The Workspace
| Area | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Menu bar | Every command, with its keyboard shortcut shown on the right. |
| Toolbar | Preview, Minecraft test, Validate, Export…, Export for KubeJS, Start MCP server (highlighted in blue), and the current zoom. |
| Toolbox / Assets / Components / Items (top left, tabs) | Controls to drag onto the canvas, your project's images, reusable components, and Minecraft item icons. |
| Layers (bottom left) | Every control on the screen, front to back, with groups, visibility and lock. |
| Designer (center) | The canvas. The screen dropdown and New screen, Delete screen and Screen settings sit above it. |
| Properties / Events (right, tabs) | Settings for the selected control, or for the screen when nothing is selected, and what happens on clicks and other events. |
| Output / Scripts (bottom, tabs) | Messages, validation results and the script editor. |
| Status bar | Screen ID, size, selection count, grid, snap and zoom. |
Every panel can be rearranged:
- Drag a panel's title or tab to move it. Drop it on one of the docking guides to dock it beside another panel or into its tab group.
- Drag away from the guides to float it as its own window (useful on a second monitor).
- Pin button: auto-hides the panel at the window edge until you hover over it.
- Close button: hides the panel. Bring it back from View → Panels.
- View → Reset panel layout restores the default arrangement. It never changes your project or script text.
Your arrangement is saved when you close Arcadia Studio and restored next time. It's a per-user preference, separate from projects. (Version 1.2 starts once with a fresh default layout, with a shorter Output panel and wider left panels.)
| Button | Shortcut | Does |
|---|---|---|
| Preview | F5 | Opens an interactive desktop preview. See [[Preview |
| Minecraft test | Ctrl+F5 | Launches real Minecraft with your project. See [[Testing in Minecraft |
| Validate | F7 | Checks the project for errors; results appear in Output. |
| Export… | Ctrl+E | Creates a mod JAR or other format. See [[Exporting and installing |
| Export for KubeJS | – | Export for projects with KubeJS server scripts. |
| Start MCP server | – | Lets an AI assistant work on your project. See [[AI assistants (MCP) |
The text on the right shows the zoom, for example Zoom 100% • 1 GUI pixel = 2 screen pixels. Minecraft measures screens in GUI pixels; the canvas shows each GUI pixel as 2 screen pixels at 100%.
- File: New project, Open project or pack…, Recover unsaved project…, Save, Save as…, Export…, Export for KubeJS…, Exit.
- Edit: Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Duplicate, Delete, Select all, Group, Ungroup, Isolate group, Attach to panel, Detach from panel, Lock / unlock selection, Rename…, Bring to front, Bring forward, Send backward, Send to back, and the Arrange submenu.
- View: Panels, Reset panel layout, zoom commands, Show grid, Snap to grid, Keyboard shortcuts….
- Project: Preview, Test in Minecraft, Validate, Screen settings, Project settings…, Import texture…, MCP server (AI assistants)….
- Help: User manual (F1, opens the offline manual installed with Arcadia Studio), Script API and snippets, Keyboard shortcuts…, About Arcadia Studio.
All of these can be given your own shortcuts. See Keyboard shortcuts.
With a control selected, Properties shows its sections: Identity, Layout (position, size, parent panel, anchors), component options if it's a linked component, Appearance and Behavior. With nothing selected, it shows the Screen settings. See Properties and appearance and Projects and screens.
Text fields update the canvas as you type valid values. An invalid value turns the field's border red and isn't applied.
Output lists what Arcadia Studio did: saves, exports, validation errors, attach and detach reports, and errors. Validation opens this panel automatically. The last message also appears in the status bar.