How to Find an Igloo in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Igloos generate in snowy taigas, snowy plains and rarely snowy slopes. Half of them hide a basement under the carpet with a brewing stand, a golden apple and everything you need to cure a zombie villager.

What you need

Warm clothing optional - bring a weapon (silverfish)
Nothing else: the igloo provides the cure

Step by step

Head to the snow: igloos generate uncommonly in snowy taiga and snowy plains biomes, and rarely on snowy slopes.
Spot the snow mound: a small white dome with a doorway - inside you find a bed, a furnace, a crafting table and a redstone torch.
Check the carpets: half of all igloos hide an oak trapdoor under the third carpet from the doorway - no trapdoor means no basement.
Climb down the ladder: a long shaft of stone bricks leads to the hidden lab - watch out, some bricks are infested with silverfish.
Loot the lab: a brewing stand with a splash potion of Weakness, a cauldron of water, a cactus in a flower pot and a chest with a golden apple.
Meet the patients: behind iron bars you find a villager and a zombie villager in separate cages - the game hands you the full cure kit.
Cure the zombie villager: throw the splash potion of Weakness, feed the golden apple, wait - two villagers means you can start a village or a breeder right there.
Note the editions: windows are ice in Java and packed ice in Bedrock, and the basement villager is always an unemployed plains type in Java.

Java vs Bedrock

Generation and the basement layout are the same in Java and Bedrock. Differences are cosmetic: ice versus packed ice windows, and the Java villager being an unemployed plains type that cannot take a profession until you free it.

Versions: Added in 1.9 - the Combat Update (15w43a) - as the game's built-in tutorial for curing zombie villagers: the basement gives you the potion, the apple and the patient.

Frequently asked questions

Where do igloos spawn in Minecraft?

Uncommonly in snowy taigas and snowy plains, rarely in snowy slopes. They look like small snow domes with an open doorway.

What is under an igloo in Minecraft?

Half of all igloos hide a trapdoor under the third carpet, leading to a basement lab: a brewing stand with a splash potion of Weakness, a chest with a golden apple, and two cages holding a villager and a zombie villager - a complete zombie cure kit.

How do you cure the zombie villager in the igloo?

Throw the splash potion of Weakness at the zombie villager, then feed it the golden apple from the chest. After a few minutes it turns back into a villager - together with the caged one you have a breeding pair.