Snowy Taiga

Snowy taigas are rare snowy biomes, often generating adjacent to or within snowy tundra biomes. The biome family includes three individual biome variants.

Description

Snowy taigas are quite similar to their snowless variants, featuring large numbers of spruce trees, sweet berry bushes, rabbits, foxes,‌^{[JE & BE only]}‌^{[upcoming: BE 1.13.0]} and wolves. The main distinction are the snow layers that cover almost the entire landscape, save for the ground protected by the leaves of spruce trees. The terrain is also less flat than regular taigas, being hillier and more reminiscent of forest biomes. The cold temperatures of the snowy taiga means any exposed water will freeze into ice, though lakes that generate within the taiga are often partially protected by the leaves of the trees, meaning lakes aren't usually completely frozen. Foxes that spawn here will have a white coat, as to resemble the real-life arctic fox.

Occasionally, igloos may generate within the trees, making snowy taiga variants the only other biomes aside from snowy tundras where igloos may generate.

Survival in snowy taiga biomes can be somewhat difficult, as the copious amounts of snow can overwhelm beginners. This, coupled with hillier terrain compared to regular taigas, can make these biomes tough to survive in compared to other biomes.

Snowy taigas are technically the coldest biomes in the game. Plants like ferns and sweet berry bushes are less common compared to snowless taigas.

Bedrock Edition

Snowy taigas are one of the only biomes where wolves can only spawn, the other being regular taigas. Most of the snow layers will be stacked, the water has an indigo tone, and during snowfalls, the leaves of the trees become white as in Snowy Tundras. Villages and pillager outposts can generate as well.

Villages generated here use the same architecture as normal taiga villages, but all of the roofs are covered by snow. The water in village farms is often frozen, leading to the crops uprooting. Villagers wear the snowy tundra outfit.

Variants

There are a total of three different snowy taiga biome variants.

Snowy Taiga

Snowy Taiga

Type	Snowy/Icy
Rarity	Rare
Temperature	-0.5
Structures	Igloos Villages‌[BE only] Pillager outposts‌[BE only]
Blocks	Grass Block Snow Grass Fern Sweet Berry Bush Large Fern Spruce Log Spruce Leaves
Sky color	?
Fog color	?
Grass color	aqua
Foliage color	?
Water color	indigo
Water surface transparency	?
Underwater fog color	?
Underwater fog distance	?
Data value	dec: 30 hex: 1E bin: 11110
Biome ID	§ Data values

This is the standard and most common snowy taiga variant. Igloos can generate here, as can villages and outposts in Bedrock Edition.

Snowy Taiga Hills

Snowy Taiga Hills

Type	Snowy/Icy
Rarity	Rare
Temperature	-0.5
Structures	Villages‌[BE only] Pillager Outposts‌[BE only]
Blocks	Grass Block Snow Grass Fern Sweet Berry Bush Large Fern Spruce Log Spruce Leaves
Sky color	?
Fog color	?
Grass color	?
Foliage color	?
Water color	?
Water surface transparency	?
Underwater fog color	?
Underwater fog distance	?
Data value	dec: 31 hex: 1F bin: 11111
Biome ID	§ Data values

Like all other hills biomes, Snowy Taiga Hills feature hillier, more erratic terrain. These hills are somewhat steeper than other hills biomes, making this variant more difficult for survival. Pillager outposts and villages can generate in this biome‌^{[BE only]}, however, unlike the regular snowy taiga, igloos cannot generate here.

Snowy Taiga Mountains

Snowy Taiga Mountains

Type	Snowy/Icy
Rarity	Very rare
Temperature	-0.5
Blocks	Grass Block Snow Grass Fern Sweet Berry Bush Large Fern Spruce Log Spruce Leaves
Sky color	?
Fog color	?
Grass color	?
Foliage color	?
Water color	?
Water surface transparency	?
Underwater fog color	?
Underwater fog distance	?
Data value	dec: 158 hex: 9E bin: 10011110
Biome ID	§ Data values

The rare Snowy Taiga Mountains feature much steeper terrain than the hills. Similarly to the taiga mountains, this variant can reach quite high elevations, but the snowy taiga mountains often go higher than regular taiga mountains. The steep elevations make this biome quite difficult for survival. Buildings will also not generate here.

Data values

Java Edition:

Biome	Namespaced ID
Snowy Taiga	snowy_taiga
Snowy Taiga Hills	snowy_taiga_hills
Snowy Taiga Mountains	snowy_taiga_mountains

Bedrock Edition:

Biome	Namespaced ID
Snowy Taiga	cold_taiga
Snowy Taiga Hills	cold_taiga_hills
Snowy Taiga Mountains	cold_taiga_mutated

History

Java Edition Alpha
v1.2.0		preview			Added biomes, including snowy taigas.
Java Edition Beta
1.8		?			Due to bugs in the new terrain generator, taigas are now no longer snowy and therefore resemble the current snowless taigas.
Java Edition
1.1		?			The bug in Beta 1.8 has been fixed, so taigas again generate with snow.
1.7.2		13w36a			A new snowless taiga biome has now been added, along with variants and many other biomes.
					The snowless taiga has now become the new default taiga, and the old snowy taiga has now been renamed "Cold Taiga" and are now much more rare.
1.13		18w16a			Renamed Cold Taiga M to Mutated Cold Taiga.
		18w19a			Renamed Cold Taiga to Snowy Taiga.
					Renamed Cold Taiga Hills to Snowy Taiga Hills.
					Renamed Mutated Cold Taiga to Snowy Taiga Mountains.
		pre5			Changed the ID taiga_cold to snowy_taiga.
					Changed the ID taiga_cold_hills to snowy_taiga_hills.
					Changed the ID mutated_taiga_cold to snowy_taiga_mountains.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.1.0					Added biomes, including snowy taigas.
0.9.0		build 1			Added snowless taiga and variants, making the snowy taiga much rarer.
					Added wolves, which spawn in snowy taigas.
0.13.0		build 1			Added rabbits, which can now spawn in snowy taigas.
0.15.0		build 1			Villages can now generate in snowy taigas.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0		alpha 0.17.0.1			Added igloos that can now generate in snowy taigas.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			Added pillager outposts, which can generate in snowy taigas.
					Added sweet berry bushes, which rarely generate in snowy taigas.
1.11.0		beta 1.11.0.1			Added illager patrols, which can spawn in snowy taigas.
Upcoming Bedrock Edition
1.13.0		beta 1.13.0.1			Added foxes, which can spawn in snowy taigas.
Legacy Console Edition
TU5	CU1	1.00	Patch 1		Biomes overhauled, removing taigas.
TU9					(Snowy) taigas have now been re-added.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Added snowless taiga and variants, making the snowy taiga much rarer.
PlayStation 4 Edition
1.91					Added pillager outposts, which can spawn in snowy biomes.
					Added sweet berry bushes, which rarely generate in snowy taigas.

Gallery

• 

  An igloo in a snowy taiga, along with a begging wolf.

• 

  Another view of snowy taiga mountains.

• 

  A large overhang, with a cave and a frozen lake underneath it, that generated as part of snowy taiga mountains.

• 

  A snowy tundra village next to a snowy taiga during a blizzard in Bedrock Edition.

See also

• Taiga
• Snowy Tundra

Biomes

View at: Template:Biomes/content [edit]