Updated 23 October 2026. Facts on this page come from minecraft.wiki, minecraft.net and the live Artemis PvP server; sources are listed at the bottom.
Powder Snow: Freezing and Leather Boots
Powder snow is a soft snow block in groves and snowy slopes that you sink into: it slows you down and, once you are fully inside, freezes you and deals damage. Wearing any leather armour stops the freezing, and leather boots let you walk on top of it. Collect it with a bucket from a cauldron left out in snowfall.
What does powder snow do?
- Most entities fall through it and move very slowly inside, like in cobwebs; it never suffocates you.
- Stay inside and a frosty edge creeps across your screen; once it fills, you shiver and start taking freezing damage.
- Landing on it cancels all fall damage, and unlike water it works in the Nether.
- A burning entity that touches it puts out the fire and breaks the block.
How do leather boots and armour help?
Any piece of leather armour stops freezing (leather horse armour works for horses too). Leather boots go further: you stand on powder snow instead of sinking (on Java, landing on it after a fall of more than 2.5 blocks still drops you in), and you can climb it like scaffolding, sneaking to go down and jumping to go up. Rabbits, foxes, endermites, silverfish, shulkers and vexes never sink either. See armour.
How do you get powder snow?
It generates in strips in groves and snowy slopes. To collect it, leave a cauldron under open sky in a snowy biome while it snows; it fills with powder snow, which you scoop up with an empty bucket. A powder snow bucket places it again, and dispensers can do both. See biomes and weather.
What does powder snow do to mobs?
Most mobs walk into it as if it were solid and fall in. A skeleton stuck in powder snow starts shaking after 7 seconds and becomes a stray 15 seconds later; magma cubes take 5 HP every two seconds from it. See skeletons.
Is there a snow-themed challenge on ArtemisPvP?
Frequently asked questions
How do you stop freezing in powder snow?
Wear any piece of leather armour.
How do you collect powder snow?
Leave a cauldron out in snowfall in a snowy biome, then use an empty bucket on it.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.