Minecraft Is Getting the Sift, Its First New Dimension in 14 Years

We said yesterday that a fall Minecraft Live rarely goes out without a surprise. Mojang delivered a big one. The Sift, the strange new world at the heart of Minecraft Dungeons II, is not staying in the spin-off. It is coming to Minecraft Java and Bedrock Edition in 2027 as the game's fourth dimension, the first new one since the End arrived more than 14 years ago. The official recap on minecraft.net puts it plainly: the Sift joins the Overworld, the Nether and the End.

The first place you can actually walk around in it is Minecraft Dungeons II, which launches on Tuesday, September 29 on Xbox Series X|S, PC, Steam, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and is included with Game Pass with Xbox Play Anywhere support. Mojang also gave us a first look at the next game drop, a frozen underground biome called ice caves.

Video: Minecraft on YouTube

What the Sift actually is

Mojang describes the Sift as beautiful, vibrant and teeming with souls. In Dungeons II it is where the story turns: strange events upend the natural order of the Overworld, new enemy types appear, souls start flying through the world, and rifts open across the map. Step into one and it carries you to the Sift. The dimension has its own biomes, and Mojang named two of them, the Meadows and the Carapace, while keeping the rest secret. It also has its own mobs, some companions and some threats, hazardous new blocks that change how you explore, and what Xbox Wire calls shifting tides that can affect your character and everyone around you.

The important part for survival players is what Mojang did and did not say about the main game. During the broadcast we got a brief, in-development glimpse of the Sift running in Minecraft itself, plus one of the mobs that lives there. What we did not get is a date beyond 2027, an explanation of how you reach it, or any word on whether Java and Bedrock get it on the same day. Mojang's own guidance is to play Dungeons II for a taste of the mobs, blocks and biomes, and to watch future Minecraft Live shows for the rest. If you want the background on the sequel, our Minecraft Live preview covers the pre-order bonuses and the Hero Cape you unlock by playing both Dungeons games on one Microsoft account.

Ice caves and a zombie that throws ice balls

The next game drop goes underground. Ice caves are a new cave biome in the same family as dripstone, lush and sulfur caves, and they are freezing: ice and calcite blocks throughout, icicles that grow naturally from the ceiling, and ice crystals that grow on the ground and emit a soft light. Game director Agnes Larsson opened the show by restating that adventure is the main focus of Minecraft's long-term vision, and this drop follows that thread with a new hostile mob, a frozen zombie variant with no official name yet. When it hits you it deals damage and applies a freezing effect, and some of them throw ice balls, which Mojang says really hurt and are really, really cold. There is no release window for the drop, so we will not guess at one.

Video: Minecraft on YouTube

Everything else, and our take

The rest of the show was a grab bag. Minecraft World opens at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in London in 2027, with the first Minecraft World Hotel and a rollercoaster called Escape the Nether. Mojang talked up a creator platform meant to lower the barrier to making Minecraft content, teased sound effects packs for the Marketplace, and reminded everyone that the native Switch 2 version lands October 27.

Our honest read: the Sift is the biggest structural addition to Minecraft in over a decade, and it is telling that Mojang is launching it through Dungeons II first. That gives the studio a full year of players in the dimension before it has to work inside survival rules. The ice caves look lovely but are a familiar kind of update, and neither the drop nor the Sift has a date you can plan around. If you want to see the new dimension this month, Dungeons II on September 29 is the only way in.