Igloo Finder

What to know about Igloos

Small structure, a few useful things to know before you start digging around the floor.

• BiomeIgloos only generate in Snowy Plains, Snowy Taiga and Snowy Slopes. If you can't see snow underfoot, you're in the wrong biome to start looking.
• Basement oddsRoughly half of all Igloos generate with a hidden basement underneath. The other half are just the one-room surface shelter, which is still useful for a bed but doesn't reward digging around.
• Spotting a basementWalk to the centre of the Igloo floor and lift the carpet there. If you see a trapdoor underneath, you've hit a basement Igloo and it's worth the climb down. No trapdoor means it's a plain one and there's nothing more to find.
• DangerThe danger level is very low — there's a single zombie villager in the basement, but it's trapped behind iron bars and can't reach you. The basement walls do contain a few infested stone bricks, so mining around carelessly can release silverfish, but a sword handles them quickly.
• Good forIgloos make a safe first-night shelter and a guaranteed bed if you're caught out in the snow. The basement variants go further — they let you cure the zombie villager inside for a permanent and massive discount on every trade you do with them afterwards.

What's in the Basement

Basement Igloos are quietly one of the best early-game finds. Under the trapdoor you'll find a narrow ladder shaft down to a small brick-and-stone room containing:

How to Cure a Zombie Villager Without Getting Killed

The curing process is safe as long as you keep your distance and remember the order. Here's the tidy version.

1. Take the Splash Potion of Weakness from the brewing stand. The basement comes pre-stocked with one ready-made splash potion, which is enough to cure a single zombie villager. If you plan to cure more than one (which is the whole point of running multiple basement Igloos), brew spares ahead of time — Splash Potions of Weakness need a fermented spider eye, brown mushroom, sugar and brown mushroom plus gunpowder to convert to splash form. Don't forget to bring the cauldron water back too if you need it for other potions.
2. Open the chest and take the Golden Apple. Every basement Igloo chest contains a guaranteed Golden Apple — that single apple is what you need to feed the zombie villager. Take it out and put it on your hotbar before you throw the potion, because you don't want to be fumbling through menus mid-process.
3. Throw the Splash Potion of Weakness directly at the zombie villager. Aim for the zombie villager (the green-skinned one wearing villager robes) so the splash hits them — you'll see grey swirly particles when Weakness is applied. The Weakness effect must be active on the zombie villager at the moment you feed them the apple, otherwise the cure won't trigger and you'll have to throw another potion.
4. Feed the Golden Apple by right-clicking the zombie villager while it's under Weakness. The apple disappears from your hand and the zombie villager starts making loud hissing sounds, shaking and emitting red particles — that's the cure timer ticking down. They can't hurt you through the iron bars and they won't despawn during the cure, so you can leave the basement and come back if you want.
5. Wait three to five minutes for the cure to finish. The exact time varies but it always feels longer than you remember. Once they turn back into a normal villager, mine the iron bars between you (any pickaxe will do), drop a job-site block next to them — Lectern for librarian, Smoker for butcher, Cartography Table for cartographer — and trade. Cured villagers permanently offer steep trade discounts: a Mending book that would normally cost 30 emeralds can drop to one or two, and the discount stacks if you cure them multiple times.

Pair It With a Village Run

A cured villager from a basement igloo has a permanent discount no other villager offers. If there's a village within range, it's worth moving the cured villager there with a boat or a rail line — they'll happily trade there for the rest of the world's life. Combine with nearby stronghold or ruined portal pins for a tight starter-base route.