Quick answer: A Cold Sulfur Cube is a sulfur cube that has absorbed a block of blue ice. In Minecraft’s upcoming winter game drop it slides like an ice hockey puck and turns the water under it into frosted ice as it moves, much like Frost Walker boots. You can test it now in Java 26.4 Snapshot 6 and Bedrock Preview 26.70.22.
By Ashish Sharma · Updated October 29, 2026 · How we checked: every mechanic below comes from Mojang’s own Java Snapshot 6 changelog and Bedrock Preview 26.70.22 notes, cross-checked with the community-run Minecraft Wiki. We haven’t played the snapshot for this story, so we don’t make any claims from hands-on testing.
In Short
- Feed blue ice to a large sulfur cube and it becomes the new Cold archetype.
- It moves like the old ice “hockey puck” cube, but it floats in Java and lays a disk of frosted ice on the water it crosses.
- A player asked for exactly this on Mojang’s feedback site in May 2026. Five months later it’s in the game.
- If your sulfur-cube minigames use blue-ice pucks, they’ll start freezing water. Packed ice, snow blocks and the new snow bricks still give the old sliding puck.
What is a Cold Sulfur Cube?
It’s a sulfur cube with blue ice inside, and it’s the first sulfur cube that changes the world around it as it moves. Sulfur cubes arrived in the Chaos Cubed drop on June 16, 2026. They’re bouncy, bucketable mobs from the Sulfur Caves that swallow a full block and take on that block’s physics. Wood makes a rubber ball, wool makes a beach ball, TNT makes a bomb and a magma block makes a “hot” cube that burns mobs.
Mojang’s 26.4 Snapshot 6 notes (October 27) add a new special archetype called Cold. Here’s what the changelog says it does:
- It has the same physics as the Fast Sliding archetype: fast, no bounce, very little friction.
- It floats. In Java, the old blue-ice puck sank.
- When it moves, it replaces the water below it with a disk of frosted ice, “similar to the Frost Walker enchantment”.
- The water needs air above it, and in Java the cube has to start its movement while on the ground.
How do you make a Cold Sulfur Cube?
Give a large sulfur cube one block of blue ice. You’ll need to be on a test build until the drop ships.
- Join the test build. On Java, turn on snapshots in the Minecraft Launcher’s Installations tab and pick 26.4 Snapshot 6 or later. On Bedrock, join Preview or beta 26.70.22 or later. Back up your worlds first, because Mojang warns that test versions can corrupt them.
- Get blue ice. Mine it with a Silk Touch tool from icebergs and blue-ice arches in frozen oceans (without Silk Touch it drops nothing). You can also craft it from 9 packed ice, which is 81 regular ice, or buy it from a wandering trader.
- Find a large sulfur cube in a Sulfur Caves biome. Small cubes can’t absorb blocks. Use an empty bucket to scoop a large one up and carry it to the water.
- Feed it. Hold the blue ice and use it on the cube, or drop the block nearby and the cube will grab it. A dispenser works too.
- Push it from dry land toward water. Hit or launch it so that it starts moving on the ground, then watch it glide out and freeze a path.
Changed your mind? Use shears on the cube to pop the blue ice back out.
Is the Cold Sulfur Cube better than Frost Walker?
No, it does a different job, but it’s much easier to get. One clip of a cold cube racing across a lake drew more than half a million views on X with the caption “no way this legitimately works better than actual frost walker”. Here’s how the two compare, based on Mojang’s notes and the Minecraft Wiki:
| Frost Walker boots | Cold Sulfur Cube | |
|---|---|---|
| What freezes | Water around you as you walk | Water under the cube as it slides |
| How you get it | Treasure enchantment (max level II). Not on the enchanting table, only from loot, fishing or librarian trades | One blue ice block and a large sulfur cube |
| Trade-offs | Can’t share boots with Depth Strider | Must start moving on the ground. Snapshot-only for now |
| Bonus | Immune to magma block and campfire damage | Bucketable, floats in Java, works without a player |
| Ice lasts? | Frosted ice melts once you move on | Same frosted ice, so it melts too |
So keep Frost Walker for crossing water yourself. Use the cube when you don’t want to wear the boots: making a path for a horse or a villager, or building automatic frosted-ice tracks for sulfur-cube minigames. Before this, armor stands wearing Frost Walker boots were the usual way to do that.
Who asked for this?
A player did, on Mojang’s official feedback site, five months ago. On May 8, 2026, a post titled “Sulfur Cubes with Blue Ice inside should have the Frost Walker effect” pointed to a bug, MC-307929, that let sulfur cubes wear armor and therefore Frost Walker boots. It asked Mojang to keep that fun as a proper blue-ice archetype that “behaved like the current fast sliding archetype and also turned water around it into Frosted Ice”. That’s almost word for word what Snapshot 6 shipped. On October 27, a commenter replied: “Added in today’s snapshot!”
Mojang hasn’t said this post was the reason for the change, but it’s a neat example of how feedback.minecraft.net and the bug tracker shape drops.
What does it change for your existing builds?
Blue ice no longer makes the plain sliding puck. Since Chaos Cubed, a blue-ice cube was Fast Sliding (the “hockey puck”). In the new test builds, blue ice gives the Cold archetype instead. So any sulfur-cube air hockey, curling or race track that uses blue-ice pucks will start floating and freezing water once the drop lands. If you want the old behaviour, use one of these, which stay Fast Sliding:
- Packed ice
- Snow block
- Packed ice bricks and chiseled packed ice (new in this drop)
- Snow bricks (new in Snapshot 6)
Also note a possible edition difference. The Minecraft Wiki lists the Cold cube as buoyant in Java but not in Bedrock. Mojang’s Bedrock notes only say it makes frosted ice “when moving over Water source blocks”, so test it on your platform before you build around it.
What else is in the frosty game drop?
Ice caves, a new frozen zombie and a lot of ice blocks. Mojang’s testing hub for what it calls the final game drop of 2026 lists:
- Ice caves with ice crystals and fragile icicles. Ice crystals now hum when they sit on packed ice.
- The Frostbite, a frozen zombie variant that throws ice balls, plus a new Freezing effect and potion.
- Brittle ice, which cracks and breaks under you. It’s crafted by adding water to blue ice and covers new crevasses that lead down into the ice caves.
- Jukebox playlists: put a chest on top of a jukebox and fill it with discs.
- Packed ice bricks and snow bricks. Snow bricks are crafted from 2×2 snow blocks and come with slab, stair and wall versions. They don’t melt, only drop when mined with a shovel, and (in Java) can’t be made in a stonecutter.
That makes blue ice one of the busiest blocks in the drop. It now powers both the Cold cube and brittle ice.
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Frequently asked questions
How do you make a Cold Sulfur Cube in Minecraft?
Find a large sulfur cube in a Sulfur Caves biome, hold a block of blue ice and use it on the cube, or drop the blue ice near it. The cube absorbs the block and becomes a Cold Sulfur Cube. You need a test build for now: Java 26.4 Snapshot 6 or Bedrock Preview 26.70.22 or later.
Is the Cold Sulfur Cube in Bedrock Edition?
Yes. Mojang added it to Bedrock Preview 26.70.22 on October 28, a day after Java Snapshot 6. In both editions a sulfur cube holding blue ice turns water source blocks into frosted ice as it moves.
Is a Cold Sulfur Cube better than Frost Walker?
It does a different job. Frost Walker boots freeze water under you as you walk, and they’re a rare treasure enchantment. A Cold Sulfur Cube freezes water under the cube as it slides, needs only blue ice, and can be carried in a bucket. Use boots for yourself and the cube for bridges, mobs and minigames.
Does the frosted ice from a Cold Sulfur Cube melt?
Yes. It places frosted ice, the same block Frost Walker makes, and frosted ice melts back into water over time. Treat the path as temporary.
Why isn’t my Cold Sulfur Cube freezing water?
In Java the cube only places frosted ice if it starts moving while on the ground, and the water needs air above it. A cube dropped or launched straight into water, or water under a block, won’t freeze.
Can a small sulfur cube hold blue ice?
No. Only large sulfur cubes can absorb blocks. Small ones grow up after about 20 minutes, and you can speed that up by feeding them slimeballs.
When does the Cold Sulfur Cube come out for everyone?
It ships with Minecraft’s frosty game drop, which Mojang calls the final game drop of 2026. Until then it’s only in Java snapshots and Bedrock Preview/beta, and details can still change.
Sources: Mojang Studios (minecraft.net Snapshot 6, Preview 26.70.22, game drop testing hub, Chaos Cubed), feedback.minecraft.net, Minecraft Wiki. Snapshot features can change before release. We’ll update this page when the drop ships.
