The grid pivot is the origin point of the grid. The Pivot is not relevant during normal gameplay, but it sometimes becomes relevant when you are rotating and positioning grids using a projector, or when rotating copyied&pasted grids in Creative Mode.
Where is the Grid Pivot?[]
To make the pivot visible, use the settings on the Info Screen.
The pivot is simply the center of the first block placed. It’s not necessarily in the middle of the grid -- that would be the Center of Mass!
When you add blocks, the pivot point stays but the center of mass moves
By default, a projection is centered so the grid pivot is on the projector. If your projections (or pasted grids in creative) end up rotated in unexpected positions, most likely the pivot is not where you think it is.
The pivot is defined when you start building the grid. If you start, for example, with a Landing gear, the first landing gear is the grid pivot. If this landing gear is not centered (e.g. because it is one of the side landing gears), then your pivot point is not centered either. That's not a problem during normal gameplay and in most cases you may not even notice.
How to Move the Grid Pivot[]
You may choose to change a messed-up grid pivot before you take a projector blueprint for mass production. It’s easiest to fix the pivot point in Creative mode in zero-g. Make sure you have Copy&Paste Grids and Show Grid Pivot enabled:
- Build a small (free standing) helper grid out of four light armour blocks:
After you place the first block, look closely at its pivot marker and place the other three blocks on the block sides where the three coordinate axes are pointing. This helper grid will become your new pivot point. - Copy the grid that has the messed-up pivot point.
- Paste it onto the helper grid so that the helper grid is positioned exactly where you want to new pivot point to be.
- The pasted grid takes on the pivot point of the helper grid.
- Grind off the helper grid. The pivot point will stay.