Snowy Biomes in Minecraft: Everything players needs to know

Each Minecraft biome is slightly different and unique in its own way. Today's theme is the snowy biome in Minecraft.

There are three major snowy biomes in the game, including the snowy tundra, snowy mountains, and ice spikes biomes. Many different species of animals live in these biomes as well as snowy villagers. Here is everything a player would ever need to know about Minecraft's chilliest regions.

Also read: Jungle biomes in Minecraft: Everything a player needs to know

Snowy Biomes in Minecraft

History lesson

In the original days of Minecraft, there was only one snowy variation. It was just a simple snow tundra called the ice plains. It wasn't until update 1.13 that the developers added the three main variants players know and love today.

Animals and mobs of the ice lands

Players looking to explore the ice lands of Minecraft will be met with some of Minecraft's rarer mobs like polar bears and rabbits. This can make the snowy biomes very difficult for new players to spawn in since they often lack natural resources like wood and food.

If a village generates in the snowy biomes, then the usual Minecraft animals such as sheep, pigs, cows, and chicken will spawn.

Skeletons will spawn in the snowy biomes, so players should practice caution when roaming around at night. If a snowstorm occurs, this can decrease visibility further in the snow biomes, so players should be careful when they enter these biomes without ample protection and resources.

Villages

Villages naturally generate in the snowy tundra variant of the snowy biomes. These villages will spawn with snow-themed building styles, and possibly an igloo or two. As mentioned above, the usual animal mobs will spawn near and inside of these snowy villages.

The three variants

Snowy Tundra

The snowy tundra biome variant is the most classic snow biome in Minecraft. This is the most common snowy variant as well. It's common for naturally generated structures like villages to spawn here, as well as a few scattered spruce trees.

Players who enjoy Minecraft Bedrock Edition would be pleased to know that the only hostile mobs spawning in this variant are the stray and skeleton, making this variant relatively safe for a night exploring. This, however, excludes raiders and underground mob spawners.

Snowy Mountains

This biome variant has smooth rolling snowy hills. These are often a bit smoother than the other hills biomes in Minecraft, and caves will often spawn on the sides of these mountains.

Mobs and animals are generally the same in the snowy mountains as in the snowy tundra, although no naturally generated villages will spawn in this variant.

Ice Spikes

The ice spikes are the rarest of snowy biome variants. The grass blocks found in other snowy biome variants are replaced with snow blocks. What makes this biome variant so special is that its packed ice spikes that shoot up from the ground. These can only be found in the ice spikes biome variant.

Short spikes can be about 15 blocks tall and are much more common than tall spikes. Tall spikes can be around 50 blocks tall and are very rare, since it's rare for the biome to generate in the first place.

The hills and plains in the ice spikes are much more erratic than any other snowy variant, and no trees will spawn here either.

No villages will spawn here, however polar bears, rabbits, and strays can still be encountered.

A few fun facts

Before the Aquatic Update, ice spikes were the only biome where players could find packed ice in the game.
Snow layers will still form on top of snow blocks. This just makes the blocks seem extra tall.