Minecraft Powder Snow: how to get Powder Snow
Here's how to get Powdered Snow easily in Minecraft
Want to know how to get Powder Snow in Minecraft? Whether you want to defend your home or trick your friends, Powder Snow is an essential block for your base. However, it can be rather difficult to spot it naturally as you explore in Minecraft, as all snow tends to look very similar.
If you're struggling to find Powder Snow, then you're in the right place! This guide will teach you everything that you need to know about Powder Snow, including where you can find it and how to collect Powder Snow with a Cauldron.
How to get Powder Snow in Minecraft 1.17
Powder Snow spawns naturally in areas where there is regular snow, and it looks indistinguishable from regular snow so the only way you can find it naturally is by quite literally stumbling across it.
Fortunately, there's a much easier method. To get Powder Snow, place a Cauldron outside in a snowy biome while it is snowing. The cauldron will slowly fill with Powder Snow, and once it is full you will be able to right-click on the Cauldron with an empty Bucket to get a Bucket of Powder Snow.
Once you've got a Bucket of Powder Snow, you can right-click with it on the ground to create a block of Powder Snow. Powder Snow Blocks cannot be mined; you can only pick it back up again by right-clicking on the block with an empty Bucket.
If you want to quickly find a snowy biome, check out our list of the best Minecraft seeds! We've also got a full walkthrough on how to create and upgrade a Minecraft map to help you find what you're looking for.
What does Powder Snow do?
As for what Powder Snow actually does: it is a trap block. All entities (including players) will sink into a Powder Snow Block if they walk over it. After 7 seconds in contact with the block, the player will start to take freezing damage (1 HP per 2 seconds).
Over these 7 seconds you'll see a vignette of frost begin to tint the edges of your screen to indicate the danger. Fortunately there is a defence: leather armour. Any piece of leather armour worn will negate the freezing effect, and if you are wearing leather boots then you won't fall through the Powder Snow in the first place. It certainly won't defend you as well as Diamond Armour or Netherite Armour, but at least there's a practical reason to stick with leather armour now!
Couple other things worth knowing before we wrap up this post. First: Powder Snow will melt if exposed to fire, which is to be expected really. Second: a Skeleton stuck inside Powder Snow for long enough will turn into a Stray (read: an Ice Skeleton). The Stray will spawn with full HP even if the previous Skeleton was damaged. Interesting, no?
That's the topic of Powder Snow done and dusted. If you're looking to give Powder Snow a slightly different look, be sure to check out our list of the best Minecraft Texture Packs, and our best Minecraft shaders list. Alternatively, if you're bored with all the 1.17 additions and you're looking to see what else is on the horizon, check out our primer on the Minecraft 1.18 update!