¶ Map Art Guides
¶ Overview
Most map arts use the following website (MapartCraft) and the guides will use it as well:
https://rebane2001.com/mapartcraft/
Each map has 128x128 dimensions and each pixel corresponds to a block. One note however is that all schematics from MapartCraft have an additional line, so a single map requires placing 128x129 = 16512 blocks.
Maps may be built:
- On a flat 2D area (all blocks sharing a same Y level), which is easier but has less color depth, or
- In 3D (with a method known as "staircasing"), which is harder but has triple the amount of possible colors.
In 3D, a shading mechanism compares two adjacent blocks on a same X coordinate and on their respective highest Y coordinates:
- If a block to the north has a higher Y level, the block will have a darker shade.
- If a block to the north has the same Y level, the block will have the medium shade (same as 2D).
- If a block to the north has a lower Y level, the block will have a brighter shade.
An example of the achievable colors is in both the Minecraft Wiki (there is a fourth darkest shade, which is not achieavable by normal means) and in MapartCraft itself (to the left of the Block selection).
¶ Basic rules
It is not allowed to:
- Create R-18 map arts
- Create map arts that contain QR Codes
In doubt, contact staff opening a ticket.
¶ Required mods
For building, this guide assumes you will use the Litematica mod, which requires:
- Fabric Loader to launch Minecraft
- Fabric API
- MaLiLib.
¶ Materials
As of 1.18.1 version, use this link, as it will use materials that are farmable, requestable to HoloDrive, and easy to place.
Afterwards, in Block selection, you may click on the Save button and give this preset a name, so you won't need to keep this link bookmarked.
You may change the materials as you see fit. For instance, the link provided uses Jungle Planks instead of Dirt and doesn't enable Gold Blocks and Lapis Lazuli Blocks, which are not fast to get.
It is also useful to remove materials with low counts and that don't bring any visible improvement (Cobblestone, Magenta Terracotta and Black Terracotta are common ones).
20211212 changes:
- Added Warped/Crimson variants
- Removed Iron (replace with other easily available color)
¶ Guides
Follow these links for the main content:
The Basics: 1x1 2D map art
The Basics: 1x1 3D map art (and replacing bottom slabs to top slabs)
Intermediate: NxM 3D map art (and circumventing the map height limit)
Advanced: Improving colors (changing skin and gray areas)
¶ Common mistakes
¶ Wrong schematic placement
All MapartCraft schematics (whether 2D or 3D) have an additional top strip line, which needs to be outside the map chunk. This means that the Z coordinate is always an odd number.
To double check, grab a calculator and:
- Keep subtracting or adding the X coordinate by 128. If it reaches 64, it is correct.
- Keep subtracting or adding the Z coordinate by 128. If it reaches 63, it is correct.
Staff will not destroy or move a wrong schematic location due to a player mistake.
If in need to destroy a map art, you may claim the area, enable explosions and use TNT. To remove wool, you may also use Shears with Efficiency, Unbreaking and Mending enchantments.
¶ Lost pixels on NxM map arts
Depending on the image, this may happen:
Or this:
This happens when the schematic's starting Y level plus the schematic's height goes above 255, which is the height limit. See Intermediate: NxM 3D map art on how to split the schematic into independent map arts.
¶ Rarer mistakes
¶ Changing the map's zoom level
Do not amplify maps (changing zoom levels with a Cartography Table), or you will lose pixels.
Also, do not build a 256x256 area and then use the first zoom level, or do other similar ways - that will also lose pixels.
¶ Avoiding wrong blocks
Litematica versions 20211006+ adds a new configuration - in Generic, change easyPlaceSwapInterval to 250 or a value above your ping.
This will make Litematica wait before trying to place another block, which generally fixes most cases of wrong block placements.
¶ Conflicts with other mods
If you have other mods that change your inventory at the same time as Litematica's pickBlock feature also changes your inventory, your inventory may now have ghost blocks.
One such example is Inventory Profiles Next's auto refill feature. To disable that:
- Open Inventory Profiles Next's configuration menu (R + C)
- In
Mod Settings, click onAuto Refillcategory - Set
Enable Auto Refilltofalse
You can see this problem happening in this video:
¶ Avoiding ghost blocks
Litematica versions 20211006+ adds a new configuration - in Generic, change easyPlaceVanillaReach to true.
This will make Litematica not try to place blocks further than 4.5 blocks of distance, which are rejected by Paper-based servers, giving the impression of ghost blocks in the client side.
¶ Other links
Useful mod configurations for building map arts
(Technical) Diving further on dithering and color difference algorithms