Basic commands

The six basic commands F (front), B (back), L (left), R (right), U (up) and D (down) produce a 90 degree clockwise (CW) rotation of the outer layer about the selected face axis. If a basic command is preceded by a minus sign (-F etc.) a 90 degree counter-clockwise (CCW) rotation of the outer layer about the selected face axis is produced.

For all cubes of size greater than 3 (and for the marked size 3), the ability to rotate inner layers is essential. Firstly, a multiple layer command is defined as illustrated in the following example. 3R rotates outer three layers 90 degrees CW about the R face axis while -3R rotates outer three layers 90 degrees CCW about the R face axis. Double-digit prefixes (e.g. 12R) are accepted for large size cubes. The prefix "W" can be used to rotate the whole cube. For instance, WU rotates the whole cube 90 degrees CW about the U face axis and similarly -WU produces a CCW rotation. For an n-layer cube the value "n" is internally substituted for W. W rotations don't change the state of the cube; they merely provide a different orientation of the faces (putting the right face in the front for example).

A single inner layer rotation command is also defined as illustrated in the following example. #3R or 03R rotates only the third layer 90 degrees CW about the R face axis and similarly -#3R or -03R performs a CCW rotation. Note that #3R = 3R-2R and -#3R = -3R2R. While it is unlikely that anybody would wish to use them, #WR and -#WR etc. are quite valid. Note #WR = -L and -#WR = L.

Optional single layer rotation symbol 0 (zero) in lieu of #, would normally be used for keyboard entry. In that way there is no need to use the shift key (lower case alphabetical characters are always internally converted and displayed as upper case). Symbol # improves readability when used in help text.

Macro commands can be used as shorthand for entering sequences of basic commands.