Overview
A snow block is the solid version of snow, crafted from four snowballs, and it does three things worth knowing. It is one of the cheapest pure white building materials in the game and, unlike ice, it does not melt from light — only from a warm biome's ambient temperature — so a snow block wall in a temperate biome stays put. It is the body of a snow golem: two snow blocks stacked with a carved pumpkin or a jack o'lantern on top spawn one, and a snow golem throws snowballs at hostile mobs, leaves a trail of snow layers wherever it walks in a cold biome, and is therefore a renewable snow farm that needs no digging. And it is a free source of snowballs, since mining one with a shovel returns four. The catch with snow golems is temperature: in a warm biome one takes damage continuously and dies, and rain kills them anywhere, so they need shade or a cold biome to survive. Snow blocks generate naturally across every snowy biome and make up the shell of an igloo.
White building material that does not melt from torchlight, snow golems for a renewable snow farm and a mob deterrent, and compact storage for snowballs.
In Minecraft 1.21.4, Snow Block is a naturally generated block. Snow Block has a crafting recipe, so it is renewable as long as you can source its ingredients. With a hardness of 0.2 it gives way immediately under almost any tool.
It needs at least a wooden shovel to drop anything; a weaker tool destroys it for nothing. What you actually collect is Snowball. A blast resistance of 0.2 means a single creeper will clear it away.
It stacks to 64. You make it with Snowball. The one thing it makes is Snow.
How to get it
Craft it from 4 snowballs, or mine it directly with a shovel in any snowy biome. Mining a placed snow block with a shovel returns the 4 snowballs it was made from.
Tips
- 2 snow blocks and a carved pumpkin on top make a snow golem — the pumpkin must go on last.
- Snow golems die in warm biomes and in rain, so keep them under cover or in a cold biome.
- A snow golem in a snowy biome leaves snow layers as it walks, which is a farm that needs no input.
- Silk Touch is not needed for snow blocks; a plain shovel returns all 4 snowballs.
How long it takes to break
Snow Block sits at hardness 0.2: 1 seconds per block with your fists, 0.05 with the correct netherite tool.
The block still breaks with a weaker tool, but below wooden it yields nothing at all — the time is spent and the drop is lost, which is the single most common way players waste a vein.
Efficiency contributes its level squared plus one to tool speed, and on something this soft that reaches instant mining almost at once.
| Tool | No enchantment | Efficiency III | Efficiency V |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hand * | 1 s | 1 s | 1 s |
| Wooden | 0.15 s | instant | instant |
| Stone | 0.1 s | instant | instant |
| Iron | instant | instant | instant |
| Diamond | instant | instant | instant |
| Netherite | instant | instant | instant |
| Golden | instant | instant | instant |
Properties
Snow Block has a blast resistance of 0.2, so any explosion nearby destroys it. It blocks light completely and emits no light of its own. One inventory slot holds 64, the normal full stack. It is renewable, so a single world can supply an unlimited amount of it. A shovel is the fastest choice here. A tool of the wrong class is no better than your fist — the speed bonus is tied to the block's own tool tag. Broken normally it drops Snowball rather than itself; Silk Touch is what returns the block, and Fortune raises the ordinary drop instead.
- Transparent
- No
- Required tool
- Wooden Shovel
- Renewable
- Yes
Crafting recipe
Crafting Table
Snow Block
Drops
Snow Block drops Snowball.
Used to craft
Snow Block is an ingredient in 1 recipes, producing Snow.
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you get Snow Block in Minecraft?
Snow Block is crafted from Snowball.
What tool do you need to break Snow Block?
Wooden Shovel or better is required; anything weaker destroys the block without dropping it.
Is Snow Block blast resistant?
Snow Block has a blast resistance of 0.2, so an explosion nearby will destroy it.
How many Snow Block fit in one stack?
Snow Block stacks to 64, which puts 3,456 of them in a double chest.
Is Snow Block renewable?
It is. Snow Block can be made again in the same world, so there is no need to ration it.
How long does Snow Block take to break?
About 0.05 seconds if you bring the correct netherite tool; 1 seconds with your fists.
