Pictorbit - Help

Welcome to Pictorbit, an open universe we invent and live together! In an infinite world of abundance, we create new things by drawing them, build new places, hang out and chat, collect, make music, party, script objects, go on adventures... and have fun together in ways none of us can predict.

>> Please visit Helptown for more, and post your questions at the help board there!
You can also speak "To Helptown" to go there.

What are the keyboard and mouse controls?

Press ↑ ← ↓ → (or WASD) = Run and Jump
Typing = chat
Space or Action button = Pick up/ Mount/ Wear, and drop/ unmount/ unwear
Down = Open body motions or area possessions if available
Down (when holding something) = Drop holdable

Right-click or Ctrl-R (while dragging) = Rotate
Ctrl+Click (on a thing) = Delete thing (Cmd+Click on Mac)
Ctrl+Click (on yourself) = Remove held item
Shift+drag (a thing) = Move thing
Shift+Click (on dust) = Undo deletion
Shift+Click (on person) = Upvote
ESC = close dialog
Ctrl+F10 = toggle showing of menus
Ctrl+I = show my public snapshots in full view
Ctrl+B = Boosts
Ctrl+H = Travel Holder
Ctrl+F (during creation) = Find type
Ctrl+Z = Undo last block placements and removals
Ctrl+Shift+Z = Redo undone block placements and removals
More...

Collecting & building with mouse: To build something, drag it from one position in the world to a free other position. Drag something from your collection and creation panes into the world to place it, or drag it into the pane to collect it.

You can quickly place multiple blocks by placing at the edges of an empty rectangle in clockwise order, starting at the top left, as shown below (this also works mirrored, and with removing all-same blocks). You can also auto fill lines by placing as shown.

To clone an object of yours to change it, drag it onto the create tab or button. Some creations by others are also clonable.

Friending: If you enjoy someone's company, you can click them and then click the "+My Friends" button. They will then appear in your My Friends list, which you can open by clicking on yourself, then "My Friends" (or on desktop, pressing F1). You can also ping friends with your location. (Reversely, you can also block someone, which results in their speech not be heard by you anymore, and you not being listed in their friends list.)

Pictorbit Community Guidelines

On Pictorbit, we have a clean slate to build and share a universe for everyone no matter their differences. Therefore, we have a few expectations for all our players both in-game and in other community spaces including the Pictorbit Discord Server:

1️⃣ Show kindness to others as well as yourself.

No personal attacks, hate speech, or discriminatory behavior based on gender identity, sexual orientation, hobbies/interests, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religious beliefs, or other characteristics that can't easily be changed. Respect people's pronouns, especially if they're known to you.

Don't be a jerk. This means no bad behavior such as trolling, harassing, targeting/bullying, stalking, impersonation, creating/spreading rumours, and brigading. The best trolls and pranks are where nobody gets hurt and everyone laughs it off. If you don't like someone or what they're doing, you should block them, report them and don't engage with them. If someone asks you to stop doing something, then please stop doing it.

Be nice to yourself. Everybody goes through low points in life and while it's important to not bottle up our feelings, sometimes people may feel uncomfortable if certain topics are raised or certain feelings are expressed. Some conversations are best kept between friends, professionals, and not in public spaces.

Don't post about other people (especially without their consent) in public spaces, including on Readables. Account issues should be discussed privately over email. Respect privacy, and never ask for or share private identifiable information such as (but not limited to) age, IP address, real name, location, school, photos, or workplace.

2️⃣ Respect the space you're in.

Public spaces are well, public. It's important to show your best side by displaying good etiquette and being mindful of other people. Don't excessively swear, bring up drama, or display any threatening or aggressive behavior. An inside joke you have with your friends may not translate well to a public space where it could be misunderstood or be seen as offensive.

Pictorbit, Google, and Discord are open to anyone above 13 years of age, so this means no NSFW content, nudity, vulgarity, gore, genitalia, or disturbing shock-value content. All content should be appropriate for a 12+/PG audience. Follow the Terms of Use for Pictorbit, Google, and Discord at all times.

Players should be aware that moderation will be different in private spaces, but this doesn't mean that consent stops existing. If somebody feels uncomfortable with what you're doing, then you should stop doing it. Always ask for consent, and respect boundaries in all spaces at all times.

Don't send people unsolicited messages or pings, and don't try to find unfindable players. Don't trap or trick people, or 'kill' others around you (unless it's part of a game where everyone is happy to take part). If someone doesn't want to play with you, find someone else who wants to play. Don't record or take snapshots of people to embarrass or ridicule them, and consider changing your username to let people know you're recording.

3️⃣ Give to the community as much as you take.

We're all here sharing the same spaces, so it's important to let other people take the stage too. Don't speak on behalf of other people, and listen when others are speaking. Don't mass-create areas or squat on area names for future use. Don't create pixel-by-pixel copies of other art (unless the copyright allows), and don't claim ownership of art that you didn't make.

No excessive advertising, self-promotions, cluttering, littering, or spamming. Your idea or creation might be pretty cool, but people don't want to look at it every waking minute of the day. Be careful when removing or editing other people's structures; e.g. if you're messing about as an editor in someone else's area, consider cleaning up before you leave and putting things as they were when you arrived.

There is no “correct” way to play. Some people prefer chatting, some people like to create and build, others like to code, some people roleplay, while others just like playing instruments. Everyone has their own way of playing and that's fine (as long as it's within these guidelines!)

Be responsible. Use self-descriptive titles in Forum and Writable threads and apply tags appropriately. For example, "Suggestion: Day/Night Cycle" is a better title than "A Suggestion". If your post/message was locked or removed, don't reopen it under a new title or add threads asking why it was removed. Instead, contact us by email.

Keep spaces organised by staying on-topic. Don't flood spaces with nonsense or low-effort messages and media - some people may have limited data!

Don't overly criticise other people, including their actions, ideas and creations. Things build up over time and eventually it becomes bullying. Don't give unwanted criticism, and keep it constructive if it's asked for. Consider “this is bad and done wrong, you're terrible” vs “I think this could be better if…”

4️⃣ Play fairly.

Client-side code manipulation is allowed, but be responsible. We encourage players to test and prototype potential new features and changes, but with great power comes great responsibility! Don't abuse client-side code in a way that upsets other people, and don't use anything you're not willing to share with the community. If you're playing a game, don't give yourself an unfair advantage. If someone in the area you're in asks you to stop what you're doing, then stop. Be mindful that some actions may result in an automatic ban (which should be discussed with us over email).

Botting, scamming, deceiving, multi-flagging on different accounts, or using multiple accounts in a way that confuses others is not allowed. Don't abuse loopholes, exploits or vulnerabilities that you may come across, and report them straight away over email.

Communicate with other people, and use upvoting and flagging wisely. Upvote others when they do something good, and flag-report if they are breaking these guidelines or the Terms of Service (below). Creations can be flagged by right-clicking, and clicking the flag that shows up. Areas can be flagged by opening the triangle menu, clicking the area's name, and clicking the flag that shows up.

When area locking or flagging players, don't write nonsense or false information as this could lead to confusion and rumours being spread. Flagging and public area locking should always be evidence-led based on the Guidelines and Terms. For private areas, Area Editors reserve the right to temporarily or permanently lock people at their own discretion.

5️⃣ Keep the vibe in check.

In an ideal world, people would behave according to the Guidelines and Terms, and the community would self-regulate by upvoting and flagging. However, intervention is sometimes needed in order to keep the peace. Pictorbit Team members are human volunteers who choose to be involved with the game and community during their free time.

While it's okay to sometimes remind people to stick to the Guidelines and Terms, it doesn't make you a Team member and you shouldn't backseat moderate or speak on behalf of Team members. Don't argue with Team decisions, if you have a complaint or want to appeal then respect goes a long way. Don't act as a vigilante even if you're “trying to help” - getting involved in something may complicate matters for Team members and you could face action too. Flag reporting is sufficient enough. Illegal content should always be reported to us via email and to appropriate authorities.

Don't gatekeep the community or act as a bouncer if you're not a Team member. People are not expected to seek approval from any non-Team member before inviting their friends to Pictorbit, and any queries or concerns should be brought to a Team member in private.

Actions taken by the Team are generally on a case-by-case basis. If you feel like action taken against your account was unjust, please let us know privately. We believe everybody should be listened to. If you would like to make a good-faith complaint against a Team member, again please contact the administrators via email or on Discord.

Though Pictorbit is a moderated community, the ideal is a community that is mostly self-regulating. But keep in mind that no one has a right to play Pictorbit and access to the game is at the sole discretion of the game's administrators (the Pictorbit Team). If you can't abide by the Guidelines above, you can't play. It is our job to keep Pictorbit a safe and welcoming place. We might not catch everything that goes wrong, but we'll try our hardest, with your help.

Please read the terms below for more.

What are the terms of service?

We try to keep the terms text short :)

First of all, we take our responsibility very seriously, and want to provide a long-term sustainable environment for everyone who joined. If you join Pictorbit, you agree to all of these terms of service.

Pictorbit requires you to be at least 13 years of age, and in some countries older: See Google's terms and age requirements and Discord's age requirements for the US requirements and those of other countries. Logging in to Pictorbit is only possible via either a Google account or a Discord account, so their respective terms and restrictions apply if you join Pictorbit, too.

Note we never automatically post to your wall or connect your friends and such when you login with Google or Discord.

We try to have the world be stable & permanent and have backups and such... but can make no guarantees regarding lost data or availablility of the service. We may block users who we find abuse the service, and cancel, remove or block accounts, creations or areas if they go against the etiquette or terms. We may send out emails, but there will be an easy unsubscribe-forever-from-all-emails link with them.

We want the best for Pictorbit and its citizens, and to that end reserve the right to amend the world and its rules in any ways we think helps create the best place for all citizens.

By submitting content here you affirm that you have the necessary licenses, rights, trademarks etc. on that content and that you give Pictorbit the universe-wide, non-exclusive, royalty-free right to do anything with it for all time, and to give all Manyzens the universe-wide, non-exclusive, royalty-free rights to access this content (community happiness is our top priority to which all other decisions follow). Otherwise you are not allowed to use trademarked properties (including in created area names or Multi names) or copy work. (Non-terms sidenote: We personally wish the world would switch to movements like Creative Commons and vastly broaden Fair Use and remixing defense in everyday creative situations.) Please note we will process and investigate all notices of alleged infringements and take appropriate actions as part of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), notifications of claims and counter-notifications should be sent in this form. It is against the terms to embed, share, upload, create or communicate content which is against the law.

Pictorbit is defined as 12+ in some App Stores, so you agree to not create or share content that would make the app so inappropriate for that age bracket that it could lead to an app ban.

If you're not an adult or you don't know if someone else is an adult, don't ask for or provide personal information like address, email, web page, phone number and such. By logging in to Pictorbit you agree to all of the terms, which may change in the future. You also agree to keep to our etiquette. You agree not to create offensive structures or things in the world, or say offensive things using chat or other communication. You agree to keep the guidelines in all your actions and content. If you are under the age of majority where you live (i.e. you are not legally an adult yet) you represent that your parent or legal guardian has also reviewed and agreed to these terms. Your parent or legal guardian must also approve and take responsibility for your account for any payments made in Pictorbit. If you are not of legal age, you agree to adhere to any limits or stops put on Pictorbit usage by your parents or legal guardian. We unfortunately can't offer refunds if you paid for something in Pictorbit and there's a ban resulting from a breach of terms, or if the service is unavailable.

You also agree to not share your Pictorbit account with other people, or let others join Pictorbit via your Google/ Discord (an account must be self-managed, and for communication with us, the associated email needs to be used).

We are trying to focus on world health and happiness for all of us. We reserve the right to delete any account and creations at our discretion, and there are automatic blocks based on certain patterns. Automation, redistribution or wrapping of Pictorbit and its components, or interfacing with them outside of the ones provided, is against the terms.

You agree not to use multiple accounts in a way that confuses others. You agree not to circumvent bans in any way, or launch non-logged-in explorers (including brain-equipped explorers or bots of any sort) when your main account is banned or an explorer of yours got banned within the last 30 days. Importing of graphics via Changers or other means is against the terms. Client-side code manipulation is against the terms. If you discover a security vulnerability or any type of bug that can be abused, it's against the terms to keep using the bug (please just let us know about it via email, it's very much appreciated).

It's against the terms to submit untrue or nonsensical flag reports. Area name squatting is against the terms. Stalking – obsessing over another Manyzen for a longer period of time even after they told you to stop, in a way that makes the other person feel threatened and insecure (e.g. through constant writing about them, surveilling, following them for a long time etc.) – is against the terms. Suggestive flirting of an 18+ person with someone below 18 years of age is against the terms.

Doxing – public sharing of someone's address or other highly personal information without their consent, on Pictorbit or elsewhere – is against the terms. It's against the terms to falsely claim Pictorbit-officialness for sites, roles, terms etc. Phishing is also against the terms.

The terms are only contained on this page, and not in admin creations, admin forum posts, emails etc.

Privacy policy: We use localStorage, sessionStorage and cookies to save things to provide a better experience, e.g. to restore the creation you were working on in case your computer or browser crashes in-between. By continuing to use Pictorbit, you agree to this cookie policy. We are providing the service on the infamous "as is" basis and cannot guarantee anything and disclaim all warranties.
Pictorbit collects and stores the following information in order to have things working: Your account registration identifier as well as your provided account name; the signup date; the IP address; items, areas and forum posts you create, including the creation date and time; votes, area locks and flag reports which are given and received; social network relations of friending; forum post dates and upvotes; your last-visited time and Pictorbit area, and the location within that Pictorbit area; whether or not the account is currently auto-banned due to flag reports; the friends list status you entered. Most of these are needed to have Pictorbit be properly displayed & working for, while other data points are needed for our algorithmic rank checks as well as anti-hack measures (the anti-hack measures are all intended to help with our top priority of having Pictorbit be a happy and comfy experience for everyone).
If you want to have some of your data deleted, please contact us.

Legal info - Termination: Pictorbit does not guarantee that it will continue to offer access to the system and services or support the app. Pictorbit may in its sole discretion cease to provide any or all of the services offered in connection with Pictorbit (including access to the system and any or all features or components of the app), terminate the EULA, close all accounts and cancel all of the rights granted to you under the EULA. Pictorbit may communicate such termination to you upon 30 days' notice in any of the following manners: 1) when you log into your account; 2) in a notice on Pictorbit website; 3) via email; or 4) in another manner that Pictorbit deems suitable to inform you of the termination. If Pictorbit terminates the EULA pursuant to this section, you will not receive a refund of any fees.

Legal info - Account termination: Pictorbit may immediately, and without notice, discontinue or suspend access to the system through your account, and close your account, if we find a violations of the terms. You will not be entitled to receive a refund of fees for a termination pursuant to this section.

[Please note: Our goal is to offer the Pictorbit service for as long as it's possible. It's our labor of love and we are very dedicated to it. What if the servers go down though, or we can't pay the costs of running anymore (and the voluntary Minfinity plan doesn't sufficiently help)? What if anything else happens that makes it difficult for us to continue the service? We may then one day consider e.g. mandatory plans, or other additional ways to cover costs to ensure the stability for all of you, or even restrict (or worst case, stop) the service. We hope this won't ever happen, but wanted to put in this cautionary note in any case... we hope you understand!]

If you are ever locked and you don't know why, or there's another account-related issue, please feel free to contact us.

We will do our best to provide a great environment for all of you!

Writable etiquette

The etiquette and terms for Writable forums follow above etiquette and terms – for instance, to always be respectful. In addition:

Please use self-descriptive titles. For instance, the title "Suggestion: Feedable Pets" would be used instead of just "Suggestion".
It is against the etiquette to post issues specifically related to an account, or one person, on general writables (or really, any other public place). Account-related issues need to be either discussed in person, or if that's not possible, discussed in private with us via email. This helps the privacy of all involved.
Please do not share any personal details of others on the board, including their location, their activities, their hobbies, profession, what they do or don't do, what they told you in chat etc. Please do not represent or quote others, but allow them to speak for themselves. Please do not post photos of others. Please do not share what you found out about others on the web or elsewhere. Again, privacy is important.
Complaints about other users should be written in Flag reports, but not writables. In addition, you can contact us via email for such issues.
Please do not bump your own threads (e.g. adding a follow-up to them if they didn't yet yield a reply). Please contact us via email if you feel something needs to be looked at again.
If a thread was locked or removed, please do not reopen it under a new title or add threads or comments discussing the locking or removal (you can contact us via email if you want to know more about the reasons).
Please do not post very personal information about yourself, like your home address, email address, or phone number on a Writable.
Threads posted should be appropriate for the topic of the board, and comments posted should be appropriate for the subject of the thread posted in. On boards with high posting frequency and a bigger audience, please keep comment and thread relevancy high, the message clear, and posting quantity and frequency in proportion.

A big thanks to everyone who participates in writables!

Photosensitive warning

A very small percentage of individuals may experience epileptic seizures when exposed to certain light patterns or flashing lights. Exposure to certain patterns or backgrounds on a computer screen, or while playing games, may induce an epileptic seizure in these individuals. Certain conditions may induce previously undetected epileptic symptoms even in persons who have no history of prior seizures or epilepsy.

If you, or anyone in your family, have an epileptic condition, consult your physician prior to using Pictorbit. If you experience any of the following symptoms while playing a video or game – dizziness, altered vision, eye or muscle twitches, loss of awareness, disorientation, any involuntary movement, or convulsions – immediately discontinue use and consult your physician before resuming.

Tips & Tricks

You can find more tips & tricks on this help page.

Who are you and where can I send feedback?

Manyland was originally developed by Scott Lowe & Philipp Lenssen, with world creation by all of you.

Theme music of first video by Duncan MacKinnon featuring Johann Strauss II's The Blue Danube. Additional sound effects via FreeSound.org licensed under Creative Commons; thanks to all the sound makers. The music for the "In a universe" video is Raindrops and Waterfalls by Nicholas Pesci, with narration by Chuck Fresh. Thanks to Delco & Jinx for providing additional sounds, originally for Anyland. Manyland™ is a trademark by Scott Lowe and Philipp Lenssen. All our Manyland logos are in the public domain, feel free to use (just please don't make third-party sites etc. look like they're officially by us). Manyland blocks logo by Korikabu. Music for "Somewhere in infinity" is "Where's My Banjo" by Rimsky (Salvador Fornieles & Carla Olaortua). Music for "10 things" is My Very Own Hostage by Atomic Pop. Music for "Walk right in" is by Kevin MacLeod Music for "We're inventing a universe is "Heavy Traffic", CC-licensed by Three Chain Links. and Cannon's Jug Stompers. Manyland is copyright by Scott Lowe & Philipp Lenssen. Address. Email. To export the PNG of your creations for use elsewhere, shift-right-click them. Manyland™ is a trademark and service mark of Scott Lowe & Philipp Lenssen. A press kit is available. Thanks to everyone who supports, inhabits, provides feedback to, spreads the word of, and shapes Manyland. Thanks to all curators, youtubers and reviewers who visited Manyland. Thanks SalzStange. Thanks Nikolai Kordulla for helping with the iOS wrapper. Thanks go out to the makers of Chrome, Firefox and all other nice browsers, PhotoPaint, PaintShop Pro, Audacity, Apple and GarageBand, ImpactJS by Dominic Szablewski, NodeJS, MongoDB, JavaScript, HTML, CSS and other cool web technologies. Thanks to the makers of devices we build on. Thanks to civilization whose shoulders we stand on, coffee, tea, and the universe in general.

We love to hear your feedback or questions!

A Note About Reused Elements from Manyland

The original Manyland source code was never published as free software and so the 4,000 lines of the Javascript client, info pages (text and code), spritesheets (such as the painter and boost dialog) and some sounds are covered by copyright. The copyright owner ran out of budget to continue hosting Manyland, but that does not mean their rights have disappeared. Don't copy code you find here into projects you care about! The existence of this site is not even a grey area - it's directly infringing. But it seems such infringement is the only option we have left to keep the game alive. We hope for understanding and seek alternative solutions to honor the creator's rights while preserving this beloved universe.