Snowball

This article is about the throwable item. For the enchantment in Minecraft Dungeons, see MCD:Snowball. For the upcoming ice variant, see Ice Ball.

Snowball

Rarity tier	Common
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (16)
Size	Height: 0.25 blocks Width: 0.25 blocks

A snowball is an item obtained by breaking snow blocks or snow layers with a shovel or using it on snow layers.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} It can be crafted into snow blocks, thrown to knock mobs back, fed to ghastlings and used to attract happy ghasts.

Obtaining

Mining

A shovel without the Silk Touch enchantment can get 4 snowballs by breaking a snow block, and 1–8 snowballs by breaking or blasting snow layers – one per layer. The Fortune enchantment does not affect these amounts.

in Bedrock Edition, a shovel, even if enchanted with Silk Touch, can be used on snow layers to obtain 1–4 snowballs.

Explosions

Creeper and TNT explosions leave snowballs in the resulting debris field if near snow.

Ravagers

In Bedrock Edition, Ravagers destroy snow layers, dropping snowballs.

Pistons

In Bedrock Edition, a block or piston head pushed into the position of snow layers destroys the snow layers, dropping snowballs: 1–3 layers drop 1 snowball, 4–5 layers drop 2 snowballs, 6–7 layers drop 3 snowballs, and 8 layers drop 4 snowballs.

Water

In Bedrock Edition, when a snow layer falls into water, the snow breaks and drops one snowball.

Mob loot

Snow golems drop 0–15 snowballs upon death, unaffected by Looting.

Java Edition:

Mob		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Snow Golem	0–15	93.75%	7.50	0–15	93.75%	7.50	0–15	93.75%	7.50	0–15	93.75%	7.50

Mob		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Snow Golem	0–15	15⁄16	15⁄2	0–15	15⁄16	15⁄2	0–15	15⁄16	15⁄2	0–15	15⁄16	15⁄2

Mob		Amount	Probability
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Snow Golem	0	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		1	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		2	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		3	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		4	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		5	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		6	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		7	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		8	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		9	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		10	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		11	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		12	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		13	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		14	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		15	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		Average	15⁄2 (7.50)	15⁄2 (7.50)	15⁄2 (7.50)	15⁄2 (7.50)

Drops		1
Mob		Expected Number of Kills
		Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Snow Golem	0.13	0.13	0.13	0.13

Bedrock Edition:

Mob		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Snow Golem	0–15	93.75%	7.50	0–15	93.75%	7.50	0–15	93.75%	7.50	0–15	93.75%	7.50

Mob		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Snow Golem	0–15	15⁄16	15⁄2	0–15	15⁄16	15⁄2	0–15	15⁄16	15⁄2	0–15	15⁄16	15⁄2

Mob		Amount	Probability
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Snow Golem	0	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		1	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		2	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		3	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		4	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		5	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		6	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		7	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		8	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		9	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		10	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		11	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		12	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		13	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		14	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		15	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)	1⁄16 (6.25%)
		Average	15⁄2 (7.50)	15⁄2 (7.50)	15⁄2 (7.50)	15⁄2 (7.50)

Drops		1
Mob		Expected Number of Kills
		Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Snow Golem	0.13	0.13	0.13	0.13

Generated loot

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition and Bedrock Edition
Snowball	Ancient City	Ice box chest	2–6	97% { "item": "Snowball", "stacksize": "2–6", "chance": 0.9698808910423039, "structure": "Ancient City", "container": "Ice box chest" }
	Trial Chambers	Chamber dispenser	4–8	20.7% { "item": "Snowball", "stacksize": "4–8", "chance": 0.2068965517241379, "structure": "Trial Chambers", "container": "Chamber dispenser" }
	Village	Snowy house chest	1–7	66.3% { "item": "Snowball", "stacksize": "1–7", "chance": 0.662802357880901, "structure": "Village", "container": "Snowy house chest" }

Usage

Crafting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Snow Block	Snowball

Combat

Snowballs can be thrown by using them. There is no charging time or cooldown for firing them,​^{[until: JE Combat Tests]} meaning they can be thrown as fast as the player can click.

Like other projectiles, snowballs are affected by gravity: their range is the same as those of eggs and ender pearls, less than that of arrows fired from bows, and more than that of splash potions.

Snowballs deal 3HP each to blazes, but they deal no damage to other mobs. Mobs still receive knockback and act the same as if they were being hit by any other projectile (for example, zombified piglins who are hit by snowballs become aggressive). Players in Bedrock Edition receive knockback, while players in Java Edition are unaffected.^[1]​^{[until: JE 26.4]}

When fighting the ender dragon, end crystals can be destroyed by snowballs being thrown at them.

Snowballs, like other projectiles, can be used to distract the warden. A warden walks toward the location where the snowball lands to inspect it, giving the player time to escape. However, if snowballs are fired too frequently (at least twice in 5 seconds), the warden walks straight to the player instead.

In Bedrock Edition, snowballs thrown through fire or lava catch fire, and set fire to entities they hit.

Mob interaction

Snowballs can be fed to ghastlings to speed up their growth, in which they become a happy ghast. Whilst holding a snowball, both ghastlings and happy ghasts will be attracted towards the player.

Behavior

Thrown Snowball

Hitbox size	Height: 0.25 blocks Width: 0.25 blocks
Ticking order	Acceleration, Drag, Position
Gravity	0.03 (double)
Drag	0.99 (float)
Terminal velocity	2.97 b/t (59.4 m/s)
Maximum travel	99 blocks per b/t of initial velocity

Motion

Thrown by player

When thrown straight up, snowballs travel 27.68993 blocks‌^{[Java Edition only]} or about 45 blocks‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} on average. They travel up to ~51.5 blocks horizontally on even ground when thrown at the optimal launch angle of ~40°.

Since the thrower's velocity influences the throw, timing a throw with a jump towards the target can increase the throwing range. It increases to about 42 blocks when thrown straight up and 64 blocks forward at a 35° angle. When sprint-jumping and throwing at a 35° angle, the range increases to about 90 blocks. For the same reason, throwing while falling significantly decreases the range.

A thrown snowball experiences initial speed of about 1.5 blocks per tick. Its movement follows acceleration, drag, and position (in subtick order); these variables can be simulated to predict the overall trajectory. Below is a calculator to predict the initial conditions in order to hit a desired coordinate:

Shot by dispenser

Snowballs shot by dispensers behave in the exact manner as when they were thrown by a player, with the only difference in their initial conditions. The initial position of snowballs when shot by a dispenser offsets exactly 0.7 blocks forward and 0.1 blocks higher from the center of the block. Their initial speed is slightly randomized, which averages to about 1.1 block/tick.

Collisions

Thrown snowballs collide with blocks according to their collision box. They also collide with entities, but with the entities' collision box inflated to about 0.3 blocks in every direction. They collide with all living entities, including minecarts, boats, end crystals, falling blocks, and TNT.

Sounds

Java Edition:
Thrown snowballs use the Friendly Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Item	Identifier	Form	Translation key
Snowball	snowball	Item	item.minecraft.snowball

Entity	Identifier	Entity tags	Translation key
Snowball	snowball	impact_projectiles	entity.minecraft.snowball

Bedrock Edition:

Item	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Translation key
Snowball	snowball	374	Item	item.snowball.name

Entity	Identifier	Numeric ID	Translation key
Snowball	snowball	81	entity.snowball.name

Entity data

Snowballs have entity data that define various properties of the entity.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Bullseye	Hit the bullseye of a Target block from at least 30 meters away	Be at least 30 blocks away horizontally when the center of a target is shot with a projectile by the player.

Videos

History

Java Edition

Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.5							Added snowballs.
							Snowballs are used to craft snow blocks.
							Snowballs could stack up to 64.
v1.0.5_01							Snowballs now stack to 8.
							Added a new snowball sound effect.
							Harvesting snowballs now requires a shovel.
v1.0.6							Snowballs now stack up to 16.
							Thrown snowballs no longer disappear.
v1.1.1							It is no longer possible to obtain more than four snowballs from a solid snow block (the player was previously able to obtain 4–6 snowballs per snow block allowing an infinite number of snowballs to be obtained).
v1.2.0			preview				Fireballs use the same texture as the snowball.
Java Edition Beta
1.2							Snowballs can now be fired by dispensers.
Java Edition
1.0.0			Beta 1.9 Prerelease				Fireballs no longer use the snowball texture.
			RC1				Snowball throwing sound was changed.
1.9			15w32a				Snowballs no longer damage the ender dragon.
			15w36b				Snowballs now produce particles when thrown at an entity.
			15w49a				Snowballs, as well as all projectiles, now take the thrower's motion into account when fired.
1.14			18w43a				The texture of snowballs has been changed.
			18w49a				Snowballs can now be found in chests in snowy tundra village houses.
			19w08a				The texture of snowballs has been changed, once again.
1.16			20w09a				Thrown snowballs can now break chorus flowers.
1.16.2			pre1				Snowballs are now affected by bubble columns.
1.19			Deep Dark Experimental Snapshot 1				Snowballs now generate in ancient city chests.
1.20.3 Experiment Update 1.21			23w45a				Snowballs can now generate in trial chambers dispensers.
1.21.2			24w34a				Thrown snowballs no longer go through the world border if hit.
1.21.6			25w15a				Snowballs can now be used to feed happy ghasts.
Upcoming Java Edition
26.4			snap3				Snowballs now apply knockback to players.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.2.0							Added snowballs. They are currently unobtainable and serve no purpose.
v0.3.0							Snowballs now drop as an item when mining snow blocks and snow layers.
							Snowballs can be used to craft snow blocks.
v0.4.0							Snowballs can now be thrown.
v0.11.0			build 14				Snowballs are now available in the creative inventory.
v0.12.0							Snowballs now deal damage to blazes.
v0.12.1			build 1				Added snow golems, which drop snowballs.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0							Snowballs now deal knockback and damage to players.
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				The texture of snowballs has been changed.
1.11.0			beta 1.11.0.1				Snowballs can now be found in some snowy tundra village house chests.
			beta 1.11.0.5				The texture of snowballs has been changed, once again.
1.20.60 Experiment Update 1.21			Preview 1.20.60.20				Snowballs can now generate in trial chambers dispensers.
1.21.80 Experiment Drop 2 2025			Preview 1.21.80.25				Snowballs can now be used to feed happy ghasts.
1.21.100			Preview 1.21.100.20				The sprite of snowballs, when rendered in the world, now has the correct scaling and positional offset.
							It now matches Java Edition and also matches better with its collider.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU1	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added snowballs.
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		Snowballs, as well as all projectiles, now take the thrower's motion into account when fired.
			1.90				The texture of snowballs has been changed.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added snowballs.

Java Edition Combat Tests

Data history

Issues

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

Trivia

• A thrown snowball faces the player in the first-person view, while it appears horizontally rotated in third-person view. This is the case for all throwable items (ender pearls, eggs, snowballs, and all throwable potions).

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  The particles made by a thrown snowball
• 
  A ghastling being fed snowballs
• 
  Alex holding a snowball
• 
  Ari throwing snowballs at a breeze

In other media

• 
  Sunny throwing a snowball across several biomes
• 
  Tails throwing a snowball at Sonic
• 
  A snow golem throwing snowballs in The Super Duper Minecraft Musical
• 
  Efe, Makena, and Ari in a snowball fight
• 
  A snowball as seen in Minecraft Earth

References

External links

• "Taking Inventory: Snowball" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, August 3, 2019.