WORLD EDIT TUTORIAL: Masks

Hello builders!

Today I’ve created a tutorial to selectively modify blocks with World Edit commands, also called masks.

Masks

Spoiler

Masks specify block types for other commands to exclusively change. The most common use of masks in World Edit are paired with brushes.

For example, //mask dirt,air will cause brushes to only change dirt and air blocks. Using a sphere brush, you can see how grass blocks were unaffected, but dirt blocks were.



However, there are more arguments to masks than blocks. To edit all but certain blocks, !block can be used. The ! is a logical not if you are unfamiliar with logic symbols. For example, //mask !air will edit all blocks except air blocks. To place blocks exclusively above or below other blocks, use //mask >block or //mask <block. The greater and less than signs specify the brush to place above or below. To remove a mask, //mask with no arguments.

Masks and Other Commands

Spoiler

Masks can be used with other commands, such as //copy. For example, say we have the following selection:



If I wanted to copy only the blue and green wool, but ignore the yellow, I can use //copy -m 35:3,35:3 and get the following result when I paste:



Of course, it’s just as reasonable to copy/paste the original selection, then //remove 35:4 from the pasted selection, as I know many builders prefer to do.

If any other commands support a -m argument, I would be interested to know what they are.

Global Masks

Spoiler

Masks can be used globally with //gmask <mask>. This applies to many more commands than its sister command, //mask, which (to my knowledge) only affects brushes. For example, say we have the following selection:



After //gmask !35:4, I can use //set 1 and get the following result:



Like I mentioned above, a global mask affects more than just //set. I just used it in this example. To remove a global mask, use //gmask with no arguments.

Note: For those of you who are experienced with World Edit, this tutorial is probably nothing new to you. This tutorial is aimed at those who have used World Edit before, but don’t know all the ins and outs of its commands yet.

I hope you found this helpful for future builds. If you have suggestions for tutorials I should do next, let me know!

Other Tutorials
WORLD EDIT TUTORIAL: Spikes
WORLD EDIT TUTORIAL: Big, big, big circles!
WORLD EDIT TUTORIAL: Basic Terraforming

 

@Shawn_ - any ideas for topics to cover next?