Minecraft's First Dimension In 14 Years Might Have Started In 2021

Minecraft's New Sift Dimension Might Have Been In The Works Since 2021 Published Sep 27, 2026, 1:20 PM EDT George is the Lead News Editor for TheGamer, and has been working in the industry since 2021 after graduating from the University of South Wales with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. He has also previously written for RPG Site, WhatCulture, and PlayStation Lifestyle. George is an expert on platformers, action games, and fighters, but tends to play as many releases as possible. This hands-on experience lets him dive into gaming communities and follow the latest trends. Some of the games George has extensively covered first-hand include Dead Rising, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Ninja Gaiden 4. A reliable Minecraft insider has claimed that the Sift dimension has been in the works since 2021, which actually makes sense when you look at the timeline. Yesterday’s Minecraft Live had a lot of interesting announcements for fans, but by far the biggest of the bunch was the reveal of The Sift, the game’s first new dimension in nearly a decade and a half. We only got to see a brief glimpse of the new world in the reveal trailer, but it’ll debut in Minecraft Dungeons 2 before being introduced to Minecraft proper. With the new dimension appearing in Dungeons 2 first, it’d be fair to assume that work on bringing The Sift over to Minecraft has only just started recently. That apparently isn’t the case, though, as a reliable insider has claimed that the new dimension has been quietly being crafted for a good few years now. No, Asha Sharma Isn't The Reason Minecraft Is Getting A New Dimension Mojang Has Reportedly Been Developing It Since 2021 Before The Sift was even announced at Minecraft Live, reliable insider ItsMwamOffi, who notably shared the first details on Project Spicewood, actually teased its reveal. Their cryptic tweet said, “What will be the fourth to come in Minecraft in 14 years and starts with an S?”, which of course ended up being correct when The Sift was revealed. After this was confirmed, ItsMwamOffi tweeted again saying, “Well Well Well Sifty Sifty Sifty”. This led one user to ask them how long The Sift has been in development for and how big it is. The insider then casually replied, “since 2021”, suggesting that Mojang has been working on the new dimension for five years, and not just because of new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, like some have suggested. If that sounds like a very long time for one dimension, well, welcome to Minecraft, buddy. ItsMwamOffi did go on to say that Mojang has been “working on lots of stuff in between this” and that it wouldn’t have been the main priority, which does go some way to explaining it. Even with that in mind, the timeline actually makes a lot of sense. In 2020, a developer for the popular Aether mod was brought on to Mojang, with the Ancient Cities being revealed a year later in 2021. The Ancient Cities had a portal-like structure in the centre, which fans thought could lead to a new dimension. This was later confirmed when Ancient Cities joined Minecraft in 2022, and the structure was confirmed in the game’s files to be a portal. Then, Minecraft Dungeons 2 reportedly started development in 2023, which would include working on The Sift’s introduction in that game. And now, three years later, the new dimension has finally been confirmed to be coming to Minecraft, just a few days before we can all get a taste of it in Dungeons 2. So, it really does seem accurate to say it started in 2021.