Minecraft Coordinates: How to Show, Read and Use Them
How to turn on coordinates in Java (F3) and Bedrock (Show Coordinates), what X, Y and Z mean, chunk coordinates, the 1:8 Nether ratio and teleporting.
Coordinates are how you find your way back to your base, meet friends, and get to anything you looked up on a map. This guide shows how to turn them on in both editions, what the three numbers mean, and how to use them for travel and teleporting.
How to show coordinates
Java Edition
Press F3 to open the debug screen. On many laptops and Macs the F keys need Fn, so press Fn + F3. Look at the top left:
- XYZ is your exact position, with decimals.
- Block is the block you are standing in, as whole numbers. This is the one to write down.
- Chunk shows which chunk you are in and where inside it.
Press F3 again to close it. Some servers hide most of the debug screen with the reduced debug info game rule; if your coordinates are missing, that is why, and only the server owner can change it.
Bedrock Edition
Open the world's settings, go to the Game section and turn on Show Coordinates. Your position then appears in a box at the top left. You can also type /gamerule showcoordinates true in chat if you are allowed to run commands.
What X, Y and Z mean
| Axis | Goes up when you move | Goes down when you move |
|---|---|---|
| X | East | West |
| Z | South | North |
| Y | Up | Down |
The point X 0, Z 0 is the center of the world, and your world spawn is usually near it. In the Overworld, Y runs from −64 at the bottom to 320 at the build limit, and sea level is Y 63. One block is one unit on every axis.
A quick way to remember it: Z goes up toward the south, which is the opposite of most real maps. If you are walking north, Z is getting smaller.
Chunk coordinates
The world is cut into chunks of 16 × 16 blocks. To get the chunk from a block coordinate, divide by 16 and round down: block X −278 is in chunk X −18, and block Z 88 is in chunk Z 5. Chunks matter for slime farms, because slimes spawn in particular chunks (the slime chunk finder shows which), and for anything that loads or generates by chunk. On the F3 screen the Chunk line shows both your chunk and your position inside it.
Nether coordinates: divide by 8
One block in the Nether equals eight blocks in the Overworld, for X and Z (not Y). To convert:
- Overworld to Nether: divide X and Z by 8.
- Nether to Overworld: multiply X and Z by 8.
Your base is at Overworld X 1,600, Z −800? Build its Nether portal at X 200, Z −100 in the Nether and the two will link. This is also the fastest way to cross the Overworld: walk 1,000 blocks in the Nether and you have moved 8,000.
Using coordinates
Teleporting. With cheats on, /tp 120 70 -340 takes you to those coordinates. A tilde means "relative to where I am": /tp ~ ~10 ~ moves you 10 blocks up, and /tp ~100 ~ ~ moves you 100 blocks east.
Sharing a place. Send friends the Block line from F3, or a screenshot of it. Give all three numbers if the place is underground.
Finding things from a map. A seed map shows your world from its seed, with coordinates for everything on it. On Seedari, move the mouse over the map to read X, Z, the biome and the height at the bottom; click a structure to see its X, Y and Z and copy a ready-made /tp command. The Go to button jumps the map to any coordinates you type.
Structure coordinates mark where the structure starts. Large ones such as villages and ancient cities spread out from there, so look around when you arrive.
FAQ
Why can't I see coordinates when I press F3? On a laptop or Mac, try Fn + F3. On a server, the owner may have turned on reduced debug info, which hides them.
How do I show coordinates on Bedrock without cheats? The Show Coordinates switch in the world's game settings works without cheats. You need permission to change world settings, so on someone else's world ask the owner.
What are the coordinates of spawn? The world spawn is near X 0, Z 0 but rarely exactly on it. A seed map shows the exact spot, marked with a star.
Do coordinates work the same in the End? Yes. The End uses the same X, Y and Z as the Overworld, with no scaling. The main island is around 0,0.
Sources: Minecraft Wiki: Coordinates, Minecraft Wiki: Debug screen.