OPENWORLD
Download

Getting started

Openworld controls: every key, and how to change it

Walk, dig, place, open your inventory: here is every control with its default key, the few you need first, and how to change any of them.

In short

  • Move with W A S D (Z Q S D on a French keyboard), jump with Space, crouch with Shift, sprint with Ctrl.
  • Left click breaks, hits and shoots; right click places, uses and eats. The wheel or the digit keys choose the item in your hand.
  • E opens the inventory, I the card of an item, T the chat, M the map and Esc the pause menu.
  • Every key can be changed in Options → Controls: two inputs per action, and up to six saved profiles.
On this page
  1. What are all the controls?
  2. Which keys should I learn first?
  3. What do the mouse and the movement keys really do?
  4. How do I change a key?
  5. Questions

What are all the controls?

This table is read straight from the game's own list of actions, so it never goes out of date. It shows the default keys: yours differ if you changed them.

Movement
WMove forward
SMove back
AMove left
DMove right
SpacebarJump
In flight: go up. In the air: open the paraglider.
ShiftCrouch
Won’t fall off the edge. In flight: go down.
CtrlSprint
In free camera: move faster.
Spacebar ×2Fly (creative)
Actions
Left ClickBreak · hit · shoot
Right ClickPlace · use · eat
Chests, doors, armor; aim with a weapon.
Items
EInventory
Also closes an open chest.
Wheel DownNext item
Wheel UpPrevious item
QDrop an item
One of what the hand holds; inventory open: of the slot under the mouse.
Ctrl + QDrop the stack
IItem info
The item under the mouse: its page of the wiki, every way to get it, everything it is used for.
Middle ClickPick the aimed item
Creative: puts what you aim at (a block, a piece, a device) in the hotbar.
1Slot 1
2Slot 2
3Slot 3
4Slot 4
5Slot 5
6Slot 6
7Slot 7
8Slot 8
9Slot 9
0Slot 10
-Slot 11
=Slot 12
Camera
VChange view
First person, behind, in front.
CFree camera
Look elsewhere while the player stays in place.
Interface
TChat
TabPlayer list
While the key is held.
F3Debug information
F1Hide the interface
F5Survival / creative
MMap
Explored areas, checkpoints, space.
F8Report a bug
A screenshot of the game, a description, sent to the team.
BShip bounds
Space suit worn, in a ship: where you can build.
EscPause, close whatever is open
/Chat prefilled with a command
Paraglider
ALeft brake
Held: the spiral dive.
DRight brake
SBoth brakes
Slow down, flare; held: the stall.
WSpeed bar
ShiftBig ears
Descend fast, without speed.
CtrlLoop
While the key is held.
Spacebar in the airOpen the paraglider
Spacebar ×2Release the wing
Spectator
Wheel UpFaster
Wheel DownSlower
Wheel UpCinematic: smoother
/gamemode cinematic; E opens its precise settings.
Wheel DownCinematic: sharper
Ctrl + Wheel UpCinematic: faster
Ctrl + Wheel DownCinematic: slower
Rocket
ShiftMore throttle
While the key is held.
CtrlLess throttle
ZFull throttle
XCut the throttle
WTilt forward
As seen on the screen, from any view.
STilt back
ATilt left
DTilt right
SpacebarEngine on / off
On the pad: lift-off.
PAutopilot
Flies to the destination by itself; steering takes the controls back.
GLanding legs
Fold or deploy.
FLeave the cockpit
NDestination
Orbit, the Moon, a landing, back to Earth.
.Time warp faster
,Time warp slower
KShip: dock, leave
JShip: next dock
Up ArrowShip: nose up
Seated at the pilot console, flying by hand.
Down ArrowShip: nose down
Left ArrowShip: turn left
Right ArrowShip: turn right
QShip: roll left
EShip: roll right
VCockpit, behind, orbital map
Mouse · wheelLook around · zoom behind and on the map
Left ClickPress the panel's button you aim at
Right ClickCentral space dock in hand, in orbit: create your ship

Which keys should I learn first?

KeyAction
W A S DWalk. Keys are named after their place on the keyboard: on a French keyboard the same four keys read Z Q S D.
SpaceJump. In Creative, a double tap takes off.
ShiftCrouch: slower, and you do not fall off edges.
CtrlSprint. It needs at least 30 of 100 food points.
Left clickBreak, hit, shoot. Hold it to dig.
Right clickPlace the block in your hand, open chests, doors and machines, eat.
Wheel, or digits then 0 - =Choose one of the 12 slots of the item bar.
EInventory (it also closes an open chest).
QDrop one item. Ctrl + Q drops the whole stack.
ICard of the item under the mouse, or in your hand: every way to get it, everything it is used for.
T or /Chat. The slash opens it with the slash already typed, ready for a command.
TabPlayer list, while held.
MMap.
EscPause menu. It also closes whatever is open.
F5Switch between Survival and Creative, when your role allows it.
V · F1 · F3 · F8Change view · hide the interface · debug information · report a bug.

What do the mouse and the movement keys really do?

  • Left click, held: digging is progressive. With bare hands or a chisel you break one 25 cm voxel at a time; a pickaxe, a shovel or an axe breaks a whole 1 m cube of the matter it is made for (see your first day).
  • Right click: places what is in your hand and uses what you aim at (chest, door, machine, bed). With food in your hand and a stomach that is not full, hold it for 1.5 s to eat.
  • Middle click: in Creative, copies what you aim at into your item bar. Wheel: previous or next item; in spectator mode it sets your flying speed instead.
  • Walking is 4.25 m/s, sprinting 5.61 m/s. You jump 1.35 m high and step up an edge of 0.75 m (three voxels) without jumping. A jump while sprinting carries you farther than plain walking.
  • The two side buttons of a mouse (Mouse 4 and Mouse 5) can be given to any action.
Walking4.25 m/s
Sprinting5.61 m/s
Crouching1.36 m/s
Jump1.35 m
Step up0.75 m
Height1.83 m
Width0.44 m
Eye height1.62 m

How do I change a key?

  1. 1

    Open the settings

    From the main menu or the pause menu, choose Options, then the Controls tab. The actions are sorted by category (Mouse, Movement, Actions, Items, Camera, Interface…).

  2. 2

    Click the box of an action

    Every action has two boxes: you can give it two different inputs.

  3. 3

    Press the new input

    A key, a mouse button, a notch of the wheel, a combination held together (Ctrl + E) or a sequence (Spacebar ×2). Esc cancels.

  4. 4

    Clear or fix a clash

    Right-click a box to empty it. A box turns red when another action that works in the same situation already uses that input; hover it to see which one.

  • Mouse sensitivity, and a separate aiming sensitivity for when you look through a scope.
  • Invert the vertical or the horizontal axis of the mouse.
  • Toggle crouch and toggle sprint: one press starts, the next one stops, instead of holding the key.
  • Profiles: up to six named sets of keys. Create one, rename it, reset it to the default keys, delete it, and pick the active one.

Questions

Why are my keys not the same as in the table?

The table shows the default keys. If a key looks different, you or someone using the same computer changed it in Options → Controls, or you are looking at another keyboard layout: keys are named after what your keyboard prints.

How do I go back to the default keys?

Open Options → Controls and reset the profile: the game asks Default keys? first, then puts every key and mouse setting of that profile back to its original value.

Can I hold fewer keys while crouching or sprinting?

Yes. Turn on Toggle crouch or Toggle sprint in the Controls tab: one press starts the action and the next press stops it.

Updated

Read next

See also