SNOWBALL CLIENTA free Minecraft launcher with its own client built in.
Press Right Shift in game for every HUD, PvP, performance and visual module. Change your skin, wear a cape, throw an emote. On Minecraft 1.8.9, 1.21.11 and 26.2.
In game
Real screenshots from Snowball Client 1.10.0 on Minecraft 26.2. Pick a tab.
Pick a category and its modules line up beside the wheel, each with a line saying what it does. Start typing to search all of them at once.
Pick Max FPS, Balanced or Quality and Boost sets your video options and the right optimisation mods. Turn it off and your own settings come back. Smart Culling is on from the start.
FPS, coordinates, compass, CPS, keystrokes, armour, potions, memory and more. The HUD editor lets you drag, resize and turn each one, with snapping, undo and presets.
Your own crosshair, armour, CPS, combos, the reach of your last hit and who you are aiming at. They only report what you already see and do: nothing changes your reach or aims for you.
Each module has its own keybind and settings: colours with a picker, sliders, choices, and a reset. Save the whole setup as a profile and switch between them.
Time Changer picks the time of day you see, and only you. The server, the mobs and everyone else keep the real time. Drag across the picture to compare.
Try it
A working copy of the in-game menu. Pick a category, switch modules on and off and watch the HUD change. Start typing to search, or press Right Shift.
Runs in your browser; nothing is installed. In Minecraft, Right Shift opens it.
Every module
All of it is client-side and visual or informational: no X-ray, ESP, reach, aim assist or auto clicking.
Client HUD, Presets, HUD Layout, Menu & Accessibility, Cosmetics, Skins, 3D Menus, Watermark, Custom Text, FPS Counter, Ping Counter, Coordinates, Direction HUD, Memory Usage, Pack Display
Boost with Max FPS, Balanced and Quality, Smart Culling, and under Advanced: Sodium, Lithium, FerriteCore, Entity Culling, ImmediatelyFast, Animation Optimization, Background FPS Limit, Particle Limiter, Performance Advisor
FOV Settings, Weather Effects, Potion HUD, No Hurt Shake, Low Fire, Block Outline, Time Changer, plus Boost, Zoom and the cameras
Custom Crosshair, Armor HUD, CPS Counter, Combo Counter, Reach Display, Target Info, Crystal Glow
Toggle Sprint, Speed
Fullbright, Zoom, Freelook, Snaplook, Hit Colour, Glass GUI, Crystal Glow, 3D Menus
Waypoints, Render Distance, Entity Distance
Chat Upgrades, Emotes, Spotify, Discord presence, Nick Hider, Notifications, Screenshot Utility, Time Display, Server Information, Session Timer
Keystrokes, Nether Travel, EZ Pots, Third-Person Camera, Coordinates
Container Preview, Container Search, Item Counter, Screenshots, Config Profiles, Mod Profiles, Resource Packs, Shader Packs
Type a position and see where the portal comes out on the other side: X and Z divided or multiplied by 8, Y unchanged. Enter copies it for /tp.
Hear a potion before it runs out. Every effect gets its own sound and warning times, so Strength and Speed never sound the same.
The burning overlay is squashed to the bottom of the screen instead of slid off it, so the flames keep their shape and never blink.
New in 1.11.0
When a mod breaks while you play, Snowball saves your world and shows what went wrong and which mod it most likely was, instead of the game closing. Press Rejoin to carry on. Running out of memory or a graphics driver crash still closes the game.
Your name is swapped above your head, in the Tab list, on the scoreboard and in chat. Only on your screen: nothing is sent to the server, and other players keep their names.
Also new since 1.9
Cosmetics
Eight to wear free; Snowball+ adds three more and a Cape Studio for your own, animated if you like.
Players on Snowball Client carry a snowball in Tab and above their head, but only while they are playing with it. Snowball+ and the Snowball team have badges of their own.
Snowball
Snowball+
Tester
Bug Hunter
Partner
Staff
Developer
OwnerVersions
Create a Fabric instance for one of these and the launcher sets up the loader, the API, Java and Snowball Client for you. Settings are stored the same way on each, so they follow you between versions.
The launcher itself runs any Java Edition version, with Fabric, Quilt, Forge or NeoForge. Snowball Client is added on the three above.
For PvP. The same menus, HUD and config files, on Legacy Fabric.
Emotes, capes, Crystal Glow and badges above other players need 1.21.11 or newer.
Everything Snowball has, on the version most servers run.
Everything Snowball has, on the newest Minecraft.
Launcher
Each instance has its own version, mods, worlds and settings, so your PvP setup never breaks your modpack. Pick one and press Play: Minecraft, Java, the loader and Snowball Client are handled for you.
New versions arrive in the background and install when you restart. You download an installer once.
Import mods, worlds, packs, keybinds and servers from Lunar Client, Feather, Modrinth, CurseForge, Prism, MultiMC and more.
Search Modrinth and install in one click, at the right version for the instance, with what it needs to run.
Known releases are recognised by fingerprint; every other jar is read on your computer and explained in plain words.
The same skin library as in game: add, star and equip skins before you even start Minecraft.
A failed launch explains itself, with a button that fixes it where it can and the full log one click away.
Download
Free, with nothing to buy inside it. You need a Microsoft account that owns Minecraft: Java Edition.
For Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit). Installs with a Start menu shortcut and updates itself from then on.
Snowball is new and not code-signed yet, so Windows does not know it. Choose More info, then Run anyway. You can check the file against the SHA-256 checksums below first.
It is not a virus warning. Browsers hold back files that few people have downloaded yet.
Snowball Client only adds visual, interface and quality-of-life features. It has no hacks such as X-ray, ESP, reach, aim assist or auto clickers. Some servers ban all client mods, so always follow each server's rules.
No. Snowball Client is free, with nothing to buy inside it. You still need to own Minecraft: Java Edition.
No. You sign in on Microsoft's own page. The launcher only receives a sign-in token from Microsoft, which is encrypted on your computer and never sent to us.
A skin from the skin changer is your real Minecraft skin, so everyone sees it: you at once, other players after you rejoin a server. Capes and emotes are Snowball's own, so only other Snowball players see them, on Minecraft 1.21.11 or newer. Turn off "See others' cosmetics" to see everyone's own capes instead.
The launcher runs any Java Edition version. Snowball Client itself is built for Minecraft 1.8.9, 1.21.11 and 26.2, and is set up automatically when you create a Fabric instance for one of them (1.8.9 uses Legacy Fabric).
No. The launcher updates itself when it starts: if a new version is out it is installed and Snowball restarts into it, waiting if a game is running, and your instances, mods and settings are untouched. Two exceptions: versions 1.6.2 and older had a fault that stopped them updating, and versions 1.7.0 to 1.8.1 refuse every update with "not signed by the application owner". On any of those, download the installer above and run it once; from then on Snowball updates itself. The portable build cannot replace itself, so it tells you when a new file is on the website.
Open Instances and choose Import from another launcher. Snowball looks for Lunar Client, Feather, the Modrinth App, CurseForge, Prism, MultiMC, ATLauncher, GDLauncher and your .minecraft folder (used by the Minecraft Launcher, Badlion and LabyMod), and copies what you pick: mods, settings, resource packs, shader packs, worlds, keybinds and servers. Nothing is moved or deleted, so your old launcher keeps working exactly as it did.
Yes. Each instance has its own mods folder, and the Mods page shows what is installed, warns about duplicates and version conflicts, and lets you turn mods on and off. For shaders, install Iris and Sodium from the mod browser and your shader packs work as usual; Snowball's own features are drawn on top.
The Mods page has a Check mods button. Mods downloaded from Modrinth are recognised by their fingerprint (a SHA-1 checksum - only that is sent, never the file) and set aside as known releases. Every other jar is read on your computer and reported in plain language: whether it can run programs, read your Discord or browser folders, reach your Minecraft session, or send data to a webhook.
No. Profiles use the optimisation mods your instance already has and skip the rest, so picking one never downloads anything. If you would rather Snowball fetched them for you, turn on "Install optimisation mods" in Settings.
The Mac build is a beta, on version 2.1.0 like Windows, and not signed with an Apple certificate yet, so the first time macOS says it cannot check it. Open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, and choose Open Anyway next to Snowball Client (or Control-click the app and choose Open). On GitHub's Mac machines it starts Minecraft 1.21.11 with Snowball Client on Apple Silicon and Intel, and 26.2 on Apple Silicon; 1.8.9 could not be checked there because those machines have no graphics card - tell us how it runs on yours.
No accounts, no tracking and no telemetry. Sign-in happens on Microsoft's own page, the token is encrypted on your computer, and logs stay on your disk with tokens redacted. Snowball's own server only hears about you for chat, your badge, capes and emotes - the privacy page lists exactly what.
A badge only shows while that player is playing with Snowball Client. Somebody who used it once and now plays on another client has no badge, and it goes a few minutes after they close the game. You can hide your own under Menu & Accessibility, "Show others I use Snowball".
The Home page shows a readable activity log while the game starts, with the full technical log one tab away, and Settings has a button that opens the launcher's log folder. Crashes open a window with the crash report path.