On this page
- Mojang announced a fourth dimension at Minecraft LIVE
- What we know about the Sift so far
- Where it comes from
- How it looks
- The blub, the first named mob
- Why it exists
- What the Sift means for your server
- Plugins that will need an update
- Custom dimensions are not the same thing
- Server software will follow the release
- Get your server ready before 2027
- Take and test backups of every world
- Get used to pregenerating with Chunky
- Ice Caves arrive before the Sift
- Where to follow the Sift from here
Key takeaways
6- Mojang announced the Sift on 26 September 2026 as Minecraft's fourth dimension, coming to Java and Bedrock in 2027.
- It is the first dimension added since the End in November 2011.
- The Sift debuted in Minecraft Dungeons II, released 29 September 2026, and the blub is its only officially named mob so far.
- There is no Sift snapshot yet, so there is nothing to install on a server today.
- List the plugins on your server that work per world, take tested backups, and learn Chunky pregeneration before 2027.
- The Ice Caves drop comes first, so plan your next update around it.
This post is for server owners who saw the Sift announcement and want the facts without the rumours. By the end you will know what Mojang has actually shown, when it is due, and the few things worth doing on your server before it arrives.
Mojang announced a fourth dimension at Minecraft LIVE
On 26 September 2026, during Minecraft LIVE, Mojang confirmed that the Sift, the dimension from Minecraft Dungeons II, is coming to Minecraft Java Edition and Bedrock Edition in 2027. It joins the Overworld, the Nether and the End, making it the fourth dimension in the base game.
After more than 14 years with the same three worlds, that is a genuinely big moment. The End arrived in November 2011 with Java Edition 1.0.0 (it first appeared in Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4), and nothing has joined it since. For years, developers said they would rather deepen the existing dimensions than add more, so the Sift is a real change of direction.
A small detail the Minecraft Wiki points out: Mojang called it the first new dimension in 14 years, but since the End landed in 2011 and the Sift is scheduled for 2027, the real gap will be closer to 15 years by the time it ships.
What we know about the Sift so far
Mojang has kept most of the details back. Here is what has been shown or confirmed, according to the Minecraft Wiki's coverage of the reveal.
Where it comes from
- It started in Minecraft Dungeons II. The spin-off launched on 29 September 2026 on Windows, Steam, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. In that game, heroes explore the Sift and fight creatures called Sifters.
- Dungeons II is the first look. If you want to see the dimension before 2027, that is currently the only place to do it.
How it looks
- A teal blue sky instead of the Nether's haze or the End's void.
- Terrain built from sculk-like blocks in greens and oranges, including grass-like ground cover in several shades and heights.
- White Willow trees with thick pale grey trunks, white leaves and hanging, weeping foliage.
Most of those block names come from the community and from descriptions, not from Mojang. Expect the real names to change once the content reaches a snapshot.
The blub, the first named mob
The only officially named Sift creature so far is the blub: a small, passive, rabbit-like mob that hops around and squeaks. Mojang's audio description of the reveal mentions its glowing body jiggling as it walks across orange grassland. It is listed as a planned mob and has not appeared in any development version yet.
Why it exists
Jens Bergensten (jeb_) has said that every dimension needs a functional reason to exist. Mojang has not yet explained what that reason is for the Sift, or how players will reach it in the base game. Treat any video claiming to know the portal recipe as a guess.
What the Sift means for your server
Nothing changes today. There is no new jar to install and no config key to set. What it does mean is that 2027 will bring a version that adds a whole extra world for your players to explore, and that touches more of a typical server than a normal biome drop does.
Plugins that will need an update
Any plugin that cares about which dimension a player is in is worth keeping an eye on when the update lands. On most servers that means:
- World management and teleport plugins (homes, warps, random teleport, world lists).
- Protection plugins that set rules per world or per region.
- World reset and border tools that loop over the Nether and the End by name.
- Stats, quests and events that track travel or kills by dimension.
Write that list for your own server now, so you know exactly which updates to wait for before you move to the 2027 version.
Custom dimensions are not the same thing
Java Edition already lets data packs add custom dimensions with their own biomes and world generation, and Bedrock supports custom dimensions through scripting. Some servers already run extra worlds that way. The Sift is different because it will be part of vanilla, with its own blocks and mobs that clients understand without a resource pack.
Server software will follow the release
If you run Paper, the high performance server built on Spigot, you will move to the Sift version once a Paper build for it is out, as with any other Minecraft release. Paper has not said anything about the Sift, since there is no Minecraft version containing it yet.
Get your server ready before 2027
A new dimension means new chunks to generate and more data on disk. Two habits will make the update painless, and both pay off today as well.
Take and test backups of every world
Before any version jump, you want a copy of every world folder you can actually restore.
- Stop the server with
stopin the console so every chunk is saved. - Archive the whole server folder, for example
tar -czf backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz /path/to/server. - Copy the archive off the machine and check that it opens.
- Open the Backups tab and click Create Backup.
- When it finishes, download it from the same tab to keep a copy outside the host.
- If your plan has no backup slots, stop the server and download the world folders through SFTP instead.
- Stop the server from the panel.
- Open the Files / FTP page and connect with an FTP client using the details shown there.
- Download every world folder to your own machine.
If you already protect spawn and shopping areas with regions, note which ones are world-specific, as in our guide to WorldGuard safe zones for spawn, shops and arenas. You will want to add the same rules to the new dimension on day one.
Get used to pregenerating with Chunky
When players rush into a fresh dimension, chunk generation is what causes lag. Chunky is a free tool on Modrinth that generates chunks ahead of time, and it runs on Paper, Spigot, Folia, Fabric and more. Learning it on your current worlds now means you can pregenerate the Sift quickly once it exists.
The commands are the same everywhere; only where you type them changes.
chunky world world_nether
chunky center 0 0
chunky radius 3000
chunky start
chunky progressUse chunky worldborder instead of center and radius if the world already has a border, and chunky pause / chunky continue to spread the work over quiet hours.
Type the commands into the server console (your screen or tmux session), without a leading slash.
Open the Console tab and enter the commands there. Upload the Chunky jar to the plugins folder with the File Manager first, then restart.
Open the console page in the panel and enter the commands. Upload the jar to plugins through the Files / FTP page, then restart.
Ice Caves arrive before the Sift
Minecraft LIVE also confirmed the Fourth Drop of 2026, headlined by Ice Caves. That will reach servers well before the Sift, so plan your next update around it.
- Ice Caves biome: underground caves of packed ice, snow and calcite under snowy biomes, with icicles and ice crystals.
- Frostbite: a hostile mob that throws ice balls.
- Freezing: a status effect, with a Potion of Freezing.
It is in experimental testing on Bedrock 26.60. Java snapshots had not appeared as of today, though the drop is planned for Java too.
Where to follow the Sift from here
The best source is the official Minecraft LIVE broadcast above, followed by Java snapshot changelogs once Sift content starts to appear in them. The Minecraft Wiki page for the Sift tracks every confirmed block and mob, and marks which names are official. When the first snapshot lands, we will cover what it means for Paper servers and plugins.
