Minecraft Is Getting a New Dimension Called The Sift in 2027

Minecraft is getting its first new dimension in more than 15 years. Mojang Studios announced The Sift during the Minecraft Live event, and the dimension will reach the Java and Bedrock editions in 2027.

The previous addition was The End, which arrived with the 1.0 release in late 2011. Since then the game's lineup of dimensions has not changed, which makes The Sift the largest planned change to Minecraft's geography in over a decade.

What Mojang has shown so far

Mojang Studios has kept details sparse. The studio said some of The Sift's new areas will be called the Meadows and the Carapace, but it has not explained what players will find in them.

A post on X by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma showed a teaser video of the dimension and a new mob found inside it. According to Xbox, The Sift will introduce mobs that can act as companions or as threats, and there will be "new rules to learn" when it comes to gameplay changes. The studio has not said what those rules are.

Dungeons 2 first, then the base game

Players who want an early look will find The Sift in Minecraft Dungeons 2, the sequel to the studio's dungeon-crawler spinoff, which launches on September 29. Java and Bedrock players will have to wait until 2027.

The same post listed the rest of the event's announcements: new ways for creators to build, and Minecraft's arrival on Nintendo's Switch 2 on October 27. It also gave scale figures for the franchise: more than 300,000 people play Minecraft for the first time on an average day, after 17-plus years and more than 425 million copies sold.

Why the wait matters

New dimensions are the rarest kind of update Minecraft receives, and they change more than scenery. The Sift arrives with its own areas, mobs and rules, so survival players and the game's large creator and modding community will be watching how it fits into existing worlds and progression.

Dungeons 2 owners can step into The Sift from September 29, but the base game's release window leaves most players waiting until 2027.