Hotkeys

Hotkeys are grouped by context, and the game switches context on its own: walking, driving and working inside a screen each listen to a different set. Everything below is the default binding. All of them can be reassigned in the settings, and a binding accepts a key combination, not only a single key.

Movement

Key	Action	Notes
W A S D	Move	—
Mouse	Look	—
Space	Jump	Also ascends while flying.
C	Crouch	Descends while flying. Crouching also prevents falling off the edge of a block.
Left Shift	Sprint	On a boat the same key is the throttle boost.
F	Change movement mode	Toggles flight, or uses the steampack or jetpack.
Shift + F	Switch Creative mode	Only in a world created in Creative mode.

Building and the world

Key	Action	Notes
Left Mouse Button	Use the item in hand	Hold to mine with the Multitool. Press to place a block, hold to lay a run of them.
Right Mouse Button	Open the block	Opens the interface of the machine or block under the crosshair.
Shift + Right Mouse Button	Secondary action of the held item	The Multitool opens its settings this way.
Ctrl + Left Mouse Button	Take from the block's outputs	Pulls a machine's finished output straight into your inventory. Cmd on macOS. Works on chests, conveyors and robot arms as well, and takes from outputs only.
Middle Mouse Button	Recipes of the item under the crosshair	Opens the recipes that make it and the recipes that use it.
R	Rotate	Turns the placement preview. Hold Shift or Alt while rotating to work in another plane.
T	Use the block in place	Presses the block's own control without opening it. With no block under the crosshair, gets you into a vehicle you are standing next to.
Q	Pick block	Takes the block under the crosshair into your hand: in Creative mode always, otherwise only if you have one in the inventory.
Alt + Q	Empty hand	Puts down whatever the cursor is carrying.
G	Throw item	—
Y	Toggle replace mode	Replaces a block with the one in hand, of the same tier or another, and hides the block face outlines.
Up / Down Arrow	Raise / lower the build layer	—
Mouse Wheel	Vertical offset of the preview	—
Ctrl + Z	Undo	Cmd + Z on macOS. A dragged run of blocks undoes in one press.
Ctrl + Y	Redo	Cmd + Y on macOS.
Ctrl + C	Copy block settings	Writes the settings of the block under the crosshair to the clipboard.
Ctrl + V	Paste block settings	Applies the copied settings to the block under the crosshair.
L	Toggle flashlight	Needs a flashlight in the lighting slot.

Tools

These select a tool directly, without taking a hotbar slot for it. Pressing the same combination again puts the tool away.

Key	Tool
Alt + Z	Multitool
Alt + X	Screwdriver
Alt + V	Ground Leveling Tool

Hotbar

Key	Action	Notes
1 – 9, 0	Select a hotbar slot	Selecting the slot you are already holding frees your hands.

Interface

Key	Opens	Notes
E	Inventory	—
M	Map	—
J	Research	—
B	Quest book	—
X	Machine input and output icons	Shows which face of every machine takes a resource and which gives one.
.	Hide the interface	For screenshots.
Enter	Chat	—
/	Command console	The same field as the chat, opened in command mode. See Cheats.
Esc	Menu, or close the open screen	—
Backspace	Back, in the recipe browser	—
Alt + Backspace	Forward, in the recipe browser	—

Vehicles

While you are driving, these replace the movement keys.

Key	Action
W / S	Throttle forward / back
A / D	Steer
Mouse	Look
Left Shift	Boost (boat)
Space	Handbrake
T	Leave the vehicle