The Ice Caves drop is already playable. Minecraft Live announced it on 26 September, and four days later it was in Bedrock Edition Preview 26.60.29, behind an experimental toggle. If you play Bedrock and want to see it now, you can.
The first thing to correct: the new mob is not called the "frozen zombie". That was the description used on stage. In the game it is the frostbite. Everything else announced is here too: the ice caves biome, ice crystals, icicles, ice balls, and a brand new Freezing status effect with potions and arrows.
This is experimental preview content. Numbers and behavior can still change before the drop ships, and features can be removed entirely: 26.3 had a mob change that lasted eight snapshots and was reverted before release. Use a fresh world, not your main one, and treat every value below as the preview's value, not the final one.
How to try it
- Install Minecraft Preview (on Windows, Xbox, PlayStation, Android and ChromeOS it is a separate app; on iOS and iPadOS it is through the beta program). Preview 26.60.29 reached iOS and iPadOS on 27 September and the other platforms on 30 September 2026.
- Create a new world.
- Under Experiments, turn on Drop 4 of 2026.
- Head to a frozen biome and go underground.
Java players: none of this is in Java snapshots yet. As of 26.4 Snapshot 2 (29 September) the Java side is still engine work, covered in our Snapshot 2 breakdown. Bedrock previews and Java snapshots usually carry the same drop features, but details can differ between editions, so we will check the Java version separately when it lands.
Everything new, at a glance
| Feature | What it is |
|---|---|
| Ice caves | Cave biome under frozen biomes: packed ice, calcite, icicles, ice crystals |
| Ice crystals | Light-giving block, placeable on any side of a block |
| Icicles | Grow downward in the dark, fall and hurt what is below |
| Frostbite | Zombie variant: freezing melee, some throw ice balls |
| Ice ball | Throwable, 4 damage, dropped by frostbites |
| Freezing | New effect: damage over time, slower movement, lower jumps |
| Potion and Arrow of Freezing | Brewed from an awkward potion plus an ice ball |
The ice caves biome
Ice caves generate underneath frozen biomes, and occasionally break through to the surface. They are built from packed ice and calcite, with icicles hanging from the ceiling and ice crystals and patches of snow on the floor. Large icicle formations made of packed ice generate both on the ground and hanging from the ceiling, which gives the biome its look: a cave full of frozen columns rather than stone ones.
A few details matter for mining:
- Ores still generate, but inside blobs of stone and deepslate within the ice rather than across the walls. If you are hunting ore here, look for the patches of normal stone.
- Glow lichen, dirt and granite do not generate in ice caves, so the usual cave clutter is missing.
- What spawns: the common cave monsters, strays, and frostbites.
Like sulfur caves in 26.2, ice caves will only appear in newly generated chunks when the drop releases. Your existing explored areas will not suddenly freeze over.
Ice crystals
Ice crystals are the biome's light source:
- They can be placed on all sides of a block: floors, walls and ceilings.
- They give off a small amount of light, not torch-level brightness.
- They generate on the ground in ice caves.
That combination makes them a decoration block first: a dim, placeable-anywhere light that fits cold builds. Light level matters here for a second reason, covered next.
Icicles: hazards that grow in the dark
Icicles are the biome's trap, and the most interesting new block mechanically:
- They generate on cave ceilings and can also be placed on the ground.
- Hanging icicles grow naturally, up to 5 blocks long, but only in darkness: they do not grow when there is light.
- They break when exposed to nearby light sources, and they break in the Nether. The base block survives either way.
- A falling icicle damages entities it hits, and an icicle on the ground deals extra damage to entities that land on it.
If you know pointed dripstone, that last part will sound familiar: a falling hazard from above and a spike that punishes falling onto it. The light rule is the new twist. Light breaks icicles, which means a torch is both your defense and a way to bring down every icicle around you. Expect that to matter for clearing caves safely, and later possibly for redstone and farm builds that use light to trigger drops.
The frostbite
The frostbite is a zombie variant found in snowy biomes and ice caves. It fights the way a drowned does, with two modes:
- Melee: its normal attack applies the Freezing effect.
- Ranged: some frostbites spawn holding ice balls, which they throw at you. When you get close, they switch to melee.
Other behavior:
- Drops: rotten flesh and ice balls.
- Immune to freezing: it is not slowed by the Freezing effect or by powder snow, and it can stand on top of powder snow, which you cannot.
- Water: a frostbite turns into a regular zombie if it stays underwater long enough.
- Baby frostbites exist.
The detail most players will miss: zombies and husks now turn into frostbites when they are inside powder snow. That is the same kind of conversion as zombies turning into drowned underwater, and it matters for farms. Ice balls only come from frostbites, so a zombie spawner plus powder snow is the obvious route to a renewable ice ball supply once the drop ships. We will test that properly when the feature is final, rather than publish a design built on preview behavior. If you want to see how conversion farms work today, our trident farm guide covers the zombie-to-drowned version, including the trap that makes conversion farms useless for tridents.
Ice balls
The frostbite's projectile is also an item:
- Damage: 4, scaling down with velocity, so a ball thrown from far away hits softer.
- It breaks on impact with blocks or entities.
- Obtained by killing frostbites. There is no other source in the preview.
- It is throwable by players, and it is the brewing ingredient for freezing.
Freezing: the new status effect
Freezing is the headline mechanic of the drop. It:
- deals damage over time,
- slows movement,
- and lowers jump height.
Three rules decide how it plays:
- Leather armor blocks the damage, not the slowness. Wearing even one piece of leather armor prevents freezing damage, but you are still slowed. That makes leather boots, which already protect you from powder snow, more useful than they have been in years.
- Mobs vulnerable to freezing take five times the damage. The game already treats some mobs as especially vulnerable to cold, the same group that takes extra damage in powder snow. Against those, a freezing arrow is far stronger than its base damage suggests.
- Frostbites are immune, so it is useless against the mob that introduced it.
Potion of Freezing and Arrow of Freezing
- Potion of Freezing: brew an awkward potion with an ice ball. It comes in normal, splash and lingering versions.
- Arrow of Freezing: a tipped arrow made the usual way, from lingering potions.
If brewing is new to you, the brewing and potions guide covers the stand, awkward potions and how splash and lingering versions are made. A slowing, damage-over-time arrow is a real addition to PvP and to clearing mob rooms by hand.
Other changes in this preview
- Item duplication fixed: you can no longer duplicate items by holding an item and walking into a dropped stack.
- New main menu on the Ore UI framework, with a refreshed layout and better performance.
- New ice sounds.
When does it actually release?
Bedrock 26.60 is scheduled for 27 October 2026, the same day the native Nintendo Switch 2 version launches. That date is for the 26.60 update itself. Whether the Ice Caves features leave the experimental toggle on that day is a separate question Mojang has not answered, and drops usually stay experimental until the full drop release. On Java, the drop is being developed as 26.4, still in early snapshots.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play Ice Caves now?
Yes, on Bedrock: install Minecraft Preview 26.60.29 or later, create a new world and enable the Drop 4 of 2026 experiment. On Java, not yet.
What is the frostbite in Minecraft?
A zombie variant from snowy biomes and ice caves. Its melee attack applies Freezing, some frostbites throw ice balls, it is immune to freezing and powder snow, and it drops rotten flesh and ice balls. It was described as a "frozen zombie" at Minecraft Live.
How do you get ice balls?
By killing frostbites. In the current preview there is no other source.
How do you make a Potion of Freezing?
Brew an awkward potion with an ice ball. Splash and lingering versions exist, and lingering potions make Arrows of Freezing.
What does the Freezing effect do?
It damages you over time, slows you and lowers your jump height. One piece of leather armor stops the damage but not the slowness.
Do icicles hurt you?
Yes. A falling icicle damages whatever it hits, and landing on an icicle deals extra damage. Light breaks nearby icicles, so torches are the safest way to deal with them.
Will ice caves appear in my old world?
Only in chunks generated after the drop releases. Explored areas stay as they are.
What comes next
We expect the Java side to start showing these features in upcoming 26.4 snapshots. When it does, we will compare the two editions and test the farm angle properly, starting with frostbite conversion in powder snow. For the full list of what Mojang announced, including the Sift dimension arriving in 2027, see our Minecraft Live recap.
