Mojang confirmed at Minecraft Live on September 26, 2026 that The Sift, the game’s first new dimension in roughly 15 years, will arrive in both Bedrock and Java editions of Minecraft in 2027, following an early appearance in Minecraft Dungeons II on September 29.
Minecraft has run on three dimensions since the Nether landed in 2010 and the End followed in 2011. That changes next year. Mojang used Saturday’s Minecraft Live showcase to unveil The Sift, and confirmed through Xbox Wire that the new realm will become part of the core game in 2027, with a preview version debuting first inside the spin-off action RPG Minecraft Dungeons II on September 29.
A Pink Sky and a Walking Rabbit
The clip Mojang showed at the event was brief but distinctive: a bunny-like creature strolling, rather than hopping, through pink grass under a turquoise sky. PC Gamer described the footage as riotously pink,
and TechPowerUp reported the same walking-rabbit detail, noting Mojang has said little else about what the finished dimension will look like once it lands in Minecraft proper.
That silence is deliberate. Mojang has confirmed the version of The Sift inside Minecraft Dungeons II will differ from what eventually ships in the main game, and the studio isn’t yet saying how players will access it once it does.
What The Sift Looks Like Inside Minecraft Dungeons II
Players get their first real taste of the dimension inside Minecraft Dungeons II, out September 29 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Steam, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, and included with Game Pass, according to Xbox Wire. In the campaign, players notice the Overworld’s natural order starting to unravel — new enemy types appear, and souls begin drifting through the world — before they stumble into The Sift itself.
Xbox Wire’s own description called the dimension beautiful, vibrant, and teeming with souls. The realm runs on what the studio calls shifting tides
that can alter a player’s character and companions, alongside hazardous new blocks and both friendly and hostile mobs unique to the dimension.
Two biomes have been named so far. Singer’s Meadow is built around red sculk with flora growing out of it, per PC Gamer’s reading of the Xbox Wire material. Carapace is a desert biome marked by strange blue walls and giant hollow fossils. Mojang is keeping the rest of the dimension’s biomes under wraps for players to find once Minecraft Dungeons II launches.
Fifteen Years, or Fourteen? The Sources Don’t Quite Agree
There’s a small discrepancy worth flagging. Kotaku and TechPowerUp both frame The Sift as the first new dimension in 15 years, dating back to the End’s arrival in 2011. The Verge and Xbox’s own release instead put the gap at “over 14 years.” Either way, the underlying fact holds across every source: Minecraft has sat on exactly three dimensions — the Overworld, the Nether and the End — since 2011, and The Sift breaks that streak for the first time.
Ice Caves, Frozen Zombies and a New Way to Get Hurt in the Dark
The Sift wasn’t the only reveal. Mojang also announced ice caves, a rare underground biome that spawns beneath the Overworld’s colder surface areas. PC Gamer reported the caves are ore-heavy and centered on a new light mechanic: icicles hang from the ceiling and will detach and fall if a player places a torch beneath them, meaning light placement becomes a real hazard to manage underground.
The biome introduces glowing ice crystals that double as light sources and decorative blocks, a new resource called calcite, and a new enemy called the frozen zombie, which throws ice balls and can freeze a player through repeated melee hits. Players can craft freezing potions from the ice zombies’ drops, and seasoned players are already working out how to farm them — expose a regular zombie to powdered snow and it converts. Mojang hasn’t set a release date for ice caves, but Kotaku and PC Gamer both report the biome is headed to testing soon.
Building Tools, a Switch 2 Launch, and a Theme Park in the UK
Minecraft Live carried news beyond the two new biomes. Mojang’s Jens Bergenström outlined changes to the game’s creation tools meant to make player-made content easier to build and share, for hobbyists and professional creators alike, according to Kotaku. New sound-effect packs are also coming to the Marketplace, letting players re-skin how the base game or their own creations sound; Mojang gave no firm release date beyond later this year.
Separately, Microsoft confirmed Minecraft is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on October 27, with upgraded visuals closer to the Xbox and PS5 versions. Kotaku also noted plans for a Minecraft section at Chessington World of Adventures in the UK, alongside a Minecraft-themed hotel.
Why Mojang Is Testing The Sift Inside a Spin-Off First
Rolling out a new dimension through a paid spin-off before it hits the free base game is an unusual sequence for Mojang, and PC Gamer called it a canny marketing ploy for Minecraft Dungeons 2
— though the outlet also noted the original Dungeons game “seemed to do pretty well for itself” without needing the boost.
Whatever the marketing logic, the stakes for the core game are real. Both the Nether and the End reshaped how Minecraft is played once they arrived, introducing ores, mobs and mechanics that became central to how players progress. Mojang has confirmed The Sift is coming to Java and Bedrock in 2027, but has not detailed how players will reach it, what it will look like outside the Dungeons II version, or when in 2027 it lands. Those answers, Xbox Wire indicated, will likely surface at a future Minecraft Live.