Snowball

{
 "title": "Snowball",
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 "field": "<span style=\"white-space: nowrap;\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: #fff; border: 1px solid #888; border-radius: 0.3em; color: transparent; width: 1em; height: 1em; vertical-align: -0.36em; margin-right: -0.1em\"><br></span> </span> Common",
 "label": "(link to Rarity article, displayed as Rarity tier)"
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 {
 "field": "Yes",
 "label": "(link to Renewable resource article, displayed as Renewable)"
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 {
 "field": "Yes (16)",
 "label": "Stackable"
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 {
 "field": "Height: 0.25 blocks<br>Width: 0.25 blocks",
 "label": "Size"
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 "invimages": [
 "Snowball"
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 "images": [
 "Snowball.png"
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A snowball is an item obtained by breaking snow blocks or snow layers using a shovel. It can be crafted into snow blocks, thrown to knock mobs back, fed to ghastlings and used to attract happy ghasts.

A shovel without the Silk Touch enchantment can get 4 snowballs by breaking a snow block, and 1–8 snowballs by breaking or blasting snow layers – one per layer. The Fortune enchantment does not affect these amounts.

Creeper and TNT explosions leave snowballs in the resulting debris field if near snow.

In Bedrock Edition, Ravagers destroy snow layers, dropping snowballs.

In Bedrock Edition, a block or piston head pushed into the position of snow layers destroys the snow layers, dropping snowballs: 1–3 layers drop 1 snowball, 4–5 layers drop 2 snowballs, 6–7 layers drop 3 snowballs, and 8 layers drop 4 snowballs.

Snow golems drop 0–15 snowballs upon death, unaffected by Looting.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

{ "item": "Snowball", "stacksize": "2–6", "chance": 0.9698808910423039, "structure": "Ancient City", "container": "Ice box chest" }

{ "item": "Snowball", "stacksize": "4–8", "chance": 0.2068965517241379, "structure": "Trial Chambers", "container": "Chamber dispenser" }

{ "item": "Snowball", "stacksize": "1–7", "chance": 0.662802357880901, "structure": "Village", "container": "Snowy house chest" }

Snowballs can be thrown by using them. There is no charging time or cooldown for firing them,​^{[until: JE Combat Tests]} meaning they can be thrown as fast as the player can click.

Like other projectiles, snowballs are affected by gravity: their range is the same as those of eggs and ender pearls, less than that of arrows fired from bows, and more than that of splash potions.

Snowballs deal 3HP👁 ❤️
👁 💔
each to blazes, but they deal no damage to other mobs. Mobs still receive knockback and act the same as if they were being hit by any other projectile (for example, zombified piglins who are hit by snowballs become aggressive). Players in Bedrock Edition receive knockback, while players in Java Edition are unaffected.^[1]​^{[until: JE Combat Tests]}

When fighting the ender dragon, end crystals can be destroyed by snowballs being thrown at them.

Snowballs, like other projectiles, can be used to distract the warden. A warden walks toward the location where the snowball lands to inspect it, giving the player time to escape. However, if snowballs are fired too frequently (at least twice in 5 seconds), the warden walks straight to the player instead.

In Bedrock Edition, snowballs thrown through fire or lava catch fire, and set fire to entities they hit.

Snowballs can be fed to ghastlings to speed up their growth, in which they become a happy ghast. Whilst holding a snowball, both ghastlings and happy ghasts will be attracted towards the player.

{
 "title": "Snowball (entity)",
 "rows": [
 {
 "field": "Height: 0.25 blocks<br>Width: 0.25 blocks",
 "label": "(link to Hitbox article, displayed as Hitbox size)"
 },
 {
 "field": "Acceleration, Drag, Position",
 "label": "Ticking order"
 },
 {
 "field": "0.03 ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-precision_floating-point_format double])",
 "label": "Gravity"
 },
 {
 "field": "0.99 ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-precision_floating-point_format float])",
 "label": "Drag"
 },
 {
 "field": "2.97 b/t (59.4 m/s)",
 "label": "Terminal velocity"
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 {
 "field": "99 blocks per b/t of initial velocity",
 "label": "Maximum travel"
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 "invimages": [],
 "images": []
}

When thrown straight up, snowballs travel 27.68993 blocks‌^{[Java Edition only]} or about 45 blocks‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} on average. They travel up to ~51.5 blocks horizontally on even ground when thrown at the optimal launch angle of ~40°.

Since the thrower's velocity influences the throw, timing a throw with a jump towards the target can increase the throwing range. It increases to about 42 blocks when thrown straight up and 64 blocks forward at a 35° angle. When sprint-jumping and throwing at a 35° angle, the range increases to about 90 blocks. For the same reason, throwing while falling significantly decreases the range.

A thrown snowball experiences initial speed of about 1.5 blocks per tick. Its movement follows acceleration, drag, position (in subtick order); these variables can be simulated to predict the overall trajectory. Below is a calculator to predict the initial conditions in order to hit a desired coordinate:

Snowballs shot by dispensers behave in the exact manner as when they were thrown by a player, with the only difference in their initial conditions. The initial position of snowballs when shot by a dispenser offsets exactly 0.7 blocks forward and 0.1 blocks higher from the center of the block. Their initial speed is slightly randomized, which averages to about 1.1 block/tick.

Thrown snowballs collide with blocks according to their collision box. They also collide with entities, but with the entities' collision box inflated to about 0.3 blocks in every direction. They collide with all living entities, including minecarts, boats, end crystals, falling blocks, and TNT.

Java Edition:
Thrown snowballs use the Friendly Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.

Bedrock Edition:

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Snowballs have entity data that define various properties of the entity.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Issues relating to "Snowball" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

• A thrown snowball faces the player in the first-person view, while it appears horizontally rotated in third-person view. This is the case for all throwable items (ender pearls, eggs, snowballs, and all throwable potions).

• 👁 The particles made by a thrown snowball.
  
  The particles made by a thrown snowball.
• 👁 A ghastling being fed snowballs.
  
  A ghastling being fed snowballs.
• 👁 Alex holding a snowball.
  
  Alex holding a snowball.
• 👁 Ari throwing snowballs at a breeze.
  
  Ari throwing snowballs at a breeze.

• 👁 Sunny throwing a snowball across several biomes.
  
  Sunny throwing a snowball across several biomes.
• 👁 Tails throwing a snowball at Sonic.
  
  Tails throwing a snowball at Sonic.
• 👁 A snow golem throwing snowballs in The Super Duper Minecraft Musical.
  
  A snow golem throwing snowballs in The Super Duper Minecraft Musical.
• 👁 Efe, Makena, and Ari in a snowball fight
  
  Efe, Makena, and Ari in a snowball fight
• 👁 A snowball as seen in Minecraft Earth
  
  A snowball as seen in Minecraft Earth

• "Taking Inventory: Snowball" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, August 3, 2019.