Minecraft Live showcased the Caves and Cliffs update as the next feature-rich update, featuring many changes to the mountain biome and the caves that Minecraft is incredibly well-known for. One of the changes showcased in the Caves and Cliffs update is the addition of Powder Snow; this is showcased in the Bedrock Edition Beta and the recent Java Snapshot updates.
The Minecraft Snapshot 20W46A added in Powder Snow; this snow is significantly different from the already implemented snow blocks.
This Powder Snow does more than just slow down different Minecraft mobs, but also with the Minecraft Snapshot 20W46A update, Powder Snow can create the Status effect of Freezing.
The Powder Snow is a trap block that can have the players sink into easily; players can pick up and place Powder Snow with a bucket, and players can wear leather boots to prevent any player from sinking into the Powder Snow blocks.
If the player is caught standing in the Powder Snow block will slowly freeze, this freezing effect does damage every few seconds. This effect can be delayed if the player is wearing Leather Armor while wearing a full set of Leather Armor prevents freezing entirely.
This freezing effect would change how players view leather armor as previously the armor was largely ignored by many unless the player wanted to color the armor specifically.
The Powder Snow wasn’t the only change that the 20W46A snapshot offers Minecraft players; this snapshot doubles the range in which the lightning rod attracts the lighting; this range increase makes building a cotton house much more viable.
The crafting recipe for Copper Blocks has also been changed from requiring nine total Copper Ingots to needing just four Copper Ingots. This allows players to create double the Copper blocks with this new snapshot.
This snapshot also changes how the Sky color is processed; this snapshot has the Sky Color now varies smoothly when moving between different biomes. This creates a much more immersive gameplay experience.
This snapshot has also changed the textures of various items, including Cut Copper, Lighting Rod, Calcite, Budding amethyst block, Tinted glass, Candle item icons, Copper ingot item icon, Amethyst shard item icon, Bundle item icon, and Amethyst Block. These texture changes allow the blocks and items to look much better when compared to the previously used textures.
