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Ice Ball

Ice Ball

An ice ball is a throwable item that deals damage based on its speed.

4 min read Updated
Items Stackable resources Renewable resources Entities Combat In development
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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.

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 , rounded up.​

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

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

Brewing ingredient

Ingredients Brewing recipe Notes
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]
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Sounds

Sounds
SoundDescription

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_ball?Item item.ice_ball.name
EntityIdentifierNumeric ID Translation key
EntitySprite ice-ball.png: Sprite image for ice-ball in Minecraft Ice Ballice_ball? 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.
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

Upcoming Bedrock Edition
26.60
Experiment
Drop 4 of 2026		Preview 26.60.29 Added ice balls.

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

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