Block Placement Mode (2024)

When building, pressing number shortcuts 1-9 to select blocks from your toolbar puts you in block placement mode. In this mode, you see a ghost preview of the selected block and you can click to place the block in the world.

• In Creative Mode, LMB-clicking will place welded blocks.
• In Survival mode LMB-clicking will place unwelded blocks.

You can place blocks "in person" as the engineer —— or while seated in a co*ckpit.

To exit block placement mode, either press zero, or select a tool (weapon, welder, etc.) from the Toolbar.

How to place blocks as the engineer[]

1. Configure your toolbar and add blocks to it.
2. Press a number to select a block from your toolbar to enter Block Placement mode.
3. Align the ghost preview, rotate it, and then LMB-click to place the block.

How to rotate blocks[]

You can only rotate blocks before you place them — while they still appear as ghost previews. To make changes after placing, you have to grind them down and replace them.

Tip: While rotating a functional block, keep an eye on the conveyor ports (marked with yellow rectangles). Unless you’re building for decoration, you will need to keep the conveyor system accessible and connected.

The rotation keys are (INSERT key), (DELETE key), (HOME key), (END key), (PAGE UP key), (PAGE DOWN key). Ignore what the literal labels on these keys say, "Page Up"/"Page Down" do not rotate up and down. Instead, these six keys are used similarly to paired arrow keys:

How to align blocks[]

Before placing a block, you see a ghost preview. At this point you can press (B key) to toggle between free placement mode, local-grid alignment mode, and gravity-aligned block placement, and you can rotate the block.

• Gravity alignment mode means that blocks automatically snap along the implicit world grid, so that all blocks are aligned with one another and the top side of all blocks is level. Rotation is limited strictly to 90 degrees. This mode only works inside gravity fields (natural or artifical) and it is useful when building on hilly terrain on a planet.

• Local alignment mode means that blocks snap to the existing voxel grid or the station grid that you are currently targeting, in or outside a gravity well, for example in space.

• Free placement mode means that you can rotate blocks gradually at any angle and place them without snapping to any neighbouring blocks. Tip: Use CTRL+Scroll Wheel for aiming very close.

See below for details about the rotation shortcuts.

How to place blocks while seated in a co*ckpit[]

Typically, you place blocks "by hand" as the engineer. With all other tools, you have the alternative of using handheld or ship-mounted tools: Grinders to remove bocks, projectors to "place" whole blueprints, welders to build blocks, drills to remove voxels, and block weapons.

It is similarly possible to place blocks "by hand" while seated in a ship’s co*ckpit--there is just no visible block placement tool.

Short version: Sit in the co*ckpit and press (CTRL+G key) to toggle in and out of Block Placement Mode.

Long version follows:

Best Practices for building from a co*ckpit[]

Before you try this, make sure that experimental mode is enabled in the Options on the main screen.

1. Outside the co*ckpit, press (P key) and select the color and armour skin; press (ESCAPE key) to close the color picker.
2. Sit in the co*ckpit.
3. Make sure you have building materials in the co*ckpit inventory.
4. Lift off and position the ship (using WASD and toolbar actions) as desired, as usual.
5. Switch to first person view: toggle with (V key).
6. Press (CTRL+G key).
   A message informs you that "Free Placement Mode is activated". The toolbar changes from the ship’s toolbar to a building toolbar.
7. Press (G key) to assign blocks to slots, and press (ESCAPE key) to close the G menu, as usual.
8. Type a number to select a toolbar slot, as usual.
9. Cycle through placement modes and rotate the ghost preview, if needed. Then LMB-click to place the block, as usual.
10. To regain co*ckpit control, press (CTRL+G key) again to leave Block Placement Mode!
    

Troubleshooting: Why can’t I switch into Block Placement Mode while piloting a drone?[]

A Remote Control does not count as a co*ckpit in this sense, meaning, you cannot manually place blocks while controlling a drone. Use projectors instead!

Important flight crash warnings[]

You know you cannot use your co*ckpit toolbar while in Ctrl-G Placement Mode. But you might try to do it nonetheless, out of habit. Remember to switch back to the normal co*ckpit controls by pressing (CTRL+G key) again.

Forgetting to switch back will pose an obstacle when you want to configure or use the ship Toolbar, or even cause a crash because you suddenly cannot use familiar shortcuts while flying anymore:

• You won’t be able to quickly activate magnetic landing gear, gyroscopes, secondary thrusters, or similar habitual actions to stabilise your flight.
• Similarly, while building "in person" as the engineer, you are used to pressing (P key) to select colors and armor skins. While seated in a co*ckpit, (P key) will toggle the co*ckpit’s parking shortcut, which could unlock your landing gear or connectors, and that’s not what you expect in that moment.

Remember to use the ([ key), (] key), ({ key), and (} key) shortcuts to cycle through skins and colours while building in a co*ckpit!

How to place multiple blocks[]

In Creative Mode, holding CTRL while dragging the mouse places a row of welded blocks, and holding both CTRL and SHIFT while dragging places an area of welded blocks.

The same shortcut is not available in Survival mode; use projections to place unwelded blocks in bulk there.

Troubleshooting[]

How do I make the block preview stop snapping to the wrong grids?[]

If the ghost previews do not align as you expect before placing blocks, remember to press (B key) to cycle through Free / Local / Gravity-aligned and choose the appropriate placement mode, as described above.

Next, if you still find it hard to aim the ghost previews from certain angles, try this:

• Use CTRL-mouse wheel to increase or decrease the view distance between your camera and the ghost preview.
  • Move the preview (and yourself) very close and make sure you’re in Free Placement Mode to place decorative blocks at odd angles relative to the grid.
  • Move the preview (and yourself) further away if you are placing something large, or if you are placing rows of blocks in Creative Mode.
• Also consider pressing (V key) to switch between first person and third person view to get a different angle.
• With your jetpack on, you can rotate in mid“air” by pressing (E key) and (Q key), and fly “upside down” to reach odd angles.

How do I make blocks stop “rotating away” when I place them?[]

If the ghost previews of blocks often snap and then rotate themselves into an unexpected position, press (T key) to reset Auto Orientation Mode. Depending on what you want to do, the automatic choice can sometimes be counter-intuitive.

I can’t remember all these 3D angles and shortcuts…[]

Go to Options>Game and enable Show control hints, or Show rotation hints to get visual hints how to rotate blocks.

If you still don't see reminders while in block placement mod, even after enabling this option, press (TAB key) to cycle the HUD modes until you see the shortcut hints in the Toolbar and in the top right corner.

See Key Bindings for all shortcuts.