A snow golem is two snow blocks stacked on top of each other with a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern placed on top. It throws snowballs at monsters, leaves snow on every block it walks over, and takes damage from rain, water and hot biomes. It has only 4 health (2 hearts), so most of this guide is about where to put one so it survives.
Rate2 snow blocks + 1 pumpkin
XP level4 health
Build timeThrows snowballs up to 10 blocks
DifficultyBeginner
How to make a snow golem
You need:
- 2 snow blocks. Each one is four snowballs in a 2x2 crafting grid. Snowballs come from breaking snow with a shovel.
- 1 carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern. Use shears on a pumpkin to carve it, then add a torch for a jack o'lantern if you like.
Then:
- Place one snow block on the ground.
- Place the second snow block on top of it.
- Place the carved pumpkin on top. The pumpkin has to go last; it is what triggers the golem.
The golem appears where the blocks were. The same shape works lying sideways or upside down, as long as the pumpkin is the final block, and a dispenser can place the pumpkin for you. A piston pushing a pumpkin into place does not work.
What snow golems do
They throw snowballs at monsters
A snow golem walks towards hostile mobs and throws snowballs at them from up to 10 blocks away. It ignores ghasts. It never targets players.
Snowballs do no damage to most mobs, only knockback. The one big exception is the blaze, which takes 3 damage per snowball. So a snow golem is not a guard that kills things. What it does well:
- Distraction: mobs hit by its snowballs turn and attack the golem instead of you.
- Knockback: a golem on a wall or a bridge pushes zombies and skeletons back while you deal with them.
- Blazes: a few golems in a Nether fortress do real damage, if you can keep them alive there (see below).
They leave a trail of snow
Every block a snow golem walks over gets a layer of snow, if the block can hold snow. In Java this happens in any biome. That is the golem's most useful job: snow on demand. Shovel the layers to get snowballs, craft them into snow blocks, and from Minecraft 26.4 turn the blocks into snow bricks, the new building set from 26.4 Snapshot 6.
With the mob_griefing game rule off, golems leave no snow trail.
How to keep a snow golem alive
Snow golems take damage every tick they are:
- in water or rain,
- in a hot biome, such as a desert, badlands, a savanna or anywhere in the Nether.
They are immune to fall damage and to powder snow. In practice:
- Build a roof over a golem's pen if it lives outside a snowy biome. Rain kills a golem fast.
- Snowy biomes are safe: there it snows instead of raining, so a golem can live in the open.
- Fire Resistance lets a golem survive a hot biome, which is the only way to use one against blazes in the Nether.
- Keep it away from water. It tries to avoid water on its own, but a water stream in your base will kill it.
Shearing a snow golem
Use shears on a snow golem to take off its pumpkin. You get the carved pumpkin back, and the golem shows its face underneath. A sheared golem works exactly the same. In Java there is no way to put a pumpkin back on without commands.
When a snow golem dies it drops 0 to 15 snowballs.
A simple snow supply
The quickest snow source is one golem in a small pen:
- Build a 3x3 pen with a roof, or any pen if you are in a snowy biome.
- Put a snow golem inside.
- It wanders around the pen and covers the floor in snow layers.
- Come by with a shovel and clear the snow; it lays more as it walks.
This is enough snow for building. If you need thousands of snowballs for snow bricks, an automatic version with pistons or a sweeping setup is worth the effort.
Bedrock differences
- On Bedrock the snow trail does not appear in hot biomes such as deserts, jungles, savannas and badlands.
- On Bedrock a snowball that hits a player knocks them back, and tamed wolves attack the golem in response.
- On Bedrock, a snowball thrown through lava or fire can set the target alight.
Frequently asked questions
How do you make a snow golem in Minecraft?
Stack two snow blocks and place a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern on top. The pumpkin must be placed last.
Why is my snow golem dying?
It is in rain, water or a hot biome. Snow golems take damage every tick there. Give it a roof, keep it away from water, or keep it in a snowy biome.
Do snow golems attack players?
No. They only throw snowballs at hostile mobs, and they ignore ghasts.
Can you make a snow golem without a pumpkin?
No. You need a carved pumpkin or a jack o'lantern to create one. You can shear the pumpkin off afterwards and the golem keeps working.
Do snow golems do damage?
Only to blazes, which take 3 damage per snowball. Other mobs only get knocked back.
Sources:
- Minecraft Java 26.3 game files: snow golem loot and shearing tables,
snow_golem_immune_to block tag (checked by SyntaxMine)
- Minecraft Wiki - Snow Golem
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