Talk:Coordinates

error spotted
in Interpreting Coordinate Numbers, the exemple does not match the picture. Since values are negatives, i do not know if they should be an offset of 1 for z and x, so i didnt edit the page. –Preceding unsigned comment was added by 88.188.252.46 (Talk) 12:20, 16 March 2012 (UTC). Please sign your posts with

Right Hand Rule?
The right hand rule is incorrect. It doesn't even work for left hand. Z is backwards. I suggest having the misinformation removed, since people who deal with a "right hand rule" in whatever trade or subject they know it from are used to the fingers pointing in the positive direction (or direction of movement). I am suggesting here instead of just removing it in case someone can correct me with an explanation or if it's simply ok to ignore the positive/negative aspect of the axis. -- Kanegasi  ☺  C  05:15, 16 September 2012 (UTC)


 * It seems right to me. With the thumb pointing east (positive X) and the index finger pointing up (positive Y), the middle finger must point south (positive Z). -- Orthotope 07:51, 16 September 2012 (UTC)


 * That's why I posted here instead of removing that. I had the orientation wrong. Silly me. -- Kanegasi  ☺  C  08:10, 16 September 2012 (UTC)


 * The supposed "right-hand rule" referenced here is not correct. "Thumb to the right ..." and so on is not how the right-hand rule is conventionally expressed. At best, the Minecraft coordinate system can be described with a modified left-hand rule where the left thumb is up (+Y/up), the left index finger is pointing right (+X/east), and the left middle finger is pointing at the chest (+Z/south). The wiki text should be modified to reflect this or the entire reference to a "hand rule" should be removed. As is, it's incorrect and confusing. Atypicaluser (talk) 15:08, 22 July 2015 (UTC)

I agree, both the Minecraft coordinate system and the reference to the right-hand rule are quite confusing. First, you'd have to remember that x=thumb, which is not the most traditional convention (wikipedia lists that as an "alternative"). Second, you'd have to remember that your thumb must point *right* (instead of upwards or at you). Third, you'd have to remember that pointing at you means "south" (case of Z). Having to memorize so many things to apply the rule means the rule is not helpful at all. Much easier to simply memorize "x=east, z=south" MestreLion (talk) 06:30, 16 August 2015 (UTC)

Rationale?
This discussion on the Right Hand Rule raises the question of what was the rationale for aligning the coordinates in the orientation they're in? As well, the polar coordinates used are non-standard (at least from a North American perspective). Is there any reference as to why Notch chose the y-axis to be vertical and z to be the north/south axis? From this, apparently, derived the decision that south should have a bearing of 0 degrees, instead of the more conventional north. Finally, on the vertical polar plane, positive values represent a negative slope (looking down).

By comparison, a more common layout (in surveying/drafting/cartography) has x as east-west, y as north-south, and z as vertical, then bearings are measured from north to east (positive y) {although sometimes in math from positive x towards positive y}, and finally the vertical polar measure has positive values equate to a positive (looking up) slope. The other advantage to this is, from a mapping perspective, the useful coordinates are paired together (E/W, N/S) followed by the, somewhat commonly dissociated, elevation.

Maybe this is just a matter of personal familiarity, and certainly it's obviously not going to change now, but the thought process that went into minecraft's particular layout is utterly foreign to me.

As far as a right hand rule goes, this is still supported. Point your index finger at the rising sun, that's east/x, your middle finger extends left as the north/y, and thumbs up gives you the vertical/z axis.

-- Limestone 2018-Feb-16 12:30 (-0500 EST)

Here is my guess: traditional "computer screen" coordinates plus game evolution mixed up with standard math notation. This basically conjecture, but I am a computer programmer not too much younger than Notch, so perhaps my intuition has a chance of being correct?

Step 1: For a two dimensional PC screen, X represents horizontal distance from the left side of the screen, and Y the vertical distance from the top of the screen (going back to at least the 1960's, per Wikipedia). So you start the game development in a simple two dimensional world. East is positive X, south is positive Y. You are happy with how well this is all going.

Step 2: You decide to add a third dimension. So keeping your existing X=East and Y=South system, you add Z=Up. This is again in keeping with traditional notations -- you are looking down on the world, and by convention positive Z is always the direction coming up out of the screen. You made it work, all is well with the world!

Step 3: Other people start working on your code, and public users start using mods to see the game coordinates. Everyone keeps telling you that Y should clearly point to "Up", and your coordinates are stupid and confusing. You get tired of the complaints, and swap the labels for Y and Z. Just leave all the actual values and directions alone, they work fine thank you very much.

Now you have a muddled system, where Y is up, X is east, Z is south. And Microsoft is offering to pay $2,500,000,000 for your company, so this is no longer your problem!

Abamacus (talk) 11:47, 6 November 2021 (UTC)

Ethics?
Maybe a section on the ethics of using coordinates should be mentioned (e. g. cheating or not?), not to mention that certain mods such as Better than Wolves disable their use. 74.134.193.31 22:32, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

from (X0,Z0) to (X1,Z1)
I am standing on (X0,Z0) and I want to go to (X1,Z1). What should f be and how far should I walk? –Preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.211.145.220 (talk) at 10:37, 6 July 2013 (UTC). Please sign your posts with

Angle: −180/π * atan2(X1 − X0, Z1 − Z0) degrees

Distance: √((X1 − X0)2 + (Z1 − Z0)2) blocks

If you have a good sense of numbers and how they correspond to the world, I say just wing it. In a typical world you can't walk in a straight line anyway. Even if you can, a small deviation hardly adds to the distance. E.g. being off by 15 degrees and compensating halfway adds less than 4%. So don't fuss too much. --Jonathan2520 (talk) 22:02, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

Enter Coords
How would I enter this in a command block to teleport there? x: -112 y: 61 z: 55 Please tell me what to say plz!!! –Preceding unsigned comment was added by Hhawa (talk • contribs) at 16:19, November 26, 2013 (UTC). Please sign your posts with


 * /tp [your minecraft name here] -112 61 55 --Saanoth (talk) 20:22, 26 November 2013 (UTC)