Constants & Configuration

This page documents the constants system in Three.js, which provides named numeric and string identifiers used throughout the library to configure rendering behavior, material properties, texture parameters, and other aspects of 3D scene management. These constants ensure type-safe configuration and improve code readability by replacing magic numbers with semantic names.

For information about how materials use these constants, see Material & Texture System. For renderer-specific configuration, see WebGL Rendering Pipeline.

Purpose and Organization

Three.js constants are defined in a single source file and exported as numeric values or strings. They configure:

• Rendering pipeline behavior (culling, blending, depth testing)
• Texture sampling and wrapping modes
• Pixel formats and data types
• Color space transformations
• Material appearance parameters
• Animation and interpolation modes

All constants are immutable exports that can be imported from the main Three.js module. The constants system allows developers to configure complex rendering behavior without memorizing numeric WebGL enum values.

Constants System Architecture

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Rendering Configuration Constants

Face Culling

Controls which triangle faces are rendered based on their winding order. These constants determine GPU-level culling optimization.

Constant	Value	Description
CullFaceNone	0	Disables face culling (renders both sides)
CullFaceBack	1	Culls back faces (default behavior)
CullFaceFront	2	Culls front faces
CullFaceFrontBack	3	Culls both front and back faces

Usage Context: Set on Material.side property as FrontSide, BackSide, or DoubleSide, which internally map to culling modes.

Shadow Map Types

Defines shadow rendering algorithms with varying quality and performance characteristics.

Constant	Value	Description
BasicShadowMap	0	Unfiltered shadow maps (fastest)
PCFShadowMap	1	Percentage-Closer Filtering
PCFSoftShadowMap	2	PCF with better soft shadows
VSMShadowMap	3	Variance Shadow Maps

Usage Context: Set on WebGLRenderer.shadowMap.type to configure shadow rendering quality.

Side Constants

Determines which faces of geometry are rendered.

Constant	Value	Description
FrontSide	0	Render only front-facing triangles
BackSide	1	Render only back-facing triangles
DoubleSide	2	Render both front and back faces

Blending Modes

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Blending Mode Constants:

Constant	Value	Behavior
NoBlending	0	Disables alpha transparency
NormalBlending	1	Standard alpha blending (default)
AdditiveBlending	2	Adds source and destination colors
SubtractiveBlending	3	Subtracts destination from source
MultiplyBlending	4	Multiplies colors
CustomBlending	5	Requires manual equation/factor setup
MaterialBlending	6	Material-specific blending

Usage Context: Set on Material.blending to control transparency behavior. Custom blending requires additional configuration via Material.blendEquation, Material.blendSrc, and Material.blendDst.

Depth Testing

Controls how fragments pass or fail depth buffer comparison.

Constant	Value	Description
NeverDepth	0	Never pass depth test
AlwaysDepth	1	Always pass depth test
LessDepth	2	Pass if incoming < buffer
LessEqualDepth	3	Pass if incoming ≤ buffer (default)
EqualDepth	4	Pass if incoming == buffer
GreaterEqualDepth	5	Pass if incoming ≥ buffer
GreaterDepth	6	Pass if incoming > buffer
NotEqualDepth	7	Pass if incoming ≠ buffer

Usage Context: Set on Material.depthFunc to customize depth testing behavior.

Texture Configuration Constants

Texture Mapping Modes

Defines how textures map to geometry surfaces.

Constant	Value	Type	Description
UVMapping	300	number	Standard UV coordinate mapping
CubeReflectionMapping	301	number	Cube environment reflection
CubeRefractionMapping	302	number	Cube environment refraction
EquirectangularReflectionMapping	303	number	Equirectangular reflection
EquirectangularRefractionMapping	304	number	Equirectangular refraction
CubeUVReflectionMapping	306	number	PMREM cube UV reflection

Texture Wrapping

Controls behavior when texture coordinates exceed [0, 1] range.

Constant	Value	Description
RepeatWrapping	1000	Texture repeats infinitely
ClampToEdgeWrapping	1001	Edge pixels stretch to boundary
MirroredRepeatWrapping	1002	Texture repeats with mirroring

Usage Context: Set on Texture.wrapS and Texture.wrapT properties.

Texture Filtering

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Filtering Constants:

Constant	Value	Description
NearestFilter	1003	Point sampling (no interpolation)
NearestMipmapNearestFilter	1004	Nearest mip level, point sample
NearestMipmapLinearFilter	1005	Interpolate between mip levels, point sample
LinearFilter	1006	Bilinear interpolation
LinearMipmapNearestFilter	1007	Nearest mip level, bilinear sample
LinearMipmapLinearFilter	1008	Trilinear filtering (best quality)

Texture Data Types

Defines the data type for texture pixel components.

Constant	Value	Description
UnsignedByteType	1009	8-bit unsigned integer
ByteType	1010	8-bit signed integer
ShortType	1011	16-bit signed integer
UnsignedShortType	1012	16-bit unsigned integer
IntType	1013	32-bit signed integer
UnsignedIntType	1014	32-bit unsigned integer
FloatType	1015	32-bit floating point
HalfFloatType	1016	16-bit floating point
UnsignedShort4444Type	1017	Packed 4-4-4-4 format
UnsignedShort5551Type	1018	Packed 5-5-5-1 format
UnsignedInt248Type	1020	Packed depth-stencil format
UnsignedInt5999Type	35902	Packed 5-9-9-9 HDR format
UnsignedInt101111Type	35899	Packed 10-11-11 format

Usage Context: Set on Texture.type to specify pixel component precision and encoding.

Texture Formats

Extensive format constants defining channel layout and compression:

Category	Example Constants	Value Range
Basic Formats	AlphaFormat, RGBFormat, RGBAFormat	1021-1023
Depth Formats	DepthFormat, DepthStencilFormat	1026-1027
Integer Formats	RedIntegerFormat, RGBAIntegerFormat	1029-1033
Compressed DXT	RGB_S3TC_DXT1_Format, RGBA_S3TC_DXT5_Format	33776-33779
Compressed PVRTC	RGB_PVRTC_4BPPV1_Format, RGBA_PVRTC_2BPPV1_Format	35840-35843
Compressed ETC	RGB_ETC1_Format, RGBA_ETC2_EAC_Format	36196-37496
Compressed ASTC	RGBA_ASTC_4x4_Format ... RGBA_ASTC_12x12_Format	37808-37821
Compressed BPTC	RGBA_BPTC_Format, RGB_BPTC_UNSIGNED_Format	36492-36495
Compressed RGTC	RED_RGTC1_Format, RED_GREEN_RGTC2_Format	36283-36286

Material Configuration Constants

Normal Map Types

Constant	Value	Description
TangentSpaceNormalMap	0	Normals relative to surface (default)
ObjectSpaceNormalMap	1	Normals relative to object

Normal Map Packing

Constant	Value	Type	Description
NoNormalPacking	""	string	No special packing
NormalRGPacking	"rg"	string	Normals in RG channels
NormalGAPacking	"ga"	string	Normals in GA channels

Depth Packing

Defines how depth values are encoded for rendering.

Constant	Value	Description
BasicDepthPacking	3200	Inverted depth (1.0 - z)
RGBADepthPacking	3201	32-bit RGBA encoding
RGBDepthPacking	3202	24-bit RGB encoding
RGDepthPacking	3203	16-bit RG encoding

Color Space Constants

Three.js uses string identifiers for color spaces to match CSS Color Module Level 4 and WebGPU specifications.

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Color Space Constants:

Constant	Value	Description
NoColorSpace	""	No color space defined
SRGBColorSpace	"srgb"	Standard sRGB color space
LinearSRGBColorSpace	"srgb-linear"	Linear sRGB (no gamma curve)

Transfer Function Constants:

Constant	Value	Description
LinearTransfer	"linear"	Linear transfer function
SRGBTransfer	"srgb"	sRGB gamma transfer function

Usage Context: Set on Texture.colorSpace and WebGLRenderer.outputColorSpace to ensure correct color management throughout the rendering pipeline.

Tone Mapping Constants

Defines algorithms for mapping HDR values to display range.

Constant	Value	Description
NoToneMapping	0	No tone mapping applied
LinearToneMapping	1	Simple linear mapping
ReinhardToneMapping	2	Reinhard operator
CineonToneMapping	3	Cineon filmic curve
ACESFilmicToneMapping	4	ACES filmic curve
CustomToneMapping	5	User-defined in shader
AgXToneMapping	6	AgX tone mapper
NeutralToneMapping	7	Khronos neutral tone mapper

Usage Context: Set on WebGLRenderer.toneMapping to control HDR-to-LDR conversion.

Animation Constants

Loop Modes

Constant	Value	Description
LoopOnce	2200	Play animation once
LoopRepeat	2201	Loop from end to start
LoopPingPong	2202	Alternate forward/backward

Interpolation Modes

Constant	Value	Description
InterpolateDiscrete	2300	No interpolation (stepped)
InterpolateLinear	2301	Linear interpolation
InterpolateSmooth	2302	Smooth cubic interpolation
InterpolateBezier	2303	Bezier curve interpolation

Ending Behaviors

Constant	Value	Description
ZeroCurvatureEnding	2400	Zero curvature at endpoints
ZeroSlopeEnding	2401	Zero slope at endpoints
WrapAroundEnding	2402	Wrap to beginning

Blend Modes

Constant	Value	Description
NormalAnimationBlendMode	2500	Standard blending (default)
AdditiveAnimationBlendMode	2501	Additive layer blending

Stencil Operation Constants

Stencil Operations

Constant	Value	GL Enum	Description
ZeroStencilOp	0	-	Set stencil to 0
KeepStencilOp	7680	GL_KEEP	Keep current value
ReplaceStencilOp	7681	GL_REPLACE	Replace with reference
IncrementStencilOp	7682	GL_INCR	Increment (clamped)
DecrementStencilOp	7683	GL_DECR	Decrement (clamped)
IncrementWrapStencilOp	34055	GL_INCR_WRAP	Increment (wrapped)
DecrementWrapStencilOp	34056	GL_DECR_WRAP	Decrement (wrapped)
InvertStencilOp	5386	GL_INVERT	Bitwise invert

Stencil Comparison Functions

Constant	Value	GL Enum	Description
NeverStencilFunc	512	GL_NEVER	Never pass
LessStencilFunc	513	GL_LESS	Pass if ref < stencil
EqualStencilFunc	514	GL_EQUAL	Pass if ref == stencil
LessEqualStencilFunc	515	GL_LEQUAL	Pass if ref ≤ stencil
GreaterStencilFunc	516	GL_GREATER	Pass if ref > stencil
NotEqualStencilFunc	517	GL_NOTEQUAL	Pass if ref ≠ stencil
GreaterEqualStencilFunc	518	GL_GEQUAL	Pass if ref ≥ stencil
AlwaysStencilFunc	519	GL_ALWAYS	Always pass

Drawing Mode Constants

Defines how vertex data is interpreted for rendering.

Constant	Value	Description
TrianglesDrawMode	0	Every 3 vertices form a triangle
TriangleStripDrawMode	1	Strip of connected triangles
TriangleFanDrawMode	2	Fan of triangles from first vertex

Usage Context: Set on BufferGeometry.drawMode (deprecated) or used in custom draw calls.

Miscellaneous Constants

Bind Modes

Constant	Value	Type	Description
AttachedBindMode	"attached"	string	Skinned mesh shares skeleton space
DetachedBindMode	"detached"	string	Skinned mesh independent of skeleton

Environment Map Operations

Constant	Value	Description
MultiplyOperation	0	Multiply env map with surface color
MixOperation	1	Blend using reflectivity
AddOperation	2	Add env map to surface color

Input Control Constants

Constant	Properties	Description
MOUSE	{LEFT: 0, MIDDLE: 1, RIGHT: 2, ROTATE: 0, DOLLY: 1, PAN: 2}	Mouse button mappings for controls
TOUCH	{ROTATE: 0, PAN: 1, DOLLY_PAN: 2, DOLLY_ROTATE: 3}	Touch gesture types

Version

Constant	Value	Description
REVISION	"183dev"	Current Three.js version string

Usage Patterns

Material Configuration

// Example from typical material setup
material.side = FrontSide;           // Only render front faces
material.blending = NormalBlending;  // Standard alpha blending
material.depthFunc = LessEqualDepth; // Default depth testing
material.transparent = true;          // Enable alpha blending

Constants are typically accessed as named imports:

import { 
    FrontSide, 
    DoubleSide,
    NormalBlending,
    AdditiveBlending,
    RepeatWrapping,
    LinearFilter
} from 'three';

Texture Configuration

// Example texture setup
texture.wrapS = RepeatWrapping;
texture.wrapT = RepeatWrapping;
texture.magFilter = LinearFilter;
texture.minFilter = LinearMipmapLinearFilter;
texture.colorSpace = SRGBColorSpace;

Renderer Configuration

// Example renderer setup
renderer.shadowMap.enabled = true;
renderer.shadowMap.type = PCFSoftShadowMap;
renderer.toneMapping = ACESFilmicToneMapping;
renderer.outputColorSpace = SRGBColorSpace;