COLD BIOMES
Freezing biomes with snow, ice, and harsh conditions. 9 biomes in this category.
What makes a biome cold
Cold biomes are the nine where snow falls instead of rain and the water freezes at the surface. The group runs from 0.05 in Snowy Beach down to -0.7 in Frozen Peaks and Jagged Peaks, and those two carry the lowest temperature on this site. Four of the nine sit on mountainsides, which is why powder snow and packed ice turn up here and almost nowhere else.
Ten mobs spawn across the nine, and two of them belong to this group alone: the stray on the flat snow and the goat on the peaks. One structure is exclusive as well, the igloo, which generates in Snowy Plains, Snowy Taiga and Snowy Slopes. Villages and pillager outposts reach into the warmer end of the group, so a cold biome is not automatically an empty one.
All 9 cold biomes
Frozen variant of the river biome. Water surface generates as ice. Squid and salmon still swim underneath it.
A vast snowy flatland. Snow villages and igloos generate here. Some igloos have hidden basements with brewing stands.
Features dramatic packed ice spikes towering up to 50 blocks. Packed ice does not melt and is useful for fast travel ice roads.
A cold spruce forest covered in snow. Igloos can generate here. White-coat foxes spawn instead of the orange variant.
Generates where cold biomes meet the ocean. The shore is covered in snow. Water at the edge may freeze.
Smooth, rounded mountain peaks covered in snow and packed ice. Goats can spawn here. Part of the 1.18 mountain generation overhaul.
Dramatic jagged mountain peaks reaching extreme heights. Goats spawn here and can knock entities off cliffs. The most dramatic mountain biome.
A snowy forest found on mountain slopes. Contains natural powder snow traps that can catch unsuspecting players. Leather boots prevent sinking.
Steep mountainsides covered in snow with hidden powder snow patches. Igloos can generate on snowy slopes. Watch out for powder snow traps.
Mobs across these 9 biomes
Ten mobs spread over the nine cold biomes. Two of them are found here and nowhere else, the stray on the flats and the goat on the peaks, and Snowy Taiga is the busiest of the nine with four.
- Rabbitin Snowy Plains, Ice Spikes, Snowy Taiga, Grove and Snowy Slopes
- Goatonly in this groupin Frozen Peaks, Jagged Peaks and Snowy Slopes
- Foxin Snowy Taiga and Grove
- Polar Bearin Snowy Plains and Ice Spikes
- Strayonly in this groupin Snowy Plains and Ice Spikes
- Wolfin Snowy Taiga and Grove
- Drownedin Frozen River
- Salmonin Frozen River
- Sheepin Snowy Taiga
- Squidin Frozen River
Structures in the cold biomes
Three structures reach into the cold, and the igloo is the one that belongs to this group alone.
- Pillager Outpostin Snowy Plains, Frozen Peaks, Jagged Peaks, Grove and Snowy Slopes
- Iglooonly in this groupin Snowy Plains, Snowy Taiga and Snowy Slopes
- Villagein Snowy Plains
How the 9 compare
- Coldest at temperature -0.7
- Frozen Peaks and Jagged Peaks
- Warmest at temperature 0.05
- Snowy Beach
- Most mobs, 4 of them
- Snowy Taiga
- Rarest, counted as rare
- Ice Spikes
- Longest in the game, since Alpha 1.2.0
- Snowy Plains
- Newest, added in 1.18
- Frozen Peaks
Five of the nine are uncommon or rare, with Ice Spikes as the rare one. The other four, Frozen River, Snowy Plains, Snowy Taiga and Snowy Beach, are common enough to walk into without looking for them.
Eleven blocks across the nine, as few as the oceans manage, because snow and ice cover most of what lies underneath.