Tilemap Editor: Godot 4 Cheat Sheet

This is a quick reference for the most essential tilemap editor tools in Godot 4. Whether you're painting your first level or need to quickly recall a tool or keyboard shortcut, this cheat sheet has something for you.

The tilemap editor gives you everything you need to create detailed 2D levels efficiently

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You can quickly scan and apply the techniques below without having to remember every detail.

In this cheat sheet, you'll find the steps to:

• Navigate the tilemap editor's tile view
• Paint and erase tiles
• Select and duplicate level sections
• The main keyboard shortcuts to speed up your workflow

Navigation and interface

Opening the tilemap editor

To access the tilemap editor:

1. Select a TileMapLayerTileMapLayer node in your scene tree and make sure it has a tileset assigned in the Inspector
2. The editor should open automatically. If not, click the TileMap button at the bottom of the editor to open the tilemap bottom panel

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Navigating the tiles view on the right

Here's a quick run through the navigation controls in the tile view:

• To pan the view, click and drag with the middle mouse button (or click both left and right mouse buttons together if you don't have a middle button)
• To zoom in and out, roll the mouse wheel up or down or click the ZoomLessZoom Out or ZoomMoreZoom In buttons at the top-left of the tile view
• To center the view, click the CenterViewCenter View button at the top right of the tile view

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Toggle grid visibility

Click GridToggle grid visibility at the top-right of the tilemap editor to show or hide the tile grid.

The grid helps you see exactly where tiles will be placed and is especially useful when starting out.

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Toggle layer focus

When you have multiple layers you can use layer focus to highlight the currently selected. Click the TileMapHighlightSelectedHighlight Selected TileMap Layer button at the top-right of the tilemap editor to toggle this feature.

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Painting and erasing tiles

Painting tiles with the Paint Tool

The EditPaint Tool is your main drawing tool:

1. Click tiles in the tile view (right side) to select them
2. Make sure the EditPaint Tool is selected in the TileMap editor toolbar
3. Left-click in the viewport to place individual tiles
4. Click and drag to paint multiple tiles in one stroke

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Erasing tiles efficiently

You have two ways to erase tiles:

• Toggle the EraserEraser Tool and click and drag to erase. Press e to toggle it on and off.
• Right-click and drag while using the EditPaint Tool

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Drawing straight lines

Hold Shift, then click and drag to draw straight lines between two points.

This works with any tile or pattern you have selected, making it perfect for long platform edges or walls.

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Tip: You can also erase in straight lines using Shift + right-click and drag.

Filling rectangular areas

Hold Ctrl+Shift, then click and drag to fill entire rectangular regions instantly.

This is a huge time-saver when creating large platform sections or filling background areas.

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Tip: Use Ctrl+Shift + right-click and drag to erase rectangular areas.

Working with multi-tile patterns

You can select and paint with multiple tiles at once:

1. Click and drag in the tile source view to select a rectangular pattern of tiles
2. Each click with the paint tool places the entire pattern
3. The Shift and Ctrl+Shift modifiers work with multi-tile selections too

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This is great for creating platforms or decorative elements that span multiple tiles.

Selecting and duplicating tiles

Selecting tiles in your level

The ToolSelectSelect Tool lets you grab entire sections of your level:

1. Click the ToolSelectSelect Tool in the tilemap editor toolbar
2. Click and drag to create a selection box around tiles in the viewport
3. Hold Shift and select multiple areas to build up complex selections

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Selected tiles appear with a thin outline in the viewport.

Copy and paste workflow for duplicating structures

Once you have tiles selected, you can duplicate them anywhere:

1. With tiles selected, press ctrlc (on Mac: ⌘c) to copy them
2. Press ctrlv (on Mac: ⌘v) to paste the copied tiles
3. Move your mouse to position the copied tiles
4. Left-click to place the copied tiles at that location

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Use this to duplicate platform sections, create repeated patterns, or copy entire level chunks.

Sampling existing patterns quickly

With the EditPaint Tool selected, you can sample tiles directly from your level:

Ctrl+click and drag on existing tiles in your level to sample and copy entire patterns.

This turns any arrangement of tiles into your current brush, letting you grab patterns and stamp them down repeatedly without switching tools.

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This is faster than using the selection tool when you want to quickly grab and reuse small patterns.

Recap of the main keyboard shortcuts for the tilemap editor

Undo/redo:

• ctrlz (on Mac: ⌘z): Undo your last drawing action
• ctrlshiftz (on Mac: ⌘shiftz): Redo the last undone action

Copy/paste:

• ctrlc (on Mac: ⌘c): Copy selected tiles (with the ToolSelectSelect Tool)
• ctrlv (on Mac: ⌘v): Paste copied tiles

Modifiers for the EditPaint Tool:

• shift + click and drag: Draw straight lines
• ctrlshift + drag: Fill rectangular areas
• Right-click + drag: Erase tiles
• shift + right-click + drag: Erase in straight lines
• ctrlshift + right-click + drag: Erase rectangular areas

Pattern sampling:

• Ctrl + click and drag: Sample existing tile patterns from your level

Tips and troubleshooting

I can't see the tilemap editor or it appears empty

If you don't see the TileMap bottom panel: Make sure you've selected a TileMapLayerTileMapLayer node in your scene tree and clicked the TileMap button at the bottom of the editor.

If the panel is empty: Check that your TileMapLayerTileMapLayer node has a tileset resource assigned in the Inspector. Without a tileset, there are no tiles to display!

If tiles appear but you can't paint: Double-check you have the EditPaint Tool selected and have clicked on tiles in the tile source view to select them.

Updates / Code patches

• This cheat sheet was created with Godot 4.4
• No errors have been reported. REPORT AN ERROR