We now use squaremap to render our world maps. Maps update in real-time and are continuously rendered in the background. Tile updates will be available every ten minutes. Sign markers and player positions are updated every minute.

• The Mundis is rendered in a top-down, flat-lighting view. 1 pixel : 1 block.
• The Nether has been charted by hand, and the Nether Tunnels are quite well-documented.
• The End remains dark and mysterious, but ManaLocke intends to shed some light on the situation.

Player information displayed by default.

By default, your character's position will be visible on the map for all to see. This includes the general public, web crawlers, and the like. Only connected players are displayed. If you do not wish to be tracked, run the following in-game command:

/map hide

and your character will no longer appear on the map.

Your tracking preferences are saved and will be effective until the next time you run

/map show

which will make your position visible once again.

Only your character is tracked. The position of the player is not something we can represent on this map.

Any player can add map markers using in-game signs. Any sign can be a map marker, including those newfangled double-sided signs. To turn an ordinary boring sign into a fancy web-enabled marker, all you need to do is bless it.

1. Place a sign.
2. Set its text to your liking.
3. Hold a filled map in your primary hand. You may use any map item; it does not need to correspond to your current location.
4. Right-click the sign. Nothing will appear to happen.
5. Watch the maps website patiently. Your new marker should appear within a minute or two.

To remove the marker, destroy the sign. You can also left-click it with a map item.

By default, your sign will appear with a stock “Minecraft Sign” icon.

That's not very interesting.

You can spruce up that old oaken icon by using one of the following magic prefixes. Enter them exactly as you see them here:

• ![home]: This is where you live. You probably only have one of these, but maybe you have two or three. Home markers tend to look best when you put them in a high, central place, such as a tower.
• ![activity]: Something to do; open to the public.
• ![base]: A location with shelter, food, beds, and maybe other amenities. We tend to leave these things wherever we go. If you have a grand palace, perhaps you should use a different marker style. But this marker is just the right size for a bolthole or a FARP.
• ![construction]: I'll get around to finishing this description eventually.
• ![combat]: Enter here at your own peril. This may be a deliberate dark spot; a stronghold, fortress, or temple; a ravine or cave that is in dire need of exploring; or a survival challenge. Don't overdo it—basically everywhere that's not civilized is hazardous terrain.
• ![entrance]: An alternative, aboveground entrance to a location. This is best used when the entrance is not already obvious on the map.
• ![farm]: Maybe it makes food. Maybe it makes iron. Maybe it makes food that's high in iron. Either way, it is open for public use—so long as you put things back when you're done.
• ![harbor]: Arrr, the sea be a cruel mistress. Drive your boat on in.
• ![name]: Any named place. Use to mark territories or generic locations which aren't necessarily fully-developed. This is the most generic tag available.
• ![nether]: Nether access through here. For portals which are inside (or underground), mark the above-ground entrance to the structure. You should not use this on the Nether maps—most of the points of interest there are portals!
• ![path]: A small red dot for marking paths, such as deep ocean routes or roadways. This marker will be rendered very small. Use sparingly.
• ![poi]: Point of Interest. Use this to mark art installations or unusually scenic views. Look but don't touch, please.
• ![rail]: Minecart access through here. For stations which are inside (or underground), mark the above-ground entrance to the structure.
• ![strider]: (Nether-only) Access to a lava lake for Strider travel.
• ![trading]: Trade with established NPC villagers. Caveat emptor!

Ensure that the prefix is the very first text on the first line of the front of the sign. Avoid any leading whitespace. Use the rest of the sign for your marker text.

![name] You can
even use the
first line too!

Before placing a marker, be sure to view your location on the map and pick out a good spot. You might want to offset your markers slightly so that they do not obstruct important map features. Remember that these are overworld maps. If you have a giant, industrial-scale sorting depot deep underground, mark the surface entrance. Otherwise, visitors will have a tough time trying to figure out how to get in.

Marker signs do not have to be visible to other players. Our satellites use a super-sensitive neutrino detector that can find them wherever they're hiding.

Marker signs are only displayed on the map for the dimension in which they are placed. If you want a map marker in both the Overworld and the Nether, you'll need to visit a Wibbly Wobbly Swirly Thing.

In the beginning, there were no maps. There was only grid paper and fires that burned eternally for no discernible reason. Maps had to be kept well away from open flame.

One of the first experiments in digital mapping involved leaping from a tall tower while holding down the [screenshot] button. After the dwarf in question was stitched up, the images could be stitched together ^{[citation needed]}.

The first map rendering software was c10t, which produced un-tiled, single-image overhead views. The entire map was rendered at once, without caching. This was perfectly adequate for the Old World. Prior to the domestication of the horse, the development of the wood-composite durable boat, and the invention of Nether Travel, the size of the world was generally limited to about two or three Daywalks in any given direction.

The early servers used a wide variety of rendering software. Sometimes the maps rendered sideways. Sometimes the maps rendered nothing at all.

After the development of rockets capable of reaching outer space, the Dwarven Space Agency (DSA) rapidly launched a fleet of low-earth orbit satellites to image the world. Equipped with a suite of advanced sensors, they could map the world by day, by night, and from a variety of angles.

In 2016, the satellite constellation gained an advanced neutrino detector. The new sensor could detect signs that were labeled with special, neutrino-emitting words—even when they were underground. The images and text were correlated and tiled together with software called mapcrafter.

In July 2022, mapcrafter was replaced with overviewer. The imagery produced by overviewer's advanced algorithms took many days to stitch and collate. The final product was exceptionally sharp and finely detailed.

But nothing lasts forever.

Operating a fleet of low-earth orbit satellites, around the clock and around the cube, proved to be an expensive undertaking. Several satellites de-orbited unexpectedly, causing blackouts in numerous territories. Others gained sentience and went rogue but—as they are unarmed, civilian satellites—should not pose a threat to earth ^{[dubious, discuss?]}.

In August 2023, the DSA decided that the low orbits were too unstable—and too populated with space junk from the rogue satellites—to use effectively. Larger launch vehicles were developed. These placed more durable, longer-lived satellites into geosynchronous orbit. These orbits were significantly higher than those of the first-generation satellites. As a result of the increased altitude, fine details could no longer be resolved.

The new orbits offered one important advantage: with the satellites placed at a “fixed” point in the sky, communication was greatly simplified. The operators no longer needed to wait for a satellite to pass over a ground station in order to receive its data. Instead, satellite data could be fed into a high-performance redstone core in real-time. A new software suite, squaremap, delivered these new maps to dwarves around the cube.