Litematica schematic opacity and transparency
Litematica draws a schematic as a half-transparent ghost. If yours is too solid to see the world behind it, or too faint to follow, the setting is in the Visuals tab of the config screen. These names and defaults were checked against the 1.21.4 source.
- Press M+C and open the Visuals tab.
- Find ghostBlockAlpha. The default is 0.5 on a 0 to 1 scale. Lower is more see-through.
- Turn on renderBlocksAsTranslucent if you want the whole schematic drawn translucent.
- Close the screen. If the hologram looks stale, press F3+M to rebuild the schematic render.
The settings that change how solid the ghost looks
| Setting | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| ghostBlockAlpha | 0.5 (range 0 to 1) | Opacity of the ghost blocks |
| renderBlocksAsTranslucent | off | Draw schematic blocks as translucent |
| renderTranslucentBlockInnerSides | off | Also draw the inner faces of translucent blocks |
| placementBoxSideAlpha | 0.2 | Shading on the placement box sides |
| verifierErrorHilightAlpha | 0.2 | Alpha of the error marker box sides in the Schematic Verifier overlay |
Change one value at a time. The alpha setting only changes the schematic’s own blocks, not the colored overlay that marks missing, wrong, and extra blocks.
When the hologram will not draw at all
That is a different problem from opacity. Make sure the main toggle is on (M+R) and ghost blocks are visible (M+G); the cases are listed on schematic not showing. A hologram drawn behind an existing block can also look missing. Hold Right Control to draw the overlay through blocks for as long as the key is held.
Water, lava and snow in the way
Under water, Litematica marks fluid blocks as extra and paints them red. In the Visuals tab turn on ignoreExistingFluids to stop that, and renderCollidingSchematicBlocks so schematic blocks draw even where something already occupies the space. The second option also helps with snow layers. Snow will still be tinted, but you can see what block should go there.
Big hologram, laggy view
A very large hologram makes translucency expensive. Use layer mode to draw only the floor you are working on, and keep renderBlocksAsTranslucent off. For build size and the point where a generated file gets heavy, see schematic size limits.
These settings apply to any .litematic, including files from the Litematica schematic generator. If the hologram appears in the wrong place or orientation rather than the wrong brightness, see move a placement.
Companion note: Litematica ghost blocks too solid or too faint? The settings that control it (short version on Telegraph).
FAQ
How do I make a Litematica schematic more transparent?
In the Visuals tab (M+C) lower ghostBlockAlpha, which defaults to 0.5. Turning on renderBlocksAsTranslucent draws the schematic’s blocks as translucent. Rebuild the render with F3+M if the change does not show.
Is there a hotkey to toggle translucent rendering?
There is a toggleTranslucentRendering entry in the Hotkeys tab, but it has no default key. Bind your own chord if you flip it often.
Why can I not see the schematic through a block in the way?
Opacity is not the problem. Hold the Right Control key (renderOverlayThroughBlocks) to draw the overlay through world blocks, or check that the render is not hidden by an existing block. See the underwater note below.
Does this setting live in the .litematic file?
No. Opacity is a client setting in your Litematica config. Two players loading the same file can see it differently.
Questions: hello@minecraftschematicgenerator.com
Reviewed 2026-10-02. Not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft.