How to get and use powder snow in Minecraft 1.18 update

Minecraft is known for being incredibly atmospheric and showcasing weather and seasons in a realistic way. Snow and rain are some of the most atmospheric features in the game, with locations at the highest altitude getting snowfall every few minutes.

Powder snow is a relatively new feature that was added in with the Caves and Cliffs part 1 update. It replicates powdered or soft snow from real life quite well, proving to be a fun and somewhat realistic addition to a game known for dragons, zombies, and apples that make the player resistant to lava.

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The uses and location of powdered snow in Minecraft

Powdered snow, or “powder” snow, to give it its proper name, can be referred to as a trap block and can be played around in many ways. There are a few ways to obtain powder snow, all of which are listed below.

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1) Assigned biomes

A grove biome (Image via Minecraft)

Powder snow can only generate naturally in two biomes: Groves and Snowy slopes. Both sub-biomes are part of the six newly introduced mountain generation, which came to the game with the second part of the Caves and Cliffs update. The two biomes are usually found at the highest points on the map and contain tons of snow and goats.

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2) Cauldrons

A cauldron filled with powder snow (Image via Minecraft)

As mentioned above, players can witness a ton of snowfall in the game’s snowy and high-altitude biomes. Cauldrons have the ability to fill up with snow when snowfall occurs in the game. This is similar to how cauldrons fill up with water when it rains. This can be an effective way to collect and then scoop up powdered snow for any purpose.

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3) Buckets

A powder snow bucket (Image via Minecraft)

When used with powdered snow, buckets function the same way when water is collected. Players can collect powdered snow inside a bucket and use it to break their fall, just like with a water bucket. Additionally, unlike water buckets, buckets of powdered snow also work in the nether dimension.

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Uses of powder snow

Powder snow blocks are categorized as traps because players can get submerged in them and start freezing. The freezing effect deals half a heart of damage every second and turns the red hearts of the health bar into icy blue hearts. A blue vignette effect also appears around the screen, which gradually gets clearer and more solid.

A stray inside powder snow (Image via Minecraft)

If a player is wearing leather armor, they do not take freezing damage. However, while it takes just one piece of leather armor to stop the freezing effect, applying a full set of leather armor allows players to stand, climb through, and even walk on snow blocks created by powder snow buckets.

Another use of powder snow is to convert a skeleton into a stray. This can happen when a skeleton gets trapped inside powder snow.