Snow biome (2024)

This article is about the snow-themed biome. For the block, see Snow Block. For the weather event, see Rain.

The Snow biome, also known as the Tundra, is a Surface biome that takes on an arctic appearance with its constant snowfall, its ground made of Snow and Ice Blocks, and its boreal trees. It can be of moderate difficulty in the early game, becoming relatively easy with some basic equipment. The biome is always found in the direction of the Dungeon, opposite the Underground Desert and Jungle. It extends Underground and transitions to the Ice biome in the Cavern layer.

Specific features of the Snow biome include a different water color and a snowscape background. Boreal trees and Shiverthorn frequently grow in the snow. Penguins wander the surface, and typical enemies include Ice Slimes, Frozen Zombies, and Demon Eyes. Stepping in water in the Snow biome in Expert or Master Mode inflicts the player with the Chilled debuff until 5 seconds after they leave. During rain, the biome undergoes a blizzard, decreasing visibility.

The trees in the biome can appear to be pines, snowy evergreens, or leafless trees, but they always yield Boreal Wood when cut down. Acorns placed on Snow Blocks always grow into boreal trees.

A Snow biome is made of at least 1500 / 300 Snow or Ice Blocks nearby, causing the water color and the background to change, but Snow plants and enemies can spawn on even a single block of snow or ice.

The Corruption, Crimson, and Hallow can overtake this biome through its Ice Blocks, either upon world generation or thanks to improved biome spread in Hardmode.

During a Blood Moon, Penguins become Corrupt or Vicious.

In Hardmode, the Snow biome gets a bit of a boost. Ice Elementals and Wolves begin to spawn at night, and blizzards can spawn the rare Ice Golem, a recurring lumbering giant with a frost beam attack that chills and even freezes players. Also, any enemy killed in the Snow biome in Hardmode has a 0.33*1/300 (0.33%) chance of dropping the Amarok, a powerful yoyo that inflicts the Frostburn debuff on enemies.

The Dungeon holds a single Ice Chest, which is unlocked with a Frozen Key, obtainable from the Snow biome at any time, but is only usable after Plantera is defeated. Any enemy killed in the Snow biome has a 0.04*1/2500 (0.04%) chance of dropping the Frozen Key (on PC, Console, Mobile, Old Chinese, tModLoader, and tModLoader Legacy) or the Frozen Key Mold (on Old-gen console, Windows Phone, and ). The Ice Chest holds the Staff of the Frost Hydra, a sentry summon weapon.

Fishing in the Snow biome has a chance of yielding Atlantic Cod, Frost Daggerfish, and Frost Minnow. Atlantic Cod is used to craft Cooked Fish and Frost Minnow is used to craft Warmth Potions, which reduce damage from cold-themed enemies by 30% and are very useful in the Snow biome. Frost Daggerfish are ranged / throwing weapons and can be useful at the beginning of the game. Frozen Crates and Boreal Crates can also be caught in the Snow biome in pre-Hardmode and Hardmode, respectively, and always include one item from Frozen Chests (alongside other loot).

Contents[]

See Ice biome for the content found in and under the Cavern layer.

NPC happiness []

	Snow biome
Loved by	​Santa Claus
Liked by	​Mechanic ​Cyborg ​Tax Collector
Disliked by	​Nurse ​Arms Dealer ​Stylist ​Tavernkeep
Hated by	n/a

For more information, see NPC happiness.

Notes[]

• If the player has consumed the Torch God's Favor, they can toggle Biome torch swap to place Ice Torches instead of regular Torches if they try to place regular Torches when in the Snow biome.
• On the Windows Phone version and Nintendoversion, normal sized worlds only have a 33.33*1/3 (33.33%) chance of containing a Snow biome.
• Player-created Snow biomes are possible by placing more than 1,500 / 300 Snow Blocks and/or Ice Blocks in an area.
• Water does not turn into Ice Blocks in a Snow biome. Ice Blocks are generated only on world creation.
• Snow biomes are somewhat resistant to surface Hallow and Corruption/Crimson spread, since Snow Blocks cannot be transformed. However, Ice Blocks are affected and will be transformed into Pink Ice Blocks (Hallow), Purple Ice Blocks (Corruption) and Red Ice Blocks (Crimson), which mostly affects the Ice biome.
• Grass will not grow on Dirt Blocks in a Snow biome.
• From surface to underground, the Snow biome initially generates in a trapezoidal shape, before it is overridden by other possible features, like deserts.
• The Snow biome will always be located on the opposite side of the world as the Underground Desert and the Jungle. Both the Snow biome and Jungle can generate near or at spawn.

Trivia[]

• The Angler calls the Snow biome Tundra.
  • Tundras are typically flat and rocky, get little precipitation, and are entirely devoid of trees. They are defined by their layer of year-round frozen soil, which prevents large plants from taking root and makes the ground marshy in the summer. Terraria's Snow biome is none of these things.
  • This may just be an example of the Angler's usual childish tendencies.
• The Snow biome is the only biome that is required to craft an item, the Snow Cloud.
• The Angler will still display quests for the Mutant Flinxfin, Pengfish, and Tundra Trout even if the world does not contain a Snow biome.
• The name Boreal Wood implies it originates in the far north.

Gallery[]

This content is transcluded from Biome backgrounds §Snow biome.

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  Updated classic evergreen forest blocking snowy mountains

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  Mountains with leafless trees

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  Icy mountains with sparse trees

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  Frozen tree forest blocking snowy mountains

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  Evergreen forest blocking snowy mountains

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  Icy mountains with snowy evergreens

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  Frozen forest blocking mountains

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  Evergreen forest blocking snowy mountains

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  Icy mountains with evergreens

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  Leafless forest blocking snowy mountains with evergreens

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  Snowy fields with sparse evergreens.

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  Snowy plains with sparse trees.

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  Snowy plains with pine trees, a few piles of Snowballs and a snowman behind a frozen lake

History[]

• Desktop 1.4.3: Added a new boss, the Deerclops.

• Desktop 1.4.0.5: If the player has consumed the Torch God's Favor and is trying to place Torches in a Snow biome, Ice Torches will always be placed instead.

• Desktop 1.4.0.1:
  • Added new backgrounds and updated the graphics of some pre-existing ones.
  • Added the alternative Snow music, originally from Terraria: Otherworld, which plays once the player has entered the 05162020 seed and pressed the "Music" option in the Party Girl's menu.
  • Biome now requires 1500 blocks, increased from 300.
  • Frozen Crates and Boreal Crates can now be caught when fishing in the Snow biome and always drop one item normally found in Frozen Chests, alongside other loot.
  • Now generates farther away from Spawn.
  • Shaking Boreal trees in the Snow biome has a chance to drop either Acorns, Boreal Wood, a Cherry, some coins, or a Plum.
  • Snow Pylons will now be sold by any happy NPC in the Snow biome for 750 to 850. While any number of pylons can be placed in a Snow biome, only one Snow Pylon can be functionally used per world.
  • The Cyborg, Mechanic, Santa Claus, and Tax Collector NPCs now like living in the Snow biome, while the Arms Dealer, Nurse, Stylist, and Tavernkeep dislike it.
  • Zombie Eskimos renamed to Frozen Zombies and Eskimo armor renamed to Snow armor.

• Desktop 1.3.3: Added a new, more detailed visual for the Blizzard that drastically decreases visibility.

• Desktop 1.3.2: Pedguin's set now has a 2*1/50 (2%) chance of dropping from Corrupt and Vicious Penguins.

• Desktop 1.3.0.1:
  • Added armed Zombie Eskimos in Expert Mode.
  • Added the Vicious Penguin.
  • Any enemy killed in the Snow biome in Hardmode now has a 0.33*1/300 (0.33%) chance of dropping the Amarok yoyo.
  • Enemies now, once again, drop Frozen Keys instead of Frozen Key Molds. However, the Ice Chest in the Dungeon cannot be unlocked until Plantera is defeated.
  • If the player falls into water in the Snow biome in Expert Mode, they are affected with the Chilled debuff when in the water and for five seconds after getting out.
  • Snow no longer falls in front of blocks.

• Desktop 1.2.4:
  • Atlantic Cod and Frost Minnow fish can now be caught when fishing in the Snow biome and can be turned into Cooked Fish and Warmth Potions, respectively.
  • Snow trees now drop Boreal Wood.
  • The Shiverthorn herb can now be found on the surface in the Snow Biome.
  • Two Angler quest fish can now be caught in the Snow biome (only when the Angler asks for them), including the Pengfish and Tundra Trout.

• Desktop 1.2.3: Ice Golems no longer drop Frost armor. Instead, they now always drop a Frost Core on death, which is used to craft Frost armor.

• Desktop 1.2.1: Enemies within the Snow biome no longer drop Frozen Keys. Instead, they now drop Frozen Key Molds which can be crafted into Frozen Keys.

• Desktop 1.2.0.3.1: Fixed random crashing when in a snow biome in multiplayer.

• Desktop 1.2.0.3: Snow particles will no longer spawn on backwalls.

• Desktop 1.2:
  • Now generates in all worlds (instead of 1/3 of worlds not generated during the Christmas season, and all worlds generated during the Christmas season).
  • Added the Blizzard event, which occurs in the Snow biome when it is raining.
  • Can now be infected by the Corruption/Crimson and Hallow (creating Purple, Red, and Pink Ice Blocks).
  • Enemies killed within the Hardmode Snow biome now have a 0.04*1/2500 (0.04%) chance of dropping the Frozen Key which can be used to unlock the Ice Chest in the Dungeon.
  • Ice biome, the Underground equivalent to the Snow biome, added.
  • Ice Blocks added.
  • New background.
  • New theme music.
  • Some vendor NPCs sell specific items from within the Snow Biome:
    • Clothier now sells Beanie.
    • Merchant now sells Marshmallow which can be crafted into Marshmallow on a Stick.
    • New Painter NPC sells Cold Waters in the White Land.
  • Snowy trees now drop Acorns.
  • Unique enemies added, including the Corrupt Penguin, Ice Elemental, Ice Golem, Ice Slime, Wolf, and Zombie Eskimo, along with the new Penguin critter.
  • Unique enemies' respective drops added:
    • Ice Elementals have a 2*1/50 (2%) chance of dropping the Frost Staff and a 0.56*1/180 (0.56%) chance of dropping the Ice Sickle.
    • Ice Golems have a 33.33*1/3 (33.33%) chance of dropping the Ice Feather and a 2*1/50 (2%) chance of dropping the Frost Staff. It also has a guaranteed chance of dropping one piece of the Frost armor.
    • Zombie Eskimos have a 0.67*1/150 (0.67%) chance of dropping each piece of the Eskimo armor.

• Desktop 1.1.1: Introduced with Snow Blocks.

• Mobile 1.4.0.5.0: Added all features and changes from Desktop 1.3.2 to 1.4.0.1.

• Mobile-Release: Introduced.