Layers

This page describes the layer types found in Teeworlds 0.6 maps. Layers define the visual and physical structure of the game world.

Layer Item (type_id = 5)

Every layer item starts with a common header. The remaining fields depend on the layer type.

Common Header

Field	Type	Description
_version	int	Unused (was uninitialized in the editor).
type	int	Layer type: 2 = Tilemap, 3 = Quads.
flags	int	Layer flags (see below).

Layer Flags

Value	Name	Description
1	LAYERFLAG_DETAIL	Layer should only be rendered on high detail settings.

Tilemap Layer

Tilemap layers contain a grid of tiles. They are the most common layer type and include both visual tiles and the physics-defining Game layer.

// ...common header...
byte[*-...]  // version       - tilemap version (up to 4)
byte[*-...]  // width         - layer width in tiles
byte[*-...]  // height        - layer height in tiles
byte[*-...]  // flags         - tilemap flags (see below)
byte[*-...]  // color_r       - color tint (red, 0-255)
byte[*-...]  // color_g       - color tint (green, 0-255)
byte[*-...]  // color_b       - color tint (blue, 0-255)
byte[*-...]  // color_a       - color tint (alpha, 0-255)
byte[*-...]  // color_env     - color envelope index (-1 if unused)
byte[*-...]  // color_env_offset - color envelope time offset
byte[*-...]  // image         - image index (-1 if unused)
byte[*-...]  // data          - index to the tile data block
byte[*-...]  // name          - (version 3+) I32String name (3 ints)

Tilemap Flags

Value	Name	Description
0	TILESLAYERFLAG_NONE	Regular visual tiles layer.
1	TILESLAYERFLAG_GAME	Game layer (defines physics and entities).

Tile Structure

Each tile is 4 bytes in the data block:

Byte	Name	Description
0	index	Tile index (0 = air, 1 = solid, 2 = death, 3 = unhookable, 192+ = entities).
1	flags	Tile flags (see below).
2	skip	Skip count for version 4 compression (set to 0 after expansion).
3	reserved	Unused.

Tile Flags

Value	Name	Description
1	TILEFLAG_VFLIP	Vertical flip.
2	TILEFLAG_HFLIP	Horizontal flip.
4	TILEFLAG_OPAQUE	Opaque (for rendering).
8	TILEFLAG_ROTATE	90° rotation.

The order of operations is: horizontal flip → vertical flip → rotation.

Skip Compression (Version 4)

In version 4 tilemaps, the skip byte is used for compression. Instead of storing a full 2D grid, tiles with the same value are stored once with a skip count indicating how many identical tiles follow.

Example: a tile with skip = 3 means "this tile repeats 3 more times" (4 total identical tiles). After expanding, set skip = 0 on all tiles.

Game Layer

The Game layer is a tilemap layer with TILESLAYERFLAG_GAME set. It defines the physics of the world and the positions of entities.

Physics Tiles

Index	Name	Description
0	TILE_AIR	Empty space.
1	TILE_SOLID	Solid wall (players collide).
2	TILE_DEATH	Death tile (kills on contact).
3	TILE_NOHOOK	Solid but unhookable (hook bounces off).

Entity Tiles

Entity tiles use indices from 192 to 202. Each entity spawns at the center of its tile (pixel position = tile_x * 32 + 16, tile_y * 32 + 16).

Index	Name	Description
192	ENTITY_SPAWN	DM/TDM spawn point.
193	ENTITY_SPAWN_RED	Red team spawn point.
194	ENTITY_SPAWN_BLUE	Blue team spawn point.
195	ENTITY_FLAGSTAND_RED	Red flag stand (CTF).
196	ENTITY_FLAGSTAND_BLUE	Blue flag stand (CTF).
197	ENTITY_ARMOR_1	Armor pickup.
198	ENTITY_HEALTH_1	Health pickup.
199	ENTITY_WEAPON_SHOTGUN	Shotgun pickup.
200	ENTITY_WEAPON_GRENADE	Grenade pickup.
201	ENTITY_POWERUP_NINJA	Ninja powerup.
202	ENTITY_WEAPON_RIFLE	Laser rifle pickup.

Quads Layer

Quads layers contain textured rectangles. They are used for visual elements like backgrounds and decorations.

// ...common header...
byte[*-...]  // version   - quads version (up to 2)
byte[*-...]  // num_quads - number of quads
byte[*-...]  // data      - index to the quads data block
byte[*-...]  // image     - image index
byte[*-...]  // name      - (version 2+) I32String name (3 ints)

Quad Structure

Each quad is 152 bytes (38 ints) in the data block:

Field	Ints	Type	Description
positions	10	Point[5]	5 corner positions (22.10 fixed-point).
corner_colors	16	Color[4]	4 corner colors (r, g, b, a).
texture_coords	8	Point[4]	4 texture coordinates (0-1024 range).
pos_env	1	int	Position envelope index (-1 if unused).
pos_env_offset	1	int	Position envelope time offset.
color_env	1	int	Color envelope index (-1 if unused).
color_env_offset	1	int	Color envelope time offset.

INFO

Corner order: top-left → top-right → bottom-left → bottom-right. The 5th point in positions is the pivot. Divide positions by 512 to get world coordinates. Divide texture coordinates by 1024 to normalize to (0, 1) range.