Powder Snow is an upcoming item that will be introduced in the Minecraft Caves and Cliffs update. This special block has tons of potential for both Singleplayer and PVP uses.
Powder Snow is mainly used as a trap item in which entities move slowly. These entities eventually become frozen as they take damage over time.
Powder Snow can only be acquired in a few ways.
The easiest way to find Powder Snow in the upcoming Caves and Cliffs update is to find either a Mountain Grove or Snowy Slopes biome.
In these biomes, Powder Snow spawns commonly on and around the peaks of the mountains.
Powder Snow will also spawn in a Cauldron while it is snowing in a snowy biome. This snow can then be picked up with a Bucket, creating a Powder Snow Bucket.
Powder Snow completely prevents fall damage, providing a slow fall for any entity that falls in. When wearing leather boots, Powder Snow blocks act similar to Scaffolding, allowing players to rise when crouching and jumping
When fully inside the Powder Snow blocks, players will see a thick fog effect in addition to the frozen effect seen in the image above. After being inside these blocks for a few seconds, players will eventually start to take damage.
Once the player walks out of the block, they will move slower until the visual effect (seen above) fades away.
Skeletons that are encased in Powder Snow for too long will begin to violently shake and eventually transform into a Stray.
Iron Golems, Strays, and Polar Bears do not take any damage from Powder Snow.