Controls

This is an overview of all controls used in Minetest.

Changing controls

There are two ways to change the controls: Either by using the options menu accessible inside the game or by editing minetest.conf. See minetest.conf.example to learn the setting names. Note that some controls are fixed and cannot be changed at all.

Game controls

PC

The PC version of Minetest uses mouse and keyboard. These are the controls of the PC version:

Action	Default control	Changable in-game?	minetest.conf setting	Comment
Movement
Look around	Move mouse	No	(none)
Move forwards	W	Yes	keymap_forward
Move to the left	A	Yes	keymap_left
Move to the right	D	Yes	keymap_right
Move backwards	S	Yes	keymap_backward
Toggle pitch move mode	P	Yes	keymap_pitchmove	See Movement modes.
Toggle fast mode	J	Yes	keymap_fastmove	See Movement modes. Requires “fast” privilege
Toggle fly mode	K	Yes	keymap_freemove	See Movement modes. Requires “fly” privilege
Toggle noclip mode	H	Yes	keymap_noclip	See Movement modes. Requires “noclip” privilege
Special / Aux	E	Yes	keymap_special1	Makes you run faster when in fast mode. If the setting aux1_descends is true, this control also makes you descend in liquids and ladders. Some mods utilize this key to enable special actions (e.g. sprinting).
Jump / Move up	Space	Yes	keymap_jump	You will move upwards instead of jumping if you are climbing, swimming or using fly mode
Sneak / Move down	Shift	Yes	keymap_sneak	You will move downwards instead of sneaking if you are climbing, swimming or using fly mode
Toggle automatic forwards	(none)	Yes	keymap_autoforward	While this mode is enabled, this acts as if the forwards key is pressed all the time
World interaction
Punch / mine	Left mouse button	No	keymap_dig
Use / build	Right mouse button	No	keymap_place	If the pointed thing is usable (example: Chest), you use it, otherwise you attempt to build at this block
Build	Shift+Right mouse button	No	keymap_sneak, keymap_place	Use this to build at usable blocks
Select next/previous item stack in hotbar	Roll mouse wheel	No	(none)
Select previous item stack in hotbar	B	Yes	keymap_hotbar_previous
Select next item stack in hotbar	N	Yes	keymap_hotbar_next
Select item stack in hotbar directly	0-9	No	keymap_slot1 - keymap_slot32
Drop wielded item stack	Q	Yes	keymap_drop
Drop 1 item of wielded item stack	Shift+Q	Yes	keymap_sneak, keymap_drop
Camera
Select camera	C	Yes	keymap_camera_mode	Available cameras are (in this order): first person view, third person view from the back, third person view from the front
Toggle cinematic mode	(none)	Yes	keymap_cinematic	In cinematic mode, the camera will not immediately follow your movements, instead it will quickly “catch on”, so the movement of the camera looks a bit like the movement of an actual camera
Zoom in at the crosshair	Z	Yes	keymap_zoom	Usage of zoom can be restricted by game or mod. By default, zooming is only allowed in Creative Mode
Graphics
Enable/disable fog	F3	Yes	keymap_toggle_force_fog_off
Increase minimal viewing distance	+	Yes	keymap_increase_viewing_range_min
Decrease minimal viewing distance	-	Yes	keymap_decrease_viewing_range_min
Toggle far view	R	Yes	keymap_rangeselect	Far view allows to view things without a distance limitation. Warning: This can severly impact Minetest's performance; use this only briefly or for testing
Take a screenshot	F12	Yes	keymap_screenshot
Heads-up Display
Show/hide inventory menu	I	Yes	keymap_inventory
Show/hide HUD	F1	Yes	keymap_toggle_hud
Show/hide chat log	F2	Yes	keymap_toggle_chat
Toggle minimap	V	Yes	keymap_minimap	Usage of minimap can be restricted by game or mod
Toggle minimap shape (square or circle)	Shift+F9	Yes	keymap_sneak, keymap_minimap
Open/close console	F10	Yes	keymap_console
Abort / close window / open pause menu / quit Minetest	Esc	No	(none)
Sound
Decrease volume	(none)	Yes	keymap_decrease_volume
Increase volume	(none)	Yes	keymap_increase_volume
Toggle mute	M	Yes	keymap_mute
Commands and chat
Open chat window	T	Yes	keymap_chat	You need the “shout” privilege to chat
Start issuing a server command	/	Yes	keymap_cmd
Start issuing a local command	.	Yes	keymap_cmd_local	Local commands are part of client mods
Debugging (for developers)
Enable/disable camera update	F4 or none	No	keymap_toggle_update_camera	Only useful for developers. If disabled, the landscape drawn around you will not be updated as you look around. This action only has a default key binding in the developer version of Minetest; in official releases there's no default key binding because this can be very confusing to players
Enable/disable debug display	F5	No	keymap_toggle_debug	Also shows your coordinates
Enable/disable [[1]] bounds view	<none>	Yes	keymap_toggle_block_bounds	This displays the outlines of mapblocks, 16×16×16 portions of the map
Enable/disable profiler	F6	No	keymap_toggle_profiler	Only useful for developers
Write stack traces into debug.txt	(none)	No	keymap_print_debug_stacks	Only useful for developers

macOS

Same as for PC, with one difference: If you have a 1-button mouse, you can emulate a right click with a two finger tap on the trackpad.

Mobile devices (Android / iOS)

(Note: This section and the list of controls might be incomplete)

The controls on mobile devices are severely restricted compared to the PC and you only have very basic controls. You can't do everything a PC player could do.

The touchscreen is used for everything.

Action	Control
Look around	Touch screen and slide finger
Use / build	Double-tap
Punch / mine	Long tap
Chat	Press on-screen button in left upper corner
Jump	Press on-screen button in right lower corner
Sneak	Press on-screen button in right lower corner
Move left/up/right/down	Press on-screen button in left lower corner
Display inventory	Press on-screen button in left lower corner

Mobile controls when a menu or inventory is displayed:

• double tap outside menu area: close menu
• tap on an item stack: select that stack
• tap on an empty slot: if you selected a stack already, that stack is placed here
• drag and drop: touch stack and hold finger down, move the stack to another slot, tap another finger while keeping first finger on screen --> places a single item from dragged stack into current (first touched) slot

Movement modes

Along with the normal controls, there are three so-called “movement modes” to change the way the player moves.

Pitch move mode

If this mode is activated (default key: P), the movement keys will move you relative to your current view pitch (vertical look angle) when you're in a liquid or in fly mode.

Fast mode

If this mode is activated (default key: J), it allows the player to move faster. If the fly mode is not activated, the player can run faster using the so-called “Special” key (Setting name in minetest.conf: keymap_special1), which is E normally. If the fly mode is activated, the player will fly faster instead.

The “fast” privilege is required to use this.

Fly mode

If this mode is activated (default key: K), the effects of gravity do not apply to the player anymore. This slightly changes the controls: The jump key (default: Space) will cause the player to rise and the sneak key (default: Shift) to sink.

The “fly” privilege is required to use this.

Noclip mode

If this mode is activated (default key: H) along with fly mode, the player can fly through walls. If fly mode is not activated as well, noclip mode has nearly no effect; it only prevents screen blackening when the player's head is inside a solid block.

The “noclip” privilege is required to use this.

Changing controls in minetest.conf

With minetest.conf, you can change the controls which are unavailable in the settings menu. See minetest.conf#Controls for more information.

Inventory controls

See Inventory#Controls.

Console controls

See Console#Controls overview.