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Controls Guide: Key Bindings, Cursor & Hotbar Setup

Terraria's controls determine how you move, interact, fight, build and manage items. This page summarizes the default input scheme, important control features, and useful tips for keyboard/mouse and controller play so you can quickly act in combat, build efficiently, and manage your inventory.

Basic movement and interaction

  • Move: W, A, S, D (default). These keys control walking and direction.
  • Jump: Space. Works for normal jumping; accessories or wings modify jump/fall behavior.
  • Cursor: Move with the mouse. The cursor aims attacks and points where you place blocks or use items.
  • Use/Primary action: Left mouse button (or controller button mapped to primary). Activates the currently selected hotbar item or the item attached to the cursor. Typical actions: attack with weapons, use tools (pickaxe/axe/hammer), place blocks or furniture, drink potions.
  • Interact/Secondary action: Right mouse button (or controller secondary). Opens and interacts with placed objects (doors, chests, crafting stations), talks to NPCs, picks up single items from stacks, and can remove torches/placed items. Right-clicking an enemy while using a summon weapon directs minions to target it.
  • Throw item: Default bind causes the selected item to be thrown in front of the player. This can lose the item if done unintentionally; you can rebind or disable this action in Settings → Controls.

Hotbar and inventory

  • Hotbar: Ten quick-access slots labeled 1 through 0 (or 1–10 in some displays). Press the number keys to select the corresponding hotbar slot.
  • Selecting items: You can switch hotbar slots by pressing the associated number key, scrolling the mouse wheel, or clicking a hotbar slot with the cursor.
  • Inventory: Open/close with Esc (or inventory key bind). The inventory window contains:
    • 40 inventory slots plus 10 hotbar slots
    • Coin and ammo stacks (4 slots each)
    • Trash slot
    • Armor and accessory slots
    • Crafting menu and recipe list
  • Rearranging: Drag items with the cursor to move them. Right-click stacks to split them. Left-click to pick up or place whole stacks.
  • Hotbar use: When a hotbar slot is selected you can left-click anywhere on screen to use the selected item (attack, place, use).
  • Quick-potion key: Default bind (H) uses the first applicable healing or mana potion from your inventory; it looks at the earliest slots to find a usable potion.

Tools, weapons and autofire

  • Tools vs. weapons: Left-click uses the equipped item — tools break blocks, weapons attack. Some weapons require repeated clicks; Autofire (toggle in Settings → Controls) lets many weapons fire continuously while the left mouse button is held.
  • Smart Cursor and Auto Select: Cursor modes available in Settings that make building and harvesting faster:
    • Auto Select: Automatically chooses an appropriate tool (axe/pickaxe/hammer/torch) when hovering over an object.
    • Smart Cursor: Helps place or remove many tiles in a straight line or region without precise cursor placement.
  • Right-click targeting: For summon weapons, right-click any enemy to force your minions to target it.

Camera and screenshots

  • Map: Press M to open the large map, Tab to cycle map overlay modes (overlay, view, closed). Use keypad + / - to zoom the minimap and PageUp/PageDown to adjust minimap transparency.
  • Camera mode (screenshot tools): The game includes screenshot/snapshot framing tools allowing:
    • Take Screenshot: capture the current window without UI.
    • Take Snapshot: specify a framed area to capture.
    • Pin Frame / Set Frame / Reset Frame: choose and lock a rectangular capture area; you can open the map to select large regions.
    • Settings for capture: options to include/exclude entities, background, choose biome background theme, and pack large captures into multiple images or a single scaled image.

Controller support

  • Terraria supports controllers on platforms with a controller UI. Typical layout:
    • Left stick: movement.
    • Right stick or face buttons: aim/use items.
    • Triggers and bumpers: switch items, open inventory, or perform secondary actions depending on platform mapping.
  • Controller bindings are configurable in Settings → Controls; refer to the on-screen control layout for platform-specific button assignments.

Keybind customization and tips

  • All keys and many mouse buttons can be rebound from Settings → Controls. Consider rebinding or disabling the Throw key to prevent accidental item loss.
  • Use the mouse middle and side buttons if available — rebinding them improves convenience for inventory cycling or special actions.
  • Enable Autofire for weapons you want to fire continuously (melee swings, ranged auto-shooters).
  • Use Smart Cursor + Auto Select together for rapid terraforming and building.
  • Remember right-click splits stacks in the world and interacts with placed objects; left-click is for bulk actions.

This summary covers the core controls and convenience features that affect combat, building, and inventory management. Adjust keybinds and cursor modes in Settings to match your preferred playstyle.

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