Help & Documentation

Everything Buildopia's tools and panels do, in one place.

Top bar

Undo (Ctrl/Cmd+Z)	Steps the build back one action (place, paint, erase, resize, etc.).
Redo (Ctrl/Cmd+Y or Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Z)	Re-applies an action that was just undone.
Reset	Resets the camera to its default framing/angle of the whole grid.
Top	Snaps the camera to a top-down (bird's-eye) view.
Side	Snaps the camera to a side-on view.
Front	Snaps the camera to a front-on view.
2nd View	Opens/closes a movable, resizable second camera viewport that shows the build from an independent angle at the same time as the main view — see "Second viewport" below.
PNG	Captures the current 3D viewport exactly as seen and downloads it as a PNG image.
Clear	Opens a confirmation dialog and, if confirmed, wipes every block from the grid.
Hide/show tools	Hides overlay tools from the viewport — hint text, camera/pan/draw mode toggle, wireframe/flat/hide-material toggles, block counter, layer overlay, zoom overlay, and the second viewport — for a clearer view of the build. The top bar and axis gizmo stay visible. Tap again to bring everything back.
Help	Opens the in-app help panel (a shortcut to this page's contents).
Discord	Opens a confirmation dialog inviting you to join the Buildopia Discord community.

Sidebar toggle

A small tab with three lines, attached to the edge of the sidebar (left edge on desktop, top edge on mobile). Click/tap it to hide the sidebar completely — giving the viewport the full window — or to bring it back.

Drag the tab instead of clicking it to manually resize the sidebar — wider/narrower on desktop, taller/shorter on mobile. A quick click/tap still just shows or hides it; the size you drag to is kept until you resize it again.

Camera / pan / draw mode toggle (bottom-left)

Rotate icon	"Camera mode" (default) — dragging on the viewport rotates the camera around the build instead of placing blocks.
Move icon	"Pan mode" — dragging moves the camera sideways/up/down instead of rotating it, without placing blocks. Equivalent to the two-finger/right-drag pan available in Camera mode, but usable with a single finger or click-drag.
Pencil icon (D)	"Draw mode" — dragging paints/places blocks across one layer in a single stroke. Camera movement is limited to two-finger pan/zoom while active. Pressing D again while Draw mode is active switches back to Camera mode.

Only one of the three modes can be active at a time.

Wireframe & material preview toggles

Wireframe icon (W)	Overlays a black outline along the edges of every placed block, on top of whatever materials are showing.
Flat-grey icon	Temporarily shows every block with a plain flat grey material, so you can inspect the build's shapes/volumes without material colours or textures getting in the way.
Hidden-eye icon	Hides all materials so only block wireframes are visible — useful for checking a build's underlying structure. Turning it off restores every block's original material.

These three toggle independently and can be combined — e.g. flat-grey plus wireframe. None of them change the underlying build; they're purely visual previews.

Axis gizmo

A small marker (bottom-left, above the mode toggle) that mirrors the camera's rotation, showing which way X, Y, and Z currently point.

Second viewport (opened via 2nd View in the top bar)

A floating panel with its own independent camera, showing the build from a different angle at the same time as the main view. It has no drag/orbit control of its own — the buttons below are the only way to change what it shows.

Default / Top / Side / Front	Snaps the secondary camera to that preset angle.
Camera-toggle icon (header)	Shows/hides the Default/Top/Side/Front button row to free up space in the panel.
✕	Closes the second viewport.
Header	Drag to move the panel anywhere within the main viewport.
Corner handle	Drag to resize the panel.

Layer overlay (top-right)

▼ Layer down	Moves the active build layer down one level (Manual mode only).
Layer number	Shows the currently active layer index. In Manual mode it's an editable text box — type a layer number directly instead of stepping to it. It's locked (read-only) in Auto mode, since the layer is calculated automatically.
▲ Layer up	Moves the active build layer up one level (Manual mode only).
Auto	Default — the build layer automatically tracks the top of whatever's already placed in that column.
Manual	Pins building to a specific Y layer you choose with the up/down arrows.

Zoom overlay (top-right)

+	Zooms the camera in one step. Keyboard: +
Slider	Drag to zoom continuously in/out.
−	Zooms the camera out one step. Keyboard: -

Pinch-to-zoom and mouse-wheel scroll also zoom, independent of this widget.

Materials-used panel

The "N blocks" pill in the bottom-right shows the total block count — tap it to open a breakdown listing every material currently placed, with a colour swatch and count for each.

Liquid (shown once the Liquid shape is selected)

Fresh / Sea / Muddy / Hot Water, Lava	Chooses which liquid type new liquid blocks use. Only one active at a time — blue, cyan, brown, light blue, and red placeholders respectively.
Low Level	New liquid blocks are 25% of a normal block's height.
High Level (default)	New liquid blocks are 75% of a normal block's height.

Type and level are independent. Block/Roof/Door/Window placed on water replace it; Pillar/Steps/Ladder placed on water sit inside it, and both render together.

Tool

Build (B)	Places blocks of the selected Shape/Material.
Paint (P)	Recolours existing blocks without changing their shape. If the painted area covers a mix of shapes, only the ones the selected material can actually be applied to are repainted — everything else in the area (e.g. windows/doors when painting a Block material) is left untouched instead of cancelling the whole action.
Erase (E)	Removes blocks.
Cursor (C)	Switches to the Cursor tool for moving, rotating, copying, or pasting existing blocks — see "Cursor" below.
Rotate (R)	Rotates the selected shape/template 90° before placing.
Mirror X (X) / Mirror Z (Z)	Toggle symmetry mode. While active, every Build, Erase, Paint, or Cursor action is duplicated onto the mirrored side(s) of the grid, reflected across the X and/or Z axis. Enable both for four-way symmetry.
Combine (Window/Door only)	Windows: hides the shared-edge frame between touching windows. Doors: mirrors handles on touching doors so they line up.
Door size 1×2 / 2×2 / 2×3	Sets the door's footprint (width × height) before placing.
Place size X/Y/Z	Stepper + number field + slider (1–40) per axis, controlling how many blocks a single tap places/paints/erases.
Padlock (under Placement Size)	When locked, X/Y/Z are chained — changing any one axis copies its value into the other two, keeping the box a cube. Tap to lock (this also equalizes all three to whichever is currently highest) or unlock. Locks automatically when a 3D template is selected and unlocks automatically when one is deselected, but can be toggled by hand at any time — unlocking it while a 3D template is active lets that template be stretched non-uniformly.
Reset	Resets Place Size back to 1×1×1.

Cursor (shown once the Cursor tool is selected)

Move	Tap an existing block to pick it up, then tap a destination to drop it there.
Rotate	Tap an existing block to turn it 90° in place.
Copy	Tap an existing block to remember it for pasting.
Paste	Tap a spot to place a new copy of whatever was last copied.

Shape

Block / Wall	A standard full cube.
Roof	An angled roof block. When selected, a Roof style row appears with 4 pieces: Sloped (default full-width ramp), Hipped (outer corner cap where two slopes meet at an edge), Valley (inner corner where two slopes meet in a channel), and Flat (a low flat cap section, e.g. for the top of a hip roof). Use Rotate to orient each piece.
Pillar / Post	A thinner vertical post shape.
Steps	A staircase-profile block.
Ladder	A climbable shape flush against a wall face.
Window	A window frame set into a wall face. Selecting the Sash Window material (Material panel, Windows category) instead places a fixed-appearance 1-wide × 2-tall sash window.
Door	A door; size set via Door size buttons, orientation via Rotate.
Liquid	Places water/lava (see Liquid section above).

Templates

Square / Circle / Heart / Triangle (2D)	Flat stamp shapes for laying out floor patterns or wall art quickly. Stamped onto a single plane — use Orientation (X/Y/Z) to choose which one.
Cube / Sphere / Cylinder / Pyramid (3D)	Solid volumetric stamps built from whatever Shape/Material is currently selected. Since they're symmetric on every axis there's no Orientation row for them — instead, selecting one locks the Place Size padlock (see Tool section), chaining Place Size X/Y/Z into a single cube size while it's active; picking a 2D template or None unlocks it again. Unlock the padlock by hand to stretch a 3D template non-uniformly.
Filled	The stamped template is solid throughout. Applies to both 2D and 3D templates.
Hollow	The stamped template places blocks only along its outline (shell, for 3D templates). Applies to both 2D and 3D templates.
X / Y / Z (2D only)	Which plane the template stamps onto — X/Z stand it against a wall, Y lays it flat on the ground.
None (use Shape)	Turns off template stamping, returning to placing individual blocks from the Shape section.

Material

Category tabs	Filters the swatch grid by category. Which tabs and materials are available changes depending on the selected Shape (e.g. Window shows only Windows materials, Door only Doors materials).
Item count	Shows how many materials exist in the active category.
Swatch grid	Tap a swatch to select it for building/painting. (Terrain — Grass is the default on load).
Material name	Shows the name of the currently selected material.
Double-click / double-tap a swatch	Opens a colour picker for that material, adding a tinted colour-overlay variant (shown in the grid as "Material Name (Colour)") that you can select and build/paint with like any other material. A few materials don't offer colour variants: Light Wooden Wall, Starry Sky Wall, Cobblestone Wall, Grass, Dirt, Wooden Steps, Iron Steps, Stone Steps, Boat Door, Stylish Door, Automatic Door, and Stained Glass Window.

Layers & Blueprint Reveal

Layer list	Lists the build's vertical layers; click one to jump the active layer there.
Reveal layers from bottom	Temporarily hides layers above the chosen height so you can see/build on lower floors — purely visual, doesn't delete anything. Hidden layers are also off-limits to every tool (Build, Paint, Erase, Cursor) until they're revealed again.

Grid Size

Width / Length / Height	Sets the build grid's dimensions. Each axis accepts 2–50 cells.
Resize	Applies the new dimensions to the grid.

Save / Load

Export	Downloads the current build as a JSON file.
Import	Opens a file picker to load a previously exported build back into the app.
Layer Sheet PNG	Renders a top-down (bird's-eye) view of every occupied layer and downloads them as a single PNG grid — one tile per layer, labelled and colour-coded by material.
Message area	Shows the result of the last export/import action.
Autosave	The current build is automatically saved to this browser (not the cloud) shortly after each change, and again when you close or switch away from the tab. On reload, if a saved build is found you'll be asked whether to restore it or discard it. This is a convenience backup against accidental refreshes/closures, not a substitute for Export — clearing browser data, using a different browser/device, or private browsing will not carry it over.

Confirmation dialogs

Clear build	"No" cancels, keeping the current build. "Yes, erase it" confirms and wipes the entire build.
Discord invite	"No" closes the dialog. "Yes" opens the Discord invite in a new tab.

Community

Join the Buildopia Discord to share builds, get help, and chat with other builders.

Join the Discord