Minecraft Dungeons II released on 29 September 2026, and for players of the main game it is more than a spin-off. It is the first place anyone can actually walk around in the Sift, the dimension Mojang confirmed at Minecraft Live is coming to Java and Bedrock Edition in 2027: the first new dimension since the End in 2011.
This page is written for Minecraft players, not Dungeons reviewers. It covers what Dungeons II actually shows of the Sift, what Mojang has confirmed about the vanilla version, and where the line between those two sits, because a lot of what you will read this month blurs it.
The game itself, briefly
Minecraft Dungeons II is a co-op action RPG like the first Dungeons, not a sandbox game. The basics:
- Released: 29 September 2026.
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 and Steam.
- Price: about $30 for the standard edition.
- Game Pass: included from day one with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
- Reception: early reviews are positive. Destructoid gave it 9/10, and Kotaku called it an excellent step forward for the formula.
What changed from the first game, per Mojang's showcase and the reviews:
- An interconnected world. The hub, Brave Haven, is now a large explorable map where you pick up quests and side quests and find mission areas, instead of choosing levels from a menu.
- NPCs who give quests, like a more traditional action RPG.
- Jumping, which the first Dungeons did not have.
- Armor split into four pieces. The first game treated armor as one item. Dungeons II uses helmet, chestplate, leggings and boots, each dropping separately, the way the main game does.
- Three skill slots and three talisman slots for builds.
- Rifts, which are how you get into the Sift.
What Dungeons II shows of the Sift
This is what reviewers who have played it describe. Treat it as a preview of the vanilla dimension's look and feel, not a spec sheet.
You enter through rifts. Rifts open across the Overworld map. In Kotaku's description, you enter one, run through a short section of the Sift, fight what is there, and exit the other side to close it. That means Dungeons II shows the Sift in pieces, not as a whole world to explore. Kotaku's reviewer put it plainly: the real intricacies of the place are being saved for next year.
It looks nothing like the Nether or the End. Both of Minecraft's other dimensions are dark and hostile. The Sift is described as a blue and pink world with rainbow-colored streams and blue-tinted grass, which Destructoid called a somewhat fluorescent color scheme. Every review that mentions it calls it strange and pretty rather than grim.
It has its own creatures, friendly and hostile. Reviewers describe blocky, fairy-tale animals, large lolloping beasts and furry frog-like creatures. The one everyone mentions is a blue bunny that stacks on top of others into wobbling towers that sometimes topple over.
It has a new big threat: the Harmonizer. Kotaku describes it as a new eldritch being. Mojang has not said whether it, or any specific Sift creature, will appear in vanilla.
The story is about meddling with it. Destructoid's summary of the plot is that some ill-intentioned villagers get inside the Sift and start meddling with a power they do not understand. Whether those are villagers or the illagers that Dungeons has always used as villains, the setup fits the long-running villager and illager story the games keep returning to.
Dungeons II shows the Sift through rifts: short runs in, a fight, and out again. It is a trailer you can play, not the dimension itself.
What Mojang has confirmed for vanilla
Separately from the game, this is what Mojang has actually said about the Sift in Java and Bedrock:
- It is a full dimension, the fourth after the Overworld, the Nether and the End.
- It arrives in 2027, on both Java and Bedrock. No exact date.
- It is the same dimension as in Dungeons II, built for the spin-off first and then brought into the main game.
- Two biomes are named: Meadows and Carapace. Mojang said other areas exist and are being kept back for players to discover.
- It has its own mobs, companions and hostiles, and hazardous new blocks that change how you explore it.
- "Shifting tides" inside the Sift can affect you and the players around you.
- It is being built alongside the regular drops, not instead of them. The Ice Caves drop is still next, and 26.4 snapshots are already rolling (Snapshot 2 is the latest).
What is not confirmed
This is the list to keep in mind every time you see a video titled "how to get to the Sift":
- How you reach it in vanilla. Dungeons II uses rifts. Mojang has not said whether vanilla uses rifts, a portal, a structure or something else.
- Which Dungeons II creatures come over. The bunnies, the beasts and the Harmonizer are Dungeons II content. None of them is confirmed for vanilla by name.
- Blocks, items and loot. "Hazardous new blocks" is all Mojang has said. Nothing about resources, ores or what the Sift is for in progression.
- How "shifting tides" works. It is named, not explained.
- A release window inside 2027.
There is no way to visit the Sift in Java or Bedrock right now. Any "Sift portal" tutorial, seed or command you find today is a mod, a resource pack, a fan concept or made up. When the dimension starts appearing in snapshots, it will be in the official changelogs first, and we will cover it then.
Why this matters for the main game
A new dimension is not just new scenery. Each one so far has reshaped how the game is played:
- The Nether turned into the fast-travel network (one block in the Nether is eight in the Overworld, as our portal calculator shows), and the home of gold farms, blaze rods and netherite.
- The End turned into the endgame: the dragon, elytra, shulker boxes, and the farms built around them.
The Sift's role is the big open question, and the early signs point somewhere different. A bright, strange dimension with friendly creatures and "shifting tides" sounds less like a third hostile endgame zone and more like a place to explore, with its own rules. That is a guess, labelled as one. What is not a guess is that it will need new farm designs, new travel tricks and new world generation knowledge, and that is exactly what we will be writing about once it is testable.
Should Minecraft players buy Dungeons II for the Sift?
Pros
- It is the only way to see the Sift before 2027
- On Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass it costs nothing extra to try
- Reviews are strong on its own terms, as a co-op action RPG
Cons
- It is a different genre: no building, no mining, no redstone
- The Sift appears in short rift sections, not as a world to explore
- Nothing in it is guaranteed to match the vanilla version
If you have Game Pass, try it: a few rifts will tell you more about the Sift's look than any screenshot. If you would be buying it only for a preview of 2027 vanilla content, wait for the snapshots instead.
Frequently asked questions
When did Minecraft Dungeons II come out?
On 29 September 2026, on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 and Steam.
Is Minecraft Dungeons II on Game Pass?
Yes. It was included with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass from launch day.
What is the Sift in Minecraft?
The fourth dimension, after the Overworld, the Nether and the End. It appears first in Minecraft Dungeons II and comes to Java and Bedrock Edition in 2027.
How do you get to the Sift?
In Dungeons II, through rifts that open across the world map. In Java and Bedrock, the method has not been announced, and the dimension is not in the game yet.
Will the Sift's mobs be in regular Minecraft?
Mojang has confirmed the vanilla Sift will have its own mobs, both companions and hostiles, but has not said which ones. Creatures seen in Dungeons II, like the stacking blue bunnies or the Harmonizer, are not confirmed for vanilla by name.
When is the Sift coming to Minecraft Java?
In 2027. No exact date or version has been announced.
What happens next
For the rest of 2026, the main game's news is the Ice Caves drop through the 26.4 snapshots. The Sift will show up in vanilla changelogs when Mojang is ready, likely through its own experimental features or snapshots, the way past drops have. When it does, we will cover how to get there, what lives there and how to farm it. Until then, the full set of Minecraft Live announcements is in our recap, and the history of the dimensions it joins is in the complete Minecraft lore timeline.
