The ViewCube is the small cube in the top-right corner of the drawing area, labelled TOP, FRONT and LEFT, with a compass ring marked N, S, E and W. It helps in 3D, but on a 2D plan it takes up space and a stray click rotates the view. Many people turn off the ViewCube in AutoCAD and find it back a little later. This article explains why, and how to turn it off for good.
Every result here comes from AutoCAD 2027 screenshots, using the acadiso.dwt template, in two visual styles: 2D Wireframe and Conceptual. For 2D and 3D drafting taught properly, the Institute runs an AutoCAD course for construction.
Three ways to switch the ViewCube in AutoCAD
| Route | What it does |
|---|---|
The navvcube command, alias CUBE | Asks Enter an option [ON/OFF/Settings] <ON>: |
| Menu View → Display → ViewCube | On or Off |
The NAVVCUBEDISPLAY variable | Type its name, enter 0, 1, 2 or 3 |
Locations and aliases come from the 2027 acad.cuix and acad.pgp files. According to the Autodesk documentation on NAVVCUBEDISPLAY, the variable controls the display of the ViewCube in the current visual style and the current viewport. The words "in the current visual style" are the key to this article.
The four values of NAVVCUBEDISPLAY
Each value was set in turn, in two visual styles, and the top-right corner captured, as in the image above:
| NAVVCUBEDISPLAY | 2D Wireframe | Conceptual (3D) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Hidden | Hidden |
| 1 | Hidden | Shown |
| 2 | Shown | Hidden |
| 3 (the machine's default) | Shown | Shown |
In other words the value is the sum of two switches: 1 for 3D visual styles, 2 for 2D Wireframe. Only 0 hides the ViewCube in every visual style.
Why the ViewCube comes back after you turn it off
In the Conceptual style, type NAVVCUBE and OFF. The ViewCube disappears. Read the variable:
| Step | NAVVCUBEDISPLAY |
|---|---|
| Before | 3 |
NAVVCUBE → OFF in Conceptual | 2, not 0 |
NAVVCUBE → ON | 3 |
OFF only removes the switch for the visual style in use, exactly as the table above predicts: 3 minus the 3D switch of 1 leaves 2. A value of 2 means the ViewCube is still on in 2D Wireframe; switch back to 2D and it reappears, and users assume AutoCAD turned it back on. ON goes the other way: from 2 it jumps straight to 3, on in both kinds of style at once. The two options are not symmetrical, which is why the variable is worth remembering rather than the command.
The practical way to turn off the ViewCube in AutoCAD, then, is not the command but the variable: type NAVVCUBEDISPLAY and enter 0. Or run NAVVCUBE → OFF once in each style: once in 2D Wireframe and once in a 3D style.
Off in this drawing, still on in a new one
Turn the ViewCube off in one drawing, then open a new drawing from acadiso.dwt: the new drawing reads NAVVCUBEDISPLAY as 3, ViewCube fully on. The setting belongs to each drawing, not to the machine, and new drawings take their value from the template.
To keep the ViewCube off in every new drawing, open the template you use, set NAVVCUBEDISPLAY to 0 and save the template. Templates and the settings stored in them are covered in units in AutoCAD.
Each viewport keeps its own value
Split the drawing area into viewports, for example two side by side with -VPORTS → 2 → V, and each keeps its own NAVVCUBEDISPLAY.
| Step | Left viewport (CVPORT 2) | Right viewport (CVPORT 3) |
|---|---|---|
| Just split | 3 | 3 |
| Set 0 with the left one active | 0 | still 3 |
So you can keep the ViewCube in a 3D viewport and hide it in the plan viewport. A common arrangement for modelling is exactly that. The plan viewport on the left gets the value 0, where a stray click on the cube would only get in the way. The 3D viewport on the right gets 3 or 1, where the cube earns its place. Switching between the two viewports then needs no toggling at all. If you turned it off in one viewport and still see it next door, that is not a fault: click into the other viewport and turn it off there too.
The navigation bar
Just below the ViewCube is a vertical bar with pan, zoom and orbit buttons. That is the navigation bar, visible in all four columns of the image above, because it does not depend on NAVVCUBEDISPLAY.
| Command | The prompt | NAVBARDISPLAY |
|---|---|---|
NAVBAR → OFF | Enter an option [ON/OFF] <ON>: | 0 |
NAVBAR → ON | Enter an option [ON/OFF] <OFF>: | 1 |
For a completely clean drawing area in 2D, turn off both: NAVVCUBEDISPLAY to 0 and NAVBAR → OFF. Panning and zooming with the mouse wheel keep working; see the zoom command.
Changing the view without the ViewCube
Turning the viewcube in AutoCAD off does not take away the ability to rotate the view. The -VIEW command with its preset views does the same from the keyboard. The VIEWDIR variable, the viewing direction, after each:
| Type | VIEWDIR | Looking from |
|---|---|---|
-VIEW → _TOP | (0, 0, 1) | Straight down, plan view |
-VIEW → _SWISO | (−1, −1, 1) | South-west, above |
-VIEW → _NEISO | (1, 1, 1) | North-east, above |
These three match the TOP face and two corners of the ViewCube. Keyboard users often find -VIEW quicker than reaching for the corner of the screen, and -VIEW → _TOP puts a plan back to looking straight down when you return to 2D.
Other ViewCube settings
On the default machine the related variables read as follows:
| Variable | Value read | Controls |
|---|---|---|
NAVVCUBELOCATION | 0 | Which corner holds the ViewCube; with 0 it sits top right, as in the screenshots |
NAVVCUBESIZE | 4 | ViewCube size |
NAVVCUBEOPACITY | 50 | ViewCube opacity |
The Settings option of the NAVVCUBE command opens a dialog for the same settings with the mouse. If the ViewCube is in your way but you want to keep it, moving it to another corner or making it smaller is an alternative to turning it off.
A clean 2D drawing area: a worked order
- Type
NAVVCUBEDISPLAYand enter0; do not rely onNAVVCUBE→OFF. - Type
NAVBARand chooseOFF. - If the drawing area is split into viewports, click into each one and repeat step 1.
- Open your usual template, repeat steps 1 and 2, and save it.
- For 3D work, set
NAVVCUBEDISPLAYback to 3, or to 1 to show it only in 3D styles.
The value 1 is a sensible compromise: the ViewCube hides itself in 2D Wireframe and appears in a 3D style such as Conceptual, with no switching by hand.
| Purpose | Value to set |
|---|---|
| Never see the ViewCube | 0 |
| See it only in 3D styles | 1 |
| See it only in 2D Wireframe | 2 |
| Always see it | 3 |
Whichever value you choose, remember that it is stored per drawing and per viewport. A drawing received from someone else carries their setting, so a ViewCube that suddenly appears after opening a colleague's file is simply their value, not a change on your machine. Setting the value in your own template once is what keeps your new drawings consistent.
Three things often repeated that are not true
| Often repeated | What holds on the 2027 release |
|---|---|
| NAVVCUBE OFF turns it off for good | In a 3D style it only sets the variable to 2; the ViewCube still shows in 2D Wireframe |
| Turning it off once affects every drawing | A new drawing from acadiso.dwt still has 3 |
| Turning off the ViewCube also removes the bar below | The navigation bar has its own command, NAVBAR |
Frequently asked questions
How do I turn off the ViewCube for good?
Type NAVVCUBEDISPLAY and enter 0. The ViewCube is hidden in every visual style.
Why does it come back after I turned it off?
You turned it off in a 3D style, so the variable only went to 2, and in 2D Wireframe the ViewCube shows again.
How do I turn it back on?
NAVVCUBE → ON, or set NAVVCUBEDISPLAY to 3 to show it in every visual style.
How do I hide the vertical bar below the ViewCube?
That is the navigation bar: type NAVBAR, then OFF. NAVBARDISPLAY becomes 0.
Why does a new drawing still have the ViewCube?
The setting belongs to each drawing, even each viewport; new drawings take it from the template. Set it to 0 in the template and save the template.
What is the ViewCube for?
It shows the current viewing direction and is one of the tools for rotating the view while modelling in 3D. Its TOP face corresponds to -VIEW → _TOP, a VIEWDIR of (0, 0, 1), and its corners to the isometric presets such as _SWISO, (−1, −1, 1).