Overview
A Snow Golem deals no damage to anything except a blaze, and it is still worth building. Its snowballs knock mobs back and, more importantly, mark whatever they hit as a target for iron golems and tamed wolves, which turns a line of snow golems along a wall into a spotting system for defenders that actually hit hard. It also leaves a trail of snow layers wherever it walks in a cold biome, which is an infinite snowball farm from a mob you can build for two snow blocks and a carved pumpkin. The limits are severe and worth planning around. It has 4 health, so nearly anything kills it in one blow. It melts in warm biomes such as deserts, jungles and the Nether, takes damage in rain and in water, and cannot be built in the Nether at all. Give it a stone or nether brick floor with a roof against the rain if you want it to survive. Against a Blaze it is genuinely lethal, since snowballs deal 3 damage to that one mob. Killing one drops up to 15 snowballs.
Free snowballs and target marking. A Snow Golem walking a cold biome lays snow layers you shear back up forever, and its harmless snowballs tag mobs for iron golems and wolves to attack.
A snow golem throws snowballs that deal no damage to anything except blazes, but they knock mobs back and mark targets for iron golems and wolves, which makes them useful as base perimeter guards. It leaves a trail of snow layers in cold biomes, giving an infinite snowball farm. It melts in warm biomes and in rain, takes damage in water, and dies to a single hit from almost anything.
Snow Golem sits under Utility mobs in Minecraft 1.21.4. Health sits at 4 points (2 hearts). It deals 0 damage on Normal difficulty.
There is no experience to be had from it.
Properties
Snow Golem has 4 health, which is 2 hearts. It drops no experience when a player kills it. Its hitbox is 0.7 blocks wide and 1.9 tall, which is what decides whether it fits through a gap or a one-block-high opening.
- Dimension
- Overworld
- Added in
- 1.0.0
Damage by difficulty
Snow Golem hits for 0 on every difficulty; its damage does not scale the way most hostile mobs' does.
A full set of diamond armour cuts that by up to 80% against a small hit and less against a large one, and Protection IV on all four pieces — 16 EPF — takes a further 64% off what is left.
| Difficulty | Attack damage | Hearts |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | 0 | 0 |
| Normal | 0 | 0 |
| Hard | 0 | 0 |
Spawns in
Never spawns naturally. Built by stacking two snow blocks and placing a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern on top.
It has no biome restriction, so anywhere in the Overworld that meets the light and space conditions is a valid spawn.
- Dimension
- Overworld
- Added in
- 1.0.0
Dimension: Overworld · Added in 1.0.0
Drops
Killing Snow Golem drops Snowball. Looting raises the maximum on most of these by one per level.
- Snowball: 0–15
How it behaves
The Snow Golem is built rather than spawned, and it fights on your side. Its behaviour follows the player or the village that created it.
It drops no experience however it dies, so there is nothing to farm here.
Command
In a world with cheats on, this spawns one Snow Golem where you are standing.
Summon
/summon minecraft:snow_golem ~ ~ ~Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you make a Snow Golem?
Stack two snow blocks and place a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern on top. It forms immediately.
Do snow golems deal damage?
Only to blazes, at 3 damage per snowball. Against everything else the snowballs cause knockback and nothing more.
Why did my Snow Golem melt?
Warm biomes, rain and water all damage it. It cannot survive in the Nether or in a desert at all.
How much health does a Snow Golem have?
4 health, two hearts, so almost any hostile mob kills one in a single blow.
How much health does the Snow Golem have in Minecraft?
The Snow Golem has 4 health points, which is 2 hearts.
What does the Snow Golem drop?
It drops Snowball, plus 0 experience when killed by a player.
Where does the Snow Golem spawn?
Never spawns naturally. Built by stacking two snow blocks and placing a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern on top.
How much damage does Snow Golem do?
0 on Normal difficulty — 0 hearts — with 0 on Easy and 0 on Hard.
Related pages
How to get it
Snow Golems never spawn naturally. Stack 2 snow blocks and place a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern on top to build one; it drops 0 to 15 snowballs when killed and leaves a snow trail in cold biomes.
Tips
- Build them in snowy biomes only — a Snow Golem melts in deserts, jungles, the Nether and any warm biome.
- Roof the pen, because rain damages a Snow Golem exactly as water does and 4 health does not last.
- Pair them with an iron golem or wolves: the snowballs mark targets that something else can actually kill.
- Take one to a nether fortress in a boat only if you like risks; snowballs deal 3 damage to blazes specifically.