The Minecraft Sift is the game’s fourth dimension. It joins the Overworld, the Nether and the End. It is also the first new dimension since the End arrived with Minecraft 1.0 in 2011. Mojang confirmed at Minecraft Live on September 26, 2026 that the Sift is coming to Java and Bedrock Edition. So how do you get to the Sift in Minecraft today? That depends on which game you are playing.
Where you can enter the Sift right now
| Game | Can you enter the Sift? | How |
|---|---|---|
| Minecraft Dungeons II | Yes | Rifts and a Deep Dark portal during the story |
| Minecraft Java Edition | Not yet | Coming in 2027 |
| Minecraft Bedrock Edition | Not yet | Coming in 2027 |
| Modded Java | Yes, unofficially | Fan mods add their own portals |
Only one official way into the Sift exists at the moment, and it runs through Minecraft Dungeons II.
How to get to the Sift in Minecraft Dungeons II
Minecraft Dungeons II came out on September 29, 2026 for Windows, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. It is also on Xbox Cloud Gaming. If you still need the full launch details, our Minecraft Dungeons 2 platforms and release date guide lists everything by platform.
According to the official Minecraft Live recap, rifts appear across the game’s connected world. When you walk into one, it sends you to the Sift. These rifts open as you move forward in the main story, so you have to keep playing the campaign to reach them.
The Minecraft Wiki page on the Sift lists two ways in:
- The Deep Dark portal. This portal is powered by a structure called the Note Block Machine.
- Rifts from the Grand Illusioner. The Grand Illusioner’s staff can tear open rifts that lead into the Sift.
The game has only been out for a day, and nobody has published a full quest-by-quest route to the portal yet. The simple version: follow the main story, head toward the Deep Dark areas, and step into any rift you find.
What you will find inside the Sift
The Sift is built from red and orange stone, bright green plants, ichor and sculk. The Minecraft Wiki also names it as the place where corrupted sculk came from. Healthy sculk still grows there.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Locations | Lullaby Hills, Singer’s Meadow, The Carapace, Echo Den |
| Bosses | The Monarch, Sculk Monstrosity, Harmonizer |
| Special mechanic | Three “Sift tides” that change soul gathering and movement |
| Creatures | Blubs, Seedlings, Sculk Mages and others |
The Carapace is a desert-style area full of huge bone structures that look a lot like Nether fossils. If you want to know how the new dimension compares to the older ones, read our breakdown of the Sift vs the Nether vs the End.
Can you get to the Sift in Minecraft Java or Bedrock?
No, not yet. The Sift is not in vanilla Minecraft on any platform today. Xbox Wire confirmed that the dimension is coming to Java and Bedrock Edition in 2027. Mojang has not given an exact date, and there is no snapshot, preview build or portal recipe so far.
Lead designer Jens “Jeb” Bergensten said the team wanted the Sift to fit alongside the existing dimensions while still looking and playing differently. We collected every other detail from the showcase in our full Minecraft Live Sift announcement coverage.
What about the Sift portal videos on YouTube?
Plenty of videos claim to show how to enter the Sift in regular Minecraft. Those videos use community mods, not the official game. Community guides list two popular mods:
| Mod | Entry method (as reported by community guides) |
|---|---|
| Mielon’s The Sift | Blow a Goat Horn at the center of an Ancient City, place Note Blocks on the blocks it wakes up, then play them in the order 1, 3, 7, 6, 5, 2, 4, 8 |
| Wellspring | Defeat a Warden to get its key, clear the vines from the central portal, then use the key on Reinforced Deepslate |
These steps only work with the mod installed, and they can change between mod versions. None of this will carry over to the official Sift in 2027. Mojang may use a completely different method.
On the official Minecraft Feedback site, players are already suggesting ways to unlock the portal. Some want a boss fight in the Ancient City. Others want something simple, closer to building a Nether portal. Mojang has not said which way it will go.
Quick answer
To get to the Sift in Minecraft today, play Minecraft Dungeons II and follow the story until rifts and the Deep Dark portal open. Java and Bedrock players have to wait for the 2027 update. Any Sift portal you see in vanilla Minecraft right now comes from a mod.
