Frozen Ocean

The frozen ocean is an icy variant of oceans covered by icebergs. The water's surface is partially covered with ice, where snowfall may occur and polar bears can spawn.

Generation

Frozen oceans generate as shallow ocean biomes in the frozen temperature zones, near snowy plains, snowy taigas, regular taigas, and ice spikes. They may be separated from land biomes by snowy beaches, non-frozen stony shores, and frozen rivers, though they may also border land biomes directly. They can generate close to mountains with groves and snowy slopes forming tall oceanic cliffs.

Frozen oceans border their deep variant far from land, and cold oceans near higher temperatures.

Description

Unlike other oceans, frozen oceans do not have a gravel seabed and directly expose stone and variants.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} Neither seagrass nor kelp generates on the seafloor, leaving it entirely barren. The surface is widely covered with ice, while large icebergs made of snow blocks, packed ice and a bit of blue ice frequently generate.

Shipwrecks and cold ocean ruins generate here, often inside icebergs. Occasional islands in frozen oceans are also covered with stone, however, some patches of grass blocks generate in between.

Fewer mobs spawn here than in any other ocean variant, only cod and salmon.‌^{[BE only]} On the surface, however, polar bears and rabbits may also spawn in Bedrock Edition, while some skeletons are replaced by strays.

Frozen oceans have varying temperatures across their landscapes. Colder patches generate snowfall and freeze water on any altitude, while some patches only allow snowfall above Y=120±8, creating rainfall and unfrozen water on the ocean's surface.

With Vibrant Visuals, frozen oceans use default environmental settings with a strong cold color grading, making the biome appear colder blue. They use cold sunlight, which is slightly stronger at dusk and dawn.

Mobs

The following mobs naturally spawn here:

In **Java Edition**
Mob	Spawn weight	Group size
Monster category
Creeper	¹⁰⁰⁄₅₂₀	4
Skeleton	¹⁰⁰⁄₅₂₀	4
Slime^{[note 1]}	¹⁰⁰⁄₅₂₀	4
Spider	¹⁰⁰⁄₅₂₀	4
Zombie	⁹⁵⁄₅₂₀	4
Enderman	¹⁰⁄₅₂₀	1–4
Drowned^{[note 2]}	⁵⁄₅₂₀	1
Witch	⁵⁄₅₂₀	1
Zombie Villager	⁵⁄₅₂₀	1
Creature category
Polar Bear	1	1–2
Underground water creature category
Glow Squid	1	4–6
Water creature category
Nautilus	³⁄₆	1
Squid	³⁄₆	1–4
Water ambient category
Salmon	1	1–5
Ambient category
Bat	1	8

↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
↑ Adult drowned wielding a trident have a 50% chance of spawning mounted on a zombie nautilus.

In **Bedrock Edition**
Mob	Spawn weight	Group size
Monster category
Creeper	100	1
Drowned^{[note 1]}	100	2–4
Slime^{[note 2]}	100	1
Spider	100	1
Stray	96	1–2
Zombie	95	2–4
Skeleton	24	1–2
Enderman	10	1–2
Witch	5	1
Zombie Villager	5	2–4
Creature category
Glow Squid	10	2–4
Nautilus	8	1
Squid	8	2–4
Polar Bear	5	1–2
Rabbit	4	2–3
Water creature category
Cod	75	4–7
Salmon	26	3–5

↑ Adult drowned wielding a trident have a 50% chance of spawning mounted on a zombie nautilus.
↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.

Sounds

Music

In Bedrock Edition, these music tracks play when the player is underwater in a frozen ocean:

Title	Preview	Java Edition		Bedrock Edition
Title	Preview	Weight	Probability	Weight	Probability
Axolotl		—	—	1	33.33%
Dragon Fish		—	—	1	33.33%
Shuniji		—	—	1	33.33%

These music tracks play while the player is not underwater in a frozen ocean:

Title	Preview	Java Edition		Bedrock Edition
Title	Preview	Weight	Probability	Weight	Probability
A Familiar Room		1	2.70%	—	—
Below and Above		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Broken Clocks		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Clark		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Comforting Memories		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Danny		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Dry Hands		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Ebb		2	5.41%	2	5.56%
Featherfall		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Fireflies		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Floating Dream		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Haggstrom		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Home		2	5.41%	2	5.56%
Key		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
komorebi		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Left to Bloom		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Lilypad		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Living Mice		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Memories		2	5.41%	2	5.56%
Mice on Venus		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Minecraft		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Nightly		2	5.41%	2	5.56%
One More Day		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
O's Piano		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Oxygène		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Puzzlebox		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Shores		2	5.41%	2	5.56%
Subwoofer Lullaby		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Sweden		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Watcher		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Wet Hands		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
yakusoku		1	2.70%	1	2.78%

In Creative mode, the following tracks can play:

Title	Preview	Java Edition		Bedrock Edition
Title	Preview	Weight	Probability	Weight	Probability
Aria Math		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Biome Fest		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Blind Spots		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Dreiton		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Haunt Muskie		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Taswell		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Key		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Subwoofer Lullaby		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Living Mice		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Haggstrom		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Minecraft		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Oxygène		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Mice on Venus		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Dry Hands		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Wet Hands		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Clark		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Sweden		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Danny		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Left to Bloom		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
One More Day		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Floating Dream		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Comforting Memories		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
A Familiar Room		1	3.03%	—	—
Featherfall		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Watcher		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Puzzlebox		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
komorebi		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
yakusoku		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Lilypad		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Below and Above		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
O's Piano		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Broken Clocks		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Fireflies		1	3.03%	1	3.13%

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Translation key
Frozen Ocean	`frozen_ocean`	`biome.minecraft.frozen_ocean`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID
[No displayed name]	`frozen_ocean`	`10`

Achievements


Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
		Adventuring Time	Discover 17 biomes.	Visit any 17 biomes. Does not have to be in a single world.	40	Silver
		Sail the 7 Seas	Visit all ocean biomes	Visit all ocean biomes except the deep warm ocean/legacy frozen ocean (as they are unused).	40	Gold

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Adventuring Time	Discover every biome	Visit all of these 55^{[until: Third Drop 2026]}/56^[upcoming] biomes: Badlands Bamboo Jungle Beach Birch Forest Cherry Grove Cold Ocean Dappled Forest Dark Forest Deep Cold Ocean Deep Dark Deep Frozen Ocean Deep Lukewarm Ocean Deep Ocean Desert Dripstone Caves Eroded Badlands Flower Forest Forest Frozen Ocean Frozen Peaks Frozen River Grove Ice Spikes Jagged Peaks Jungle Lukewarm Ocean Lush Caves Mangrove Swamp Meadow Mushroom Fields Ocean Old Growth Birch Forest Old Growth Pine Taiga Old Growth Spruce Taiga Pale Garden Plains River Savanna Savanna Plateau Snowy Beach Snowy Plains Snowy Slopes Snowy Taiga Sparse Jungle Stony Peaks Stony Shore Sunflower Plains Sulfur Caves Swamp Taiga Warm Ocean Windswept Forest Windswept Gravelly Hills Windswept Hills Windswept Savanna Wooded Badlands The advancement is only for Overworld biomes. Other biomes may also be visited, but are ignored for this advancement.

Videos

History

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.0.0	Beta 1.9 Prerelease	Added FrozenOcean, which was unused at the time.
1.0.0	Beta 1.9 Prerelease	When generated through buffet, it appears as a regular ocean with a lower temperature, freezing the entire surface.
1.1	12w01a	Frozen oceans now generate naturally. Generates around Snowy Plains biomes with frozen river biomes.
1.7.2	13w36a	Frozen ocean is now required for the new "Adventuring Time" achievement.
1.8	14w17a	Frozen ocean is no longer required for the "Adventuring Time" achievement, making it possible to obtain in normal gameplay.
1.13	18w08a	Frozen ocean biome now generates naturally again, though differently from before. The temperature fluctuates between freezing and fluid water.
	18w09a	Added underwater ruin structures, which generate in all oceans.
	18w11a	Added shipwrecks, which generate in all oceans.
	18w15a	Added icebergs, which generate in frozen oceans.
	18w15a	Ocean variants now have their own water colors.
	18w16a	Renamed "FrozenOcean" to "Frozen Ocean".
1.16	20w06a	Underwater ruins and shipwrecks are now rarer.
1.17	21w06a	Frozen ocean biomes generate with a stone floor below Y=50 instead of a gravel floor.^[1]
1.17	21w15a	Frozen oceans generate with a gravel floor once again.
1.18	21w44a	Frozen ocean is once again required for the "Adventuring Time" advancement.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.9.0	build 1	Added the frozen ocean biome, although it remained unused like in Java Edition.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0	beta 1.2.14.2	Added the new frozen oceans as a separate biome. The old biome remains unused as legacy frozen ocean.
	beta 1.2.14.2	Added shipwrecks, and icebergs.
	beta 1.2.20.1	Added underwater ruins.
1.17.0 Experiment Caves and Cliffs	beta 1.16.230.56	Frozen oceans generate with a stone floor below Y=51 instead of a gravel floor behind the Caves & Cliffs experimental gameplay toggle.^[2] This does not occur in the Old world type.
1.17.30 Experiment Caves and Cliffs	beta 1.17.30.23	Frozen oceans generate with a gravel floor once again.
?	?	Frozen oceans no longer generate with a gravel floor.
1.18.0	beta 1.18.0.20	Frozen oceans now generate near snowy biomes.
1.21.60	Preview 1.21.60.23	Frozen ocean no longer generate seagrass.
1.21.90	Preview 1.21.90.26	Added cold color grading and cold lighting to frozen oceans with Vibrant Visuals.
1.21.100	Preview 1.21.100.20	The surface is no longer entirely covered by ice and now features patches of open water.
1.21.100	Preview 1.21.100.20	Icebergs now generate with a shape and frequency that more closely matches Java Edition.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU7	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Frozen ocean biome added. At this time, it generates as an ocean with a solid layer of ice at the surface. It also generates in small patches alongside the shore of the new snowy biomes.
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3	1.0.1	Frozen oceans no longer generate.
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		Frozen ocean biome now generates naturally again, though differently from before.
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		Added shipwrecks, underwater ruins, and icebergs.

Data history

Java Edition
1.18			21w37a				Prior to the removal of numerical biome IDs, this biome's numerical ID was 10.

Issues

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

Gallery

Screenshots

A wrecked ship in an iceberg at a frozen ocean
A frozen ocean near a forest
A frozen ocean single biome world

Historical screenshots

View of an old pre-Java Edition 1.13 single biome frozen ocean
Another view of a frozen ocean
A frozen ocean biome
Salmon beneath icebergs
A frozen ocean single biome world before 1.18
A frozen ocean with ray tracing

References

↑ MC-214783 – Oceans generate with stone floors – resolved as "Fixed".
↑ MCPE-125235 – Ocean floors are generated with stone floors

External links

"Around the Block: Frozen Ocean" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, October 28, 2021.

[Slime-1] Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.

[Drowned-2] Adult drowned wielding a trident have a 50% chance of spawning mounted on a zombie nautilus.

[Drowned-3] Adult drowned wielding a trident have a 50% chance of spawning mounted on a zombie nautilus.

[Slime-4] Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.

[5] MC-214783 – Oceans generate with stone floors – resolved as "Fixed".

[6] MCPE-125235 – Ocean floors are generated with stone floors