Snow as seen having the ability to bury certain plants.

Notes[]

References[]