Frozen River biome in Minecraft
A Frozen River is a river that crosses cold land, its surface sealed under a sheet of ice. You can walk across it like a road, but the water is still there underneath, with salmon, squid and the drowned. It is a natural path through snowy biomes and an easy source of ice.
/execute in minecraft:overworld run tp @s 1032 85 -88 90 25Climate
- Dimension
- Overworld
- Temperature
- 0
- Downfall
- 0.5
- Weather
- Snow
How to find a Frozen River
/locate biome minecraft:frozen_riverMap by Chunkbase, shown as a companion to this guide. Without your seed, it shows an example world. Results depend on the edition and version you pick.
Frozen River in numbers
- Share of the world
- 0.84%of the Overworld surface
- Rarity rank
- 25 / 521 = the rarest
- Distance from spawn
- ~1,900 blocksaverage, 1,000 worlds
- Within 1,000 blocks
- 29.9%of worlds
Snowy Plains38.8%
Snowy Taiga32.6%
Snowy Beach8.4%Frozen Ocean3.4%Ice Spikes3.2%
Stony Shore2.6%
// 1,000 random seeds, normal world. Java 26.2 world generation computed with cubiomes, plus the 26.3 Dappled Forest rule. Estimates, not exact 26.3 values.
/execute in minecraft:overworld run tp @s 1032 63 -88 180 3Mobs in the Frozen River
Structures in the Frozen River
Ice on top, water below
The river surface freezes into ice where it is open to the sky, and snow builds up on the banks. Underneath, the water stays liquid. If you break the ice while there is water below it, the block turns into water and you may fall in. Mine it with Silk Touch to keep the block: without the enchantment, ice drops nothing.
What lives in a Frozen River
Salmon and squid swim under the ice. Squid drop ink sacs, and salmon make an easy meal once cooked. Drowned are common in ordinary rivers but rare here: the Frozen River gives them a very low spawn weight. At night the usual hostile mobs still make it unsafe. Some of them carry a trident and can hit you from below the ice.
Using the Frozen River
- Travel: the ice is flat and long, ideal for a fast walk, and boats slide quickly on it.
- Fishing: break a hole in the ice and cast a fishing rod into the water below.
- Collect ice: nine ice blocks gathered with Silk Touch craft one packed ice, which never melts.
- Watch your torches: bright light next to ice slowly melts it into water.
Frozen Rivers wind through cold biomes such as Snowy Plains and the Snowy Taiga. Their flat, winding ice makes an easy path to follow when you explore the snow, and a good spot for a first camp on the bank.
✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026
Frozen River — FAQ
Can you fish in a Frozen River?
Yes. Break a hole in the ice and cast your fishing rod into the water below. Salmon also swim under the ice.
Why does the ice on a Frozen River turn into water?
Ice you break without Silk Touch leaves water behind when there is something under it, such as the river. Ice also melts near bright light, for example a torch.
Which mobs spawn in the Frozen River?
Spider, Skeleton, Creeper, Slime, Zombie, Enderman, Zombie Villager, Witch, Drowned, Bat, Squid, Glow Squid and Salmon. Frostbite: Coming in 26.4.
Which structures generate in the Frozen River?
Mineshaft, Ruined Portal, Stronghold and Trial Chambers.
How do you find the Frozen River?
With cheats on, /locate biome minecraft:frozen_river gives the coordinates of the nearest one. Without cheats, a seed map of your world shows where it is.
