What Showed at Minecraft Live: The Sift Dimension, Ice Caves, and Minecraft Dungeons II

On September 26, Mojang held its fall Minecraft Live broadcast. The main announcement was The Sift, a new dimension and the first in over 14 years. The studio also showed off ice caves from the next update, talked about Minecraft Dungeons II, which launches this week, and shared news about the Minecraft World theme park.

The Sift Dimension

The biggest news was that Minecraft is getting a fourth dimension. The Sift will join the Overworld, the Nether, and the End, making it the first new dimension added to the game in over 14 years. Mojang described it like this:

The Sift is beautiful, vibrant, and teeming with souls.

The dimension looks noticeably different from anything already in the game: it has pinkish blocks and blue-green vegetation, and its areas include the Meadow and the Carapace. During the broadcast, Mojang also showed one of the mobs that call the dimension home.

However, The Sift won't come to the main game right away. The dimension will first appear in Minecraft Dungeons II, and it will be added to Minecraft Java and Bedrock Edition only in 2027. There's no exact date yet.

Minecraft Dungeons II Launches September 29

The sequel to Minecraft Dungeons launches on September 29, 2026, and it's where players will get their first look at The Sift. During the show, the developers explained that even after the Arch-Illager's defeat, the game's world is still in danger: the ecosystem is out of balance, and angry illagers are everywhere, having even formed their own Illager High Council.

The biggest change in the sequel concerns the world's structure. Instead of separate level-based missions like in the first game, there will now be a single interconnected world. Jumping has finally been added too. It will come in handy, since rifts are scattered across the world and transport players to The Sift.

Ice Caves and Frozen Zombies

Mojang also gave the first look at the next Minecraft game drop. It will add ice caves, a new cave biome alongside the dripstone, lush, and sulfur caves. They'll be full of ice and calcite, along with two new blocks: icicles, which grow on the ceiling, and ice crystals, which grow on the ground and emit a soft light.

A new zombie variant will arrive alongside the caves. It doesn't have an official name yet, but it's more dangerous than a regular zombie: its hits don't just deal damage but also apply a freezing effect, and some of these zombies even throw ice balls. The update's release date hasn't been announced yet.

Minecraft World in London

Mojang and Merlin Entertainments shared details about the Minecraft World theme park, which opens in 2027 at the Chessington World of Adventures Resort in London. It will feature the world's first Minecraft hotel with themed rooms and a deep-sea diner, as well as the first-ever Minecraft rollercoaster, called Escape the Nether. The ride will run both indoors and outdoors.

Minecraft Is Coming to Nintendo Switch 2

Mojang reminded players that Minecraft will get a dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 version on October 27, 2026. The release date was announced back in early August, but at Minecraft Live the studio confirmed once again that the launch is just over a month away.

Until now, Switch 2 owners could only play the original Switch version through backward compatibility, and it barely took advantage of the new console's power. The native version will be a noticeable step up: it will have the Vibrant Visuals graphics mode enabled by default, with improved lighting, shadows, reflections, fog, and atmospheric effects. Until now, this look was mostly familiar to players on Xbox, PlayStation 5, and PC. There are some limitations, though: Vibrant Visuals won't work in split-screen mode or in some Minecraft Marketplace worlds and content.

Players who already bought Minecraft on the original Switch won't have to start from scratch. Mojang confirmed that all worlds, progress, and builds can be transferred to the new version. A digital upgrade will be available for owners of the original version, but its price hasn't been announced yet, so it's unclear whether it will be free. The developers also haven't revealed the resolution, frame rate, or support for Joy-Con 2 mouse controls.

Creator Platform

Separately, Mojang's Chief Creative Officer Jens Bergenström spoke during the show about the studio's plans for a creator platform. According to him, Mojang's goal is to inspire and enable new generations of Minecraft creators by removing the obstacles that get in the way of making content. To do this, the studio will improve its tools and systems so that players can more easily create, manage, and share their own worlds, maps, and other content.

Our vision is to lower the barrier for more players to become Minecraft creators. That's what we mean when we talk about the creator platform. It's all about having more Minecraft in the world, thanks to the people making more Minecraft

The studio hasn't named any specific tools or launch dates yet, so more details will likely come later. Still, some outlets have already pointed out that this direction could bring Minecraft closer to Roblox, where player-created content is the foundation of the entire platform.

Sound Effects Packs in Minecraft Marketplace

Another announcement was sound effects packs coming to Minecraft Marketplace. They will let players change how almost everything sounds in the base game, as well as in their own worlds and creations. This means footsteps and the sounds of mobs, blocks, and other elements of the game can be swapped out for different ones, giving the world a whole new character.