Coordinate

The minetest game world is a giant cube. Because of this, a location in the world can easily be represented in Cartesian coordinates. That is, for every location in the world, it can be represented by: X, Y, and Z.

Expression

The coordinates are represented as follows: (5, 45, -12)

This refers to the position of X=5, Y=45, Z=-12. These three letters are called "axis": Y stands for height. X and Z are for horizontal position.

World borders

X,Y,Z maximum coordinates values are: −30912 to 30927 = 61840

The space size is 61840x61840x61840, if a square is 1 cubic meter, then it is 2.36487637504×10¹⁴ cubic meters. Maximum area: 61840x61840 = 3,824,185,600 m² ≈ 3824 square kilometers (about half the size of Shanghai).

Direction

The X, Y, and Z values are as follows:

• If you go up, Y increases (Up)
• If you go down, Y decreases (Down)
• If you follow the sun, X will increase (East)
• If you go in the opposite direction, X will decrease (West)
• Look in the direction of the sun, then turn 90° left and walk forward: Z increases (North)
• Look in the direction of the sun, then turn right 90° and walk forward: Z decreases (South)
• The side length of a complete square is: 1

View your coordinates (debug screen)

You can view your coordinates by opening the debug screen (press F5 to open), the top of the screen displays the debug information, and the number after Pos: on the second line is your coordinates.

Normally the game/server allows this, or you have "debug" permissions.

By default the game does give you access to the coordinates in the debug screen, so that works most of the time.

But some games may choose to hide the coordinates in the debug screen from normal players. Maybe you should "earn" the right to see the coordinates (like using a special item), or maybe the coordinates are hidden entirely to make the game more difficult. However, if you have "debug" privilege, you are guaranteed access.