Minecraft’s Nether is Getting More Crowded By the Day

For over 15 years, Mojang has continuously expanded the many biomes and dimensions of Minecraft. From the addition of entirely new biomes such as the Jungle and Savanna to the introduction of two otherworldly dimensions in the form of the Nether and The End, Minecraft’s many annual updates have helped ensure that the game remains fresh nearly two decades after its 2009 debut. However, not every dimension has received updates equally, with the Overworld and the Nether especially receiving several additions in the 2020s compared to The End. With the Nether being recently featured in A Minecraft Movie and debuting the rideable Happy Ghast, Mojang should strive to expand The End or create an entirely new dimension.

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The Many Updates of the Nether Explained

Inspired by many popular depictions of Hell and the Underworld, the Nether dimension was first added to Minecraft in 2010. Players can only access the Nether via the creation of an obsidian Nether Portal, which was based on portals found in the book series The Wheel of Time. The first incarnation of the Nether was relatively bare bones compared to the diverse hellish landscape it is today, with the original Nether only featuring a few Zombie Pigmen and flying Ghasts as its inhabitants and netherrack, bedrock, gravel, glowstone, soul sand, and lava as its components. Despite this small beginning, the Nether proved to be very popular with players and Mojang continued to update the dimension throughout the 2010s.

In late 2011, the Nether received one of its most significant updates in its history with the addition of the Nether fortresses made up of Nether bricks. Here, players can explore the maze-like fortresses to find gardens of Nether wart and mob spawners of the flying, fire-shooting Blazes. Meanwhile, players can encounter the new Slime-like Magma Cube mobs throughout the Nether and utilize Blaze Rods to make potion stands and Eyes of Ender to find and access The End dimension. 2012 later saw the addition of Wither Skeletons and the ability to craft the Wither boss by using three Wither skulls and soul sand. 2013 saw the Nether finally receive its first ore in the form of quartz to build decorative blocks.

Minecraft’s Expansive Nether Updates in the 2020s

With the dawn of the new decade, Mojang strove to make the Nether more enticing for players and successfully did so with the debut of the Nether Update in mid 2020, the largest update the dimension has ever received. Here, four new biomes were added to the Nether, including the Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Soul Sand Valley, and Basalt Deltas, while four new mobs were added to reside in these new environments, such as Piglins, Hoglins, Zoglins, and Striders. On top of these new biomes and mobs, large castle-like bastion remnants could be encountered, filled with treasure and hordes of volatile Piglins. Players were further able to mine gold ore and ancient debris in the Nether, allowing players to craft the strongest armor and weapons in the game.

The Potential of an End and New Dimension Update in Minecraft

While the addition of the Happy Ghast as a new rideable flying mob is a welcome addition to Minecraft, Mojang should begin to focus more on updating The End or creating an entirely new dimension. Of the three dimensions accessible in Minecraft, The End is the most empty in terms of blocks, mobs, and overall activities. Once the Ender Dragon is defeated, players could explore End islands to find End Cities and Ships filled with Shulker mobs and rare loot such as the eleytra wings. Players could also cut down Chorus plants and Chorus fruits, but beyond these activities, there isn’t much to do in The End.

Mojang could work on an End update similar to the massive 2020 Nether Update, featuring several new biomes, mobs, blocks, and activities to find in the vast dark dimension. One new biome Mojang could introduce is a Chorus Forest biome filled with Chorus plants of various sizes, dark purple Chorus moss, and possibly an Ender Monkey mob to reside in the forest. This mob could teleport short distances after eating Chorus fruit but be more volatile than Endermen, making the forest a dangerous environment to travel within. Similarly, Mojang could introduce a floating mountain-like biome to The End filled with a new flowing liquid similar to water and lava and an ore that can build a new type of rare weapon.

A New Minecraft Dimension Based on the Deep Dark

Alternatively, Mojang could introduce an entirely new dimension in Minecraft to go alongside the Nether and The End. Following the introduction of the Deep Dark and the Warden, many players have proposed that these elements may be teasing the arrival of a new Deep Dark dimension in Minecraft’s future. Several fans have pointed to a massive portal-like structure in the center of ancient cities as a potential new portal to this hypothetical future dimension. If Mojang were to make a Deep Dark dimension filled with moss-like sculk blocks and several other new mobs, blocks, and activities, this could give players more challenges to complete in a completely unknown world, similar to when the Nether and The End were first introduced.

Currently, 12 different kinds of mobs can spawn in the Nether, while only three can spawn in The End in Minecraft.