Understanding Cube Notation

Learn the cube and the notation used for its moves

To make cube moves easy to communicate and record, we use a set of letters as notation. Select a move in the interactive panel above to see its animation.

The Six Faces

A cube has six faces, each represented by a letter:

Letter	Name	Position
`R`	Right	The face on your right
`L`	Left	The face on your left
`U`	Up	The top face
`D`	Down	The bottom face
`F`	Front	The face pointing toward you
`B`	Back	The face pointing away from you

These letters describe each face relative to the person holding the cube, not a fixed color.

By convention, many tutorials place yellow on top (U) and white on the bottom (D). This site defaults to green in front (F) and orange on the right (R). Some tutorials use blue in front and red on the right instead. You can choose another color scheme in Settings.

RRight face

LLeft face

UUpper face

DDown face

FFront face

BBack face

The same notation works with every color scheme. As long as you keep the same grip, R always means the face on your right.

Face Turns

The face letters also describe turns.

RTurn the right face

LTurn the left face

UTurn the upper face

DTurn the down face

FTurn the front face

BTurn the back face

A capital letter by itself means to turn that face 90° clockwise. Add a prime mark ' for a 90° counterclockwise turn, or add 2 for a 180° turn:

Notation	Meaning
`R`	Turn the right face 90° clockwise
`R'`	Turn the right face 90° counterclockwise
`R2`	Turn the right face 180°; clockwise and counterclockwise give the same result

RNo suffix90° clockwise

R'Prime mark90° counterclockwise

R2Number 2Turn 180°

The same rule applies to L, U, D, F, and B. For example:

U: turn the upper face 90° clockwise.
F': turn the front face 90° counterclockwise.
D2: turn the bottom face 180°.

A lowercase face letter describes a wide turn: the outer face and the adjacent inner slice turn together. For example:

u: turn the upper two layers together.
f': turn the front two layers together counterclockwise.
d2: turn the bottom two layers together by 180°.

rRight two layersTurn the right face and adjacent slice together

lLeft two layersTurn the left face and adjacent slice together

uUpper two layersTurn the upper face and adjacent slice together

dBottom two layersTurn the bottom face and adjacent slice together

fFront two layersTurn the front face and adjacent slice together

bBack two layersTurn the back face and adjacent slice together

Slice Moves: M, E, and S

M, E, and S turn an inner slice without turning either outer face. Their directions are defined by reference to an outer face:

Notation	Slice	Direction
`M`	Between `L` and `R`	Same direction as `L`
`E`	Between `U` and `D`	Same direction as `D`
`S`	Between `F` and `B`	Same direction as `F`

MMiddle vertical sliceSame direction as L

EMiddle horizontal sliceSame direction as D

SMiddle front–back sliceSame direction as F

M' turns the middle slice in the direction opposite to L, while M2 turns it by 180°.

Algorithms

Spaces make an algorithm easier to read by separating its moves. Parentheses ( and ) can group moves when needed.

For example, (R U R' U') (R' F R F') contains two groups. The first is R U R' U', a common sequence often called the Sexy Move, and the second is R' F R F'.

If a sequence is repeated, (R U R' U') (R U R' U') (R U R' U') can be shortened to (R U R' U')3. The final 3 means to repeat the group three times.

Whole-Cube Rotations: x, y, and z

Lowercase x, y, and z rotate the entire cube instead of a single layer. Think of them as rotations around three spatial axes:

Notation	Axis	Direction
`x`	Left–right axis	Same direction as `R`
`y`	Up–down axis	Same direction as `U`
`z`	Front–back axis	Same direction as `F`

They can also use ' and 2:

x': rotate the whole cube 90° around the left–right axis in the reverse direction.
y2: rotate the whole cube 180° around the up–down axis.
z: rotate the whole cube 90° around the front–back axis in the same direction as F.

After a whole-cube rotation, subsequent R, U, and other face moves are interpreted from the cube's new orientation.

xLeft–right axisSame direction as R

yUp–down axisSame direction as U

zFront–back axisSame direction as F