Display Rules
Display Rules control how every Location looks on your map — what appears, how it looks, and at which zoom levels.
What are Display Rules?
A Display Rule is a collection of visual settings that controls how a Location is rendered on the map. It defines the icon, label, polygon, 2D model, 3D walls, 3D extrusions, and 3D model for that Location — and each of these elements has its own independent zoom level range, so they don't all have to appear and disappear together.
Every Location on the map has a Display Rule, even if you haven't explicitly configured one. If no settings have been defined for a specific Location, it simply inherits all values from higher up in the hierarchy. Display Rules apply to POIs, Rooms, and Areas — not to the base map tiles.
How Display Rules work
Display Rules are organised in a three-level hierarchy. Each level inherits from the one above it, and any value you set at a lower level overrides what's set above.
Main Display Rule — the default styling for your entire Solution. Set under Solution Details → Solution Settings.
Type Display Rule — overrides the Main rule for all Locations of a given Type (e.g. all Meeting Rooms).
Location Display Rule — overrides both for a single specific Location.
For example: if your Main Display Rule sets all polygons to red, and your Meeting Room Type sets them to blue, an individual Executive Meeting Room Location can set its own polygon to orange. Each level only needs to specify what it wants to change — everything else is inherited from above.
In the Display Rule editor, settings that are inheriting their value from a higher level show a locked padlock. Settings you have explicitly overridden show an unlocked padlock. To reset a value and let it inherit again, set it to null.
Note: Changes you make in the CMS are not reflected in a live app immediately. They take effect the next time the app loads or calls a content sync.
How to access Display Rules
There are three places in the CMS where you can edit Display Rules, depending on which level of the hierarchy you want to work at.
From a Location — select any Location on the map. In the Location Details editor, click the Display Rules icon in the top-right corner.
From a Location Type — go to Solution Details → Types, and click Edit Display Rules next to the Type you want to edit. Changes here apply to every Location of that Type.
From Solution Settings — go to Solution Details → Solution Settings → Main Display Rule to edit the top-level defaults that everything else inherits from.
What you can control
The Display Rule editor is divided into sections, each controlling a different visual element. For full details on every setting, see Display Rule Settings.
General
Whether the Location is visible on the map at all
Icon
The map marker image and the zoom levels at which it appears
Label
The text shown near the marker, its content template, and zoom levels
Label Style
Font size, color, opacity, and halo styling (Mapbox only)
Polygon
Fill color, stroke color, and opacity for Rooms and Areas
2D Model
A scaled image placed on the map surface (must be enabled by MapsPeople)
3D Walls
Extruded walls rendered around a Location in 3D
3D Extrusions
Per-room height extrusions shown in 3D view
3D Model
A GLB 3D model placed at the Location's anchor point
Using Display Rules beyond the CMS
The CMS controls the default appearance of your map, but Display Rules can also be changed at runtime — without touching the CMS. This makes it possible to reflect live data on the map, such as room occupancy, search results, or user interactions.
Runtime changes sit on top of the entire CMS hierarchy and take effect immediately. They are not persisted — they reset when the app reloads.
You can modify Display Rules at runtime using any of the MapsIndoors SDKs, or via the Integration API if you need server-side control.
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