Ever felt like there aren’t enough dimensions in Minecraft? You’re not alone, I think so too.
When The End came out in 2011, I was a very active player and it was a new exciting thing everyone was talking about. But even a whole decade later, we still haven’t seen a new dimension added.
Well, some people think this is going to change soon.
Throughout the last year, after the 1.19 update came out, lots of people have been speculating about a new dimension coming out soon. I’ll outline all the details about the theory here, as well as give my thoughts on what this could mean for the game.
Minecraft’s New Dimension: The Theory
Last year Mojang dropped the 1.19 update, with the biggest theme for it being the new Deep Dark biome. It added the Warden, a mob I’m still too scared to fight. Lots of work went into this biome, as the update literally expanded the size of worlds downward so that the biome could fit into the game. The Warden is such a complicated and unique mob that if it had more health, I’m sure it could be considered a boss.
But why? Mojang does biome updates frequently, as seen with the Mangrove biome, the Mesa, etc. These aren’t really significant and just add one or two cool new things to the world, so why would they go all-out for just one new underground biome?
Lots of people seem to think that this is because the new biome is a precursor to a whole new dimension. And the craziest thing is, there is a decent amount of evidence to support it.
Portal Structure
To start off, many have pointed out that the central structure in the Ancient City, where the Warden lives, looks like a portal of some kind. To be honest, I understand why this might seem a bit of a stretch, but don’t give up on the theory just yet!
On its own, this isn’t really a lot of evidence. But before the 1.19 update came out, one of the small statues in the Ancient City which resembles this structure was suspiciously named the “small portal statue”. Later, this name was changed. But this seems too specific to be a mistake on Mojang’s part, so they could be hinting at something.
Strange Blocks
We’re not done with that structure though. If you look at what it’s made of, the inside frame of it is made of a block called reinforced deep slate blocks. These blocks have a curious little thing about them: they’re not obtainable, and it takes forever to mine them.
Does that remind you of something?
If you said End Portal blocks, you’d be right! Those blocks also have the same attribute, and it seems like a strange inclusion if they weren’t deliberately trying to set those blocks up for something in the future.
Music Disc 5
The update also added a new music disc called Music Disc 5. Curiously, this is the only disc in the game that can be crafted rather than found. It is made with Disc Fragments, found in chests that are in the Ancient City. Why would this disc in particular have this exception applied to it?
But it gets even stranger when you listen to the disc. While other discs are pretty little melodic tunes, this one is creepy, and hardly even sounds like music. It starts with static, and you hear random background noises like the Warden or stepping.
The key moment here is around the 12th second of the disc, where you can hear something metallic clicking.
What other dimension requires something metallic to click before you go in it? The Nether!
What is the Warden Guarding?
If you look at the word “warden”, it is closely synonymous with the word “guard”. But if the Warden is this bulky, scary mob guarding just a bit of loot in chests, I’d personally find that incredibly underwhelming.
It’s also much more difficult to kill it in comparison to any other non-boss mob in the game. As such, it would make sense that it’s guarding a new dimension, almost to prepare the player for what’s on the other side of the portal.
The Use of Sound
Every dimension-related update has a very specific theme that is very well-expanded on. In the Nether, the whole theme is fire and there are many mobs added to fully flesh it out. The End has endermen, stronghold structures, eyes of ender, etc.
The Ancient City seems heavily themed around sculk, and its properties relating to sound. Even the Warden itself relies so much on sound for the battle. And even in the new 1.20 snapshots, more functionality is being added to the sculk blocks by adding ways to make them trigger redstone. This combined with the uniqueness of the new music disc might indicate that sound could be the way to activate the portal to the new “Sculk Dimension”.
CONCLUSION
So, what if all of this is true and Mojang really is planning to add a fourth dimension to the game? Is that really what the game needs right now?
Honestly, if you ask me, absolutely.
I have been playing since 2011, and in some ways, Minecraft’s core gameplay loop has been really stale even since then.
Updates happen more or less once a year, but nothing that changes the game or adds more to it ever gets added. Most of the updates feel like small additions rather than big expansions.
As it stands, lots of people including myself prefer mods and bedrock expansions to the official updates. Adding a new dimension, potentially even one that could offer a different ending to the game, would change this up so much and would bring so many people to play the game again.
Even seasoned veterans like me would have a whole new world to explore and have fun in, rather than just a dozen new blocks to build in.
The use of sound in a whole dimension could make for a great new experience, where the player would have to additionally manage how stealthy they’re being so as to not attract danger.
Only time will tell whether a new dimension will be good, or whether one will be added at all. But if you want to take my word for it, I think it will be added, and I think it will be great.
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