Mineuniverse
Log in Register
Ice Ball

Ice Ball

An ice ball is a throwable item that deals damage based on its speed toward a target. It can also be used as a brewing ingredient for potions of Freezing.

4 min read Updated 8 views
Items Stackable resources Renewable resources Entities Combat In development
Advertisement Remove ads with Premium →
Contents (16)
  1. Obtaining
  2. Mob loot
  3. Usage
  4. Projectile
  5. Brewing ingredient
  6. Sounds
  7. Data values
  8. ID
  9. Advancements
  10. History
  11. Announcement
  12. Java Edition
  13. Bedrock Edition
  14. Issues
  15. Gallery
  16. In other media
Not to be confused with Ice Bomb, the throwable projectile in Minecraft Education.
This article describes content that is currently in development.
This content has appeared in development versions for Fourth Drop 2026, but the full update adding it has not been released yet.
Ice Ball
Ice Ball.png: Infobox image for Minecraft item entity 'Ice Ball'
Invicon Ice Ball.png: Inventory sprite for Ice Ball in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Ice Ball
Rarity tier
  Common
Renewable Yes
Stackable Yes (16)
Size Height: 0.25 blocks
Width: 0.25 blocks

An ice ball is a throwable item that deals damage based on its speed toward a target. It can also be used as a brewing ingredient for potions of Freezing.

Obtaining

Mob loot

Java Edition:

MobQuantity / Chance / Average
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Frostbite0–375.00%1.500–487.50%2.000–593.75%2.500–695.83%3.00
MobQuantity / Chance / Average
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Frostbite0–33⁄43⁄20–47⁄820–515⁄165⁄20–623⁄243
MobAmountProbability
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Frostbite01⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄8 (12.50%)1⁄16 (6.25%)1⁄24 (4.17%)
11⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄4 (25.00%)3⁄16 (18.75%)1⁄8 (12.50%)
21⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄4 (25.00%)5⁄24 (20.83%)
31⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄4 (25.00%)
401⁄8 (12.50%)3⁄16 (18.75%)5⁄24 (20.83%)
5001⁄16 (6.25%)1⁄8 (12.50%)
60001⁄24 (4.17%)
Average3⁄2 (1.50)2 (2.00)5⁄2 (2.50)3 (3.00)
Drops1
MobExpected Number of Kills
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Frostbite0.670.500.400.33

Bedrock Edition:

MobQuantity / Chance / Average
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Frostbite0–375.00%1.500–475.00%1.880–575.00%2.250–675.00%2.62
MobQuantity / Chance / Average
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Frostbite0–33⁄43⁄20–43⁄415⁄80–53⁄49⁄40–63⁄421⁄8
MobAmountProbability
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Frostbite01⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄4 (25.00%)
11⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄8 (12.50%)1⁄16 (6.25%)1⁄24 (4.17%)
21⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄4 (25.00%)3⁄16 (18.75%)1⁄8 (12.50%)
31⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄4 (25.00%)5⁄24 (20.83%)
401⁄8 (12.50%)3⁄16 (18.75%)5⁄24 (20.83%)
5001⁄16 (6.25%)1⁄8 (12.50%)
60001⁄24 (4.17%)
Average3⁄2 (1.50)15⁄8 (1.88)9⁄4 (2.25)21⁄8 (2.62)
Drops1
MobExpected Number of Kills
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Frostbite0.670.530.440.38

Usage

Projectile

Ice balls can be thrown as projectiles to damage entities, dealing more damage the faster they are moving. They have a very sharp deceleration, causing them to deal less damage the further the target is from the attacker.

Ice balls deal damage equal to (in blocks per tick), rounded up.

Unlike snowballs, ice balls do not deal additional damage to blazes.

The attacker can hit themself with ice balls. When a player dies to an ice ball, the death message displayed is "<player> was pummeled by <player/mob>".

Brewing ingredient

Name Ingredients Brewing recipe Notes
Potion of Freezing Ice Ball +
Awkward Potion

Invicon Ice Ball.png: Inventory sprite for Ice Ball in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Ice Ball

Invicon Awkward Potion.png: Inventory sprite for Awkward Potion in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Awkward Potion with description: Awkward Potion No EffectsInvicon Awkward Splash Potion.png: Inventory sprite for Awkward Splash Potion in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Awkward Splash Potion with description: Awkward Splash Potion No EffectsInvicon Awkward Lingering Potion.png: Inventory sprite for Awkward Lingering Potion in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Awkward Lingering Potion with description: Awkward Lingering Potion No Effects


Invicon Potion of Freezing.png: Inventory sprite for Potion of Freezing in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Potion of Freezing with description: Potion of Freezing Freezing (00:45)Invicon Splash Potion of Freezing.png: Inventory sprite for Splash Potion of Freezing in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Splash Potion of Freezing with description: Splash Potion of Freezing Freezing (00:45)Invicon Lingering Potion of Freezing.png: Inventory sprite for Lingering Potion of Freezing in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Lingering Potion of Freezing with description: Lingering Potion of Freezing Freezing (00:11)
 ​[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]
Advertisement Remove ads with Premium →

Sounds

Sounds
SoundClosed captionsSourceDescriptionIdentifierTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
​Ice Ball flies[sound 1]Friendly MobsWhen a player throws a ice ballentity.iceball.throwsubtitles.entity.iceball.throw​0.51⁄3-0.516
​Dispensed item​[until: JE 26.4]BlocksWhen a dispenser shoots a ice ballblock.dispenser.launchsubtitles.block.dispenser.dispense​1.01.216
  1. ↑ MC-312263

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

ItemIdentifierForm Translation key
ItemSprite ice-ball.png: Sprite image for ice-ball in Minecraft Ice Ballice_ballItem item.minecraft.ice_ball
EntityIdentifierEntity tags Translation key
EntitySprite ice-ball.png: Sprite image for ice-ball in Minecraft Ice Ballice_ballimpact_projectiles entity.minecraft.ice_ball

Bedrock Edition:

ItemIdentifierNumeric ID Form Translation key
ItemSprite ice-ball.png: Sprite image for ice-ball in Minecraft Ice Ballice_ball853Item item.ice_ball.name
EntityIdentifierNumeric ID Translation key
EntitySprite ice-ball.png: Sprite image for ice-ball in Minecraft Ice Ballice_ball156 entity.ice_ball.name

Advancements

IconAdvancementIn-game descriptionActual requirements (if different)
Not Today, Thank YouDeflect a projectile with a ShieldBlock any projectile with a shield.
What Goes Around Comes Around​[upcoming: JE 26.4]Kill a Frostbite using an Ice BallReceive kill credit for a frostbite that is killed by an ice ball.
Sniper DuelKill a Skeleton from at least 50 meters awayReceive kill credit for a skeleton that is at least 50 blocks away horizontally and is killed by a projectile.
BullseyeHit the bullseye of a Target block from at least 30 meters awayBe at least 30 blocks away horizontally when the center of a target is shot with a projectile by the player.

History

Announcement

September 24, 2026 The ice ball is teased in a Mojang short.
September 26, 2026 The ice ball is announced at Minecraft LIVE – September 2026.

Java Edition

Upcoming Java Edition
26.4snap3 Added ice balls.

Bedrock Edition

Bedrock Edition
26.60
Experiment
Drop 4 of 2026		Preview 26.60.29 Added ice balls.
Upcoming Bedrock Edition
26.70Preview 26.70.20 All features from the "Drop 4 of 2026" experiment have been implemented in vanilla.
Preview 26.70.21 Increased ice ball base damage to 2, with damage decreasing as it loses velocity.

Issues

Issues relating to "Ice Ball" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

In other media

  • An ice ball hovering above a freezing Steve
    An ice ball hovering above a freezing Steve
Advertisement Remove ads with Premium →

More in In development

View all 47 →
Friends ListFriends ListThe friends list is a social menu in Java Edition. It allows users to add or remove friends and view their friends' statuses.FrostbiteFrostbiteA frostbite is a variant of the zombie that spawns in cold biomes or when a zombie is submerged in powder snow. Its melee attacks apply the Freezing…Frosted IceFrosted IceFrosted ice is a translucent block created when a mob or entity wearing Frost Walker-enchanted boots moves over water. It cannot be obtained as an item…IceIceIce is a transparent block formed from frozen water, which it can melt into if broken or exposed to bright light. Its top face is slippery for most…Ice CavesIce CavesIce caves are cave biomes composed of packed ice, snow, and calcite. Strays and frostbites spawn here, and they are the only place where icicles and ice…Ice CrystalIce CrystalAn ice crystal is a light-emitting block that generates in ice caves. They also can emit ambient sounds when placed above packed ice.IcicleIcicleAn icicle is a pointed block found in ice caves. They naturally generate and grow on the ceiling as stalactites, but can also be manually placed on the…JukeboxJukeboxA jukebox is a block used to insert and play music discs. Playing a disc causes it to produce a redstone signal and allows nearby allays to duplicate when…
Explore the Minecraft Wiki
Blocks, items, mobs, biomes and game mechanics — all in one place.
Wiki home