Customizing Camera Controls Guide

Hytale provides great camera customizability! Heres the essentials to get started.

The Basics

Camera is controlled by sending a SetServerCamera packet with ServerCameraSettings:

ServerCameraSettings settings = new ServerCameraSettings();
settings.distance = 10.0f;           // Zoom distance from player
settings.isFirstPerson = false;      // Third-person mode
settings.positionLerpSpeed = 0.2f;   // Smooth camera follow

playerRef.getPacketHandler().writeNoCache(
    new SetServerCamera(ClientCameraView.Custom, true, settings)
);

This gives you a simple third-person camera. The presets below show more complete configurations.

Reset to default:

playerRef.getPacketHandler().writeNoCache(
    new SetServerCamera(ClientCameraView.Custom, false, null)
);

Camera Presets

Top-Down (RTS/ARPG Style)

Source: com.hypixel.hytale.server.core.command.commands.player.camera.PlayerCameraTopdownCommand

ServerCameraSettings settings = new ServerCameraSettings();
settings.positionLerpSpeed = 0.2f;
settings.rotationLerpSpeed = 0.2f;
settings.distance = 20.0f;
settings.displayCursor = true;
settings.isFirstPerson = false;
settings.movementForceRotationType = MovementForceRotationType.Custom;
// Align movement with camera yaw (horizontal rotation only)
settings.movementForceRotation = new Direction(-0.7853981634f, 0.0f, 0.0f);  // 45° left
settings.eyeOffset = true;
settings.positionDistanceOffsetType = PositionDistanceOffsetType.DistanceOffset;
settings.rotationType = RotationType.Custom;
settings.rotation = new Direction(0.0f, -1.5707964f, 0.0f);  // Look straight down
settings.mouseInputType = MouseInputType.LookAtPlane;
settings.planeNormal = new Vector3f(0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f);       // Ground plane

Side-Scroller (2D Platformer Style)

Source: com.hypixel.hytale.server.core.command.commands.player.camera.PlayerCameraSideScrollerCommand

ServerCameraSettings settings = new ServerCameraSettings();
settings.positionLerpSpeed = 0.2f;
settings.rotationLerpSpeed = 0.2f;
settings.distance = 15.0f;
settings.displayCursor = true;
settings.isFirstPerson = false;
settings.movementForceRotationType = MovementForceRotationType.Custom;
settings.movementMultiplier = new Vector3f(1.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f);  // Lock Z-axis
settings.eyeOffset = true;
settings.positionDistanceOffsetType = PositionDistanceOffsetType.DistanceOffset;
settings.rotationType = RotationType.Custom;
settings.mouseInputType = MouseInputType.LookAtPlane;
settings.planeNormal = new Vector3f(0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f);         // Side plane

Common Settings Explained

Position & Rotation

positionLerpSpeed (0.0-1.0): How smoothly the camera follows the player. Lower = smoother but slower response.
rotationLerpSpeed (0.0-1.0): How smoothly the camera rotates. Lower = smoother but slower response.
distance: Camera distance from player. Higher = zoomed out more.
rotation: Camera angle as Direction(yaw, pitch, roll) in radians.
rotationType: How rotation is calculated. RotationType.Custom uses your rotation value.

Movement Alignment

movementForceRotationType:
MovementForceRotationType.AttachedToHead = movement follows where player looks
MovementForceRotationType.Custom = use movementForceRotation value
movementForceRotation: When using Custom, this sets the direction for W/S movement. Match yaw with camera but keep pitch at 0.

Input & Display

displayCursor: Show/hide mouse cursor.
mouseInputType:
MouseInputType.LookAtPlane = mouse moves cursor on a plane (good for top-down)
MouseInputType.LookAtTarget = mouse rotates camera
planeNormal: For LookAtPlane, defines which plane the mouse moves on. (0,1,0) = ground plane.

Advanced

positionDistanceOffsetType:
DistanceOffset = simple distance offset
DistanceOffsetRaycast = prevents camera clipping through walls
eyeOffset: Offset camera from player's eye position.
movementMultiplier: Scale movement on each axis. (1,1,0) = lock Z-axis for 2D movement.

Imports

import com.hypixel.hytale.protocol.ClientCameraView;
import com.hypixel.hytale.protocol.Direction;
import com.hypixel.hytale.protocol.MouseInputType;
import com.hypixel.hytale.protocol.MovementForceRotationType;
import com.hypixel.hytale.protocol.PositionDistanceOffsetType;
import com.hypixel.hytale.protocol.RotationType;
import com.hypixel.hytale.protocol.ServerCameraSettings;
import com.hypixel.hytale.protocol.Vector3f;
import com.hypixel.hytale.protocol.packets.camera.SetServerCamera;

Tips

Zoom: Adjust distance (higher = further out)
Smoothness: positionLerpSpeed and rotationLerpSpeed control how quickly the camera catches up to its target
Wall clipping: Use PositionDistanceOffsetType.DistanceOffsetRaycast
Lock camera: Set isLocked = true in the packet to prevent player changes
2D movement: Set movementMultiplier to zero out an axis
Isometric cameras: Always set movementForceRotation to match camera yaw for proper movement alignment
Angle calculations: Use Math.toRadians(degrees) or degrees * Math.PI / 180.0 to convert degrees to radians

From Hytale Server build 2026.01.13-dcad8778f

Customizing Camera Controls

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