Minecraft is expanding into a completely new dimension for the first time in more than 14 years.
Mojang revealed the Sift during its September Minecraft Live presentation. The new realm will eventually join the Overworld, Nether, and End as the fourth dimension available in the main game.
Players can explore the Sift in Minecraft Dungeons II, which launched Sept. 29.
The Sift is scheduled to arrive in both Minecraft: Java Edition and Bedrock Edition in 2027. Mojang has not announced an exact release date.
In Dungeons II, players encounter rifts while exploring the game’s interconnected world. Entering one sends the group into the Sift, a colorful dimension filled with souls, unfamiliar environments, and new creatures.
Mojang has shown areas including the Meadow and Carapace. The dimension also plays an important part in the story, with the Illager High Council attempting to use its power against the Overworld.
The first gameplay footage of the Sift showed bright landscapes, unusual mobs, and environments that look very different from the three dimensions players already know.
The version coming to traditional Minecraft will give players another place to explore alongside the Overworld, Nether, and End. Mojang showed a brief look at the Sift running in the main game during Minecraft Live, including one of the creatures that lives there.
A new dimension can change how players approach exploration. Biomes expand existing areas, while a separate realm can introduce its own environments, rules, resources, and reasons to travel there. The Nether and End each developed their own roles within Minecraft, and the Sift gives Mojang another space to build around without changing the Overworld itself.
Many details are still being kept quiet. Mojang has not explained how players will enter the Sift in Java and Bedrock, what resources can be collected there, whether players will be able to build portals themselves, or how closely the dimension will resemble the version found in Minecraft Dungeons II.
That leaves plenty of room for the Sift to change before its 2027 release in the main game. Features created for the action-RPG gameplay of Dungeons II may not work the same way in the sandbox version.
The announcement is significant because new biomes are common in Minecraft, while entirely new dimensions are rare. The End was the last new dimension added to the main game more than a decade ago.
The arrival of the Sift could also give longtime players something they have not had in years: a completely new place to learn from the beginning. New terrain, creatures, and mechanics could change how players prepare for exploration and give builders another environment to work with once Mojang reveals more about the dimension.
Mojang continues to expand the game through smaller updates and game drops, including the recently released Wilderness Bound content. Adding an entirely new dimension gives the developers a much larger area to introduce new environments, mobs, blocks, resources, and mechanics.
Players can explore the Sift now in Minecraft Dungeons II. The next step is its 2027 arrival in Minecraft: Java Edition and Bedrock Edition.
Mojang has more information from the announcement in its Minecraft Live recap.
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