Top 5 uses of snow in Minecraft

The snowy biomes in Minecraft can give any player the feel of the holiday season. Being in the snow in Minecraft is a great way to find rare items, like igloos, that always have excellent loot, as well as rabbits, foxes, and unique mobs.

While snow in Minecraft does look decorative, there are other uses for the snow.

Minecraft has snow and snow blocks. Regular snow covers ground blocks when there is snowfall in Minecaft biomes that feature snow. Biomes where snowfall can happen are snowy tundra, ice spikes, frozen oceans, snowy taiga, frozen river and snowy beach.

The only way to mine snow is with an enchanted shovel that has silk touch. If snow is mined with a regular shovel, it will destroy the snow itself and result in a snowball being dropped. If tools are used nothing will drop from the snow.

Snow blocks, on the other hand, are full-sized blocks made of four snowballs. If they are touched with the silk-touched shovel, they will drop themselves, but when mined with a regular shovel will cause them to drop four snowballs.

I really love my #Minecraft snow themed twitter banner! I usually change my banner every month, but I haven’t changed this one for several years now. :D pic.twitter.com/RzpXu6gzx9

— Callum 👻 (@MCPENEWSINFO1) November 2, 2018

Some of the top uses for snow include protection against mobs and hiding secret home bases.

Minecraft snow: How to use it

1) Building snow golems

Much like the iron golems of Minecraft, snow golems also offer protection. Instead of protecting full villages, snow golems protect their creator, the player.

To build a snow golem, place two full-sized snow blocks in the Overworld, then a jack o’lantern on top. The jack o’lantern needs to be placed in the last block. This will create a snow golem, which will protect players from hostile mobs by throwing snowballs at attackers. They also lure mobs into traps created by the players.

Today's Pumpkin of the Day is the Snow Golem from Minecraft. pic.twitter.com/3Y9vFlZnjl

— Pumpkin of the Day (@PumpkinOfTheDay) September 14, 2019

2) Extinguishing fire

When players venture out into the Minecraft Overworld, there is always the possibility of coming across lava, fire or something that can burn the player. Usually, buckets of water can extinguish the fire, but snow can also help in this case. By setting a block of snow and waking through it, players that are set on fire will have the fire extinguished, resulting in them being kept alive.

3) Pillowing a far fall

Minecraft offers many high places for players to explore, such as hills, mountains and even structures. However, falling off these structures can result in immediate death.

A way to reduce the damage taken by a fall from a high place, is by using snow to help break their fall. Unlike other blocks, snow is lightweight and can either minimize damage or mitigate damage altogether.

4) Hiding secret rooms or bases

Something in Minecraft that players seem to enjoy is creating hiding rooms in their home bases. This can surprise visiting players and help store rare items away from prying eyes. Snow can help in building or hiding secret rooms, or entire bases, players can build a room or a house and then use snow to cover it up.

5) Decoration or building material

Every player in Minecraft attempts to build something. Usually, this structure is a home base or a small house to give them shelter from mobs, the elements or other villainous parts of the Overworld.

Snow can be used as a building material, especially for igloo-like structures, to offer a unique look to a house. Snow can also be used as a decorative block, either outside or inside a home base.

While snow may seem like it has little use in Minecraft, it can prove to be quite useful in certain situations. So the next time a player finds snow, they should make sure they have a silk-touched enchanted shovel to get the full snow experience.