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Blocks overview

Blocks are the puzzle pieces you snap together to build a project. Each block is one instruction; a stack of blocks is a script. Bilup uses the same block language as Scratch, so anything you know from Scratch works here, and it adds a handful of extra blocks on top (see Bilup extras).

Block shapes​

The shape of a block tells you how it connects and what it does.

  • Hat blocks have a rounded top and a flat bottom. They start a script in response to an event, such as when green flag clicked. You cannot put anything above a hat.
  • Stack blocks are rectangular with a notch on top and a bump on the bottom. They do one thing and pass control to the block below, such as move 10 steps. Most blocks are this shape.
  • Boolean blocks are pointed hexagons that report true or false, such as mouse down?. They plug into the hexagonal slots of other blocks.
  • Reporter blocks are rounded ovals that report a value (a number or text), such as x position or answer. They plug into the rounded slots of other blocks.
  • C blocks (also called wrapper blocks) wrap around other blocks, such as repeat 10 or if ... then. The blocks you drop inside run according to the C block's rule.
  • Cap blocks have a notch on top but a flat bottom, so nothing can follow them. stop all and delete this clone are caps.

The palette and categories​

The block palette runs down the left side of the editor workspace. It is organised into colour-coded categories, and clicking a category name (or its dot) scrolls the palette to that section. The built-in categories are:

  • Motion (blue) moves and rotates sprites.
  • Looks (purple) changes costumes, size, effects, and speech bubbles.
  • Sound (magenta) plays sounds and sets volume.
  • Events (yellow) starts scripts and sends broadcasts.
  • Control (gold) handles loops, conditionals, waiting, and clones.
  • Sensing (light blue) reads the mouse, keyboard, timer, and other sprites.
  • Operators (green) does maths, text, and logic.
  • Variables (orange) stores values and lists (data).
  • My Blocks (pink/red) holds the custom blocks you define yourself.

Below those, each loaded extension (Pen, Music, and so on) adds its own category. See the blocks palette page for how to search and drag blocks.

Bilup and TurboWarp extra blocks​

Bilup inherits TurboWarp's additions and adds its own, so a number of blocks appear that stock Scratch does not have, spread across several categories: extra motion, control, operator, sensing, and data blocks, plus a return block for custom blocks. These are documented per category and collected on one page in Bilup extras.

See also​