..
    Hey! You! Read these docs at http://docs.overviewer.org
    Go there now!

========================
The Minecraft Overviewer
========================

See also the `Github Homepage`_ and the `Updates Blog`_

.. _Github Homepage: https://github.com/overviewer/Minecraft-Overviewer

.. _Updates Blog: http://overviewer.org/blog/

Introduction
============
The Minecraft Overviewer is a command-line tool for rendering high-resolution
maps of Minecraft worlds. It generates a set of static html and image files and
uses the Google Maps API to display a nice interactive map.

The Overviewer has been in active development for several years and has many
features, including day and night lighting, cave rendering, mineral overlays,
and many plugins for even more features! It is written mostly in Python with
critical sections in C as an extension module.

For a simple example of what your renders will look like, head over to `The
"Exmaple" Map <http://overviewer.org/example/>`_. For more user-contributed
examples, see `The Example Wiki Page <https://github.com/overviewer/Minecraft-Overviewer/wiki/Map-examples>`_.

.. image:: front_page_screenshot.png
    
Documentation Contents
======================

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 2

   installing
   building
   running
   config
   signs
   win_tut/windowsguide
   faq
   design/designdoc



Features
========

* Renders high resolution images of your world, let's you "deep zoom" and see
  details!

* Gloriously awesome smooth lighting is here!
  (:ref:`rendermode<option_rendermode>` name is ``smooth_lighting``)

* Customizable textures! Pulls textures straight from your installed texture
  pack!

* Choose from four rendering angles.

* Generates a Google Maps powered map!

* Runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac platforms!

* Renders efficiently in parallel, using as many simultaneous processes as you
  want!

* *Only* requires: Python, Numpy, and PIL (all of which are included in the
  Windows download!)

* Utilizes caching to speed up subsequent renderings of your world. Only parts
  that need re-rendering are re-rendered.

* Throw the output directory up on a web server to share your Minecraft world
  with the internet!

* Run The Overviewer from a command line or on a cron schedule for constantly
  updated maps! Run it for your Minecraft server world to provide your users
  with a detailed map!

* Supports Nether and The End dimensions!

* Built-in support for Biomes!

What The Overviewer is not
--------------------------
Full disclosure disclaimers of what The Overviewer is *not*.

* It does not run fast. Because of the high level of detail, initial renders of
  a world can take some time. Expect minutes for medium worlds, hours for large
  to huge worlds. Subsequent renders are *much* faster due to the caching.

  Also note that speed is improving all the time. We continually make efficiency
  improvements to The Overviewer. Besides, for the level of detail provided,
  our users consider it worth the time!

* The Overviewer is not targeted at end users. We mainly see Overviewer fitting
  in best with server operators, rendering their server's map for all users to
  view.

  You are welcome to use The Overviewer for your single player worlds, and it
  will work just fine. However, since the only interface is currently command
  line based, you will need to know a bit about the command line in order to
  operate The Overviewer.

* The Overviewer is not a potato.

Requirements
============
This is a quick list of what's required to run The Overviewer. It runs on
Windows, Mac, and Linux as long as you have these software packages installed:

* Python 2.6 or 2.7 (we are *not* yet compatible with Python 3.x)

* PIL (Python Imaging Library) or Pillow

* Numpy

* Either a Minecraft Client installed or a textures/ folder for the textures (possibly from a texturepack)

The first three are included in the Windows download. Also, there are additional
requirements for compiling it (like a compiler). More details are available in
either the :doc:`Building <building>` or :doc:`Installing <installing>` pages.

Getting Started
===============

The Overviewer works with Linux, Mac, and Windows! We provide Windows and Debian
built executables for your convenience. Find them as well as the full sources on
our `Github Homepage`_.

**If you are running Windows, Debian, or Ubuntu and would like the pre-built
packages and don't want to have to compile anything yourself**, head to the
:doc:`installing` page.

**Running Windows and not familiar with the command line?** Head to the
:doc:`win_tut/windowsguide` page.

**If you would like to build the Overviewer from source yourself (it's not that
bad)**, head to the :doc:`Building <building>` page.

**For all other platforms** you will need to build it yourself.
:doc:`building`.

**After you have The Overviewer built/installed** see :doc:`running` and
:doc:`config`.

.. _help:

Help
====

**IF YOU NEED HELP COMPILING OR RUNNING THE OVERVIEWER** feel free to chat with
us live in IRC: #overviewer on Freenode. There's usually someone on there that
can help you out. Not familiar with IRC? `Use the web client
<http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=overviewer>`_. (If there's no immediate
response, wait around or try a different time of day; we have to sleep sometime)

Also check our :doc:`Frequently Asked Questions <faq>` page.

If you think you've found a bug or other issue, file an issue on our `Issue
Tracker <https://github.com/overviewer/Minecraft-Overviewer/issues>`_. Filing or
commenting on an issue sends a notice to our IRC channel, so the response time
is often very good!

Indices and tables
==================

* :ref:`genindex`
* :ref:`modindex`
* :ref:`search`