Precisely move the 3D cursor

Question

The 3D cursor can be moved by simply LMB clicking anywhere in the viewport. Is there a faster and easier way to position the 3D cursor?

Answer 1

An updated 2.8 answer can be found here

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In both edit mode and object mode; press N to open the Properties. Scroll down to the 3D cursor. There are three number fields one each for the X, Y, and Z axes. For finer control use Alt or Ctrl while dragging the mouse. Also see the Manual.

Note the coordinates are always in Global, how the transform orientation is set makes no difference.

Answer 2

Have a look at the blender manual. You can also use the snap menu pressing Shift+S.

• Cursor to Selected
  Snaps the cursor to the center of the current selection.
• Cursor to Center
  Snaps the cursor to the origin of the scene (location 0,0,0).
• Cursor to Grid
  Snaps the cursor to the nearest visible grid lines.
• Cursor to Active
  Snaps the cursor to the active (last selected) object, edge, face or vertex.

Answer 3

There is a great addon called Enhanced 3D Cursor that makes positioning the 3D cursor much easier.
After installing and enabling it there will be a new panel in the properties region.

That is only part of the addon's power.
Now when you press F10 or simply click and hold the LMB the 3D cursor will snap to your objects' faces. Furthermore if you hold shift the 3D cursor will snap to the center of the faces.

After you started moving the 3D cursor you can type in values to move the 3D cursor, using the arrow keys to change the axes fields. (note the 3D view header)

There are also bookmarks for the location of the 3D cursor.

Docs for the addon on the wiki page.

Answer 4

In 2.8+ the 3D cursor has changed quite a bit.

Using the default blender keymap in left click select mode the keyboard shortcut to move the 3D cursor is ShiftRMB .

There is the "Cursor" tool (found in the top of the tool bar) that when active allows you to move the 3D cursor by simply LMB (just like in 2.7x).
As a side note when using right click select LMB moves the 3D cursor no matter the active tool.
From the tool's options (Tool tab of the sidebar N, or the Active Tool tab of the Properties Editor) you can change the projection type and the orientation.

You can still move the 3D cursor by entering in a location (and rotation). That field is in the sidebar N under the View tab, then in the 3D Cursor section.

Answer 5

Python Console

Can enter values into the python console. C is a convenience variable for context. The 3D cursor is C.scene.cursor_location. Using autocomplete Ctrlspace and history ⬆.⬇ reduces the need for a ton of typing.

>> C.scene.cursor_location
Vector((4.0, 4.0, 4.000024795532227))

>>> C.scene.cursor_location = (0, 0, 0)
>>> C.scene.cursor_location.xy = (4, 4)
>>> C.scene.cursor_location.x += 10
>>> C.scene.cursor_location
Vector((14.0, 4.0, 0.0))

>>> m = Matrix.Rotation(radians(30), 3, (0, 1, 1))
# rotate 30 degrees around axis (0, 1, 1)
>>> C.scene.cursor_location = m * C.scene.cursor_location
>>> C.scene.cursor_location
Vector((10.710140228271484, 8.681798934936523, -4.681799411773682))

New in 2.80

Scene.cursor is the cursor "object".

>>> C.scene.cursor.location
Vector((0.790132999420166, 2.7452266216278076, 0.7758755683898926))

Please note that as of 2.80 it is also possible to set the rotation of the cursor. It now has the same 3 modes of rotation as an object.

To reset the cursor rotation, via the py console.

To set to Euler XYZ rotation to degrees (30, 0, 45)

>>> C.scene.cursor.rotation_mode = 'XYZ'  

>>> C.scene.cursor.rotation_euler = (radians(30), 0, radians(45))

How do I reset the 3d cursor rotation in 2.80?

There is a new tool dedicated to the cursor, which hopefully over time will also include the UI to set loc and rot.

Answer 6

If you want to move the 3D cursor to the center of the scene, press Shift+C.

Answer 7

If you want to place the 3D cursor at the center of something, lets say is an edge, go to edit mode press w to subdivide, select the created vertex, press shift+s then 'cursor to selected', the same thing with a plane, select the plane, create a loop cut by pressing ctrl+r, select the newly created edge and repeat above process.