Tool textures (Source)

"Clip" redirects here. For clip textures, see clip texture.

Tool textures are used, mostly by the tools but sometimes by the engine, to perform special tasks. They can easily be found in Hammer by using "tools\" as a filter in the texture browser.

Tip:WiseClipped - tutorial on using many of the Source Tool textures shown below.

Note:All tool textures that are assumed to be texturing an entity, work exactly like ordinary textures if applied to worldbrushes instead. As this makes them useless for worldbrushes, their visibility as worldbrushes are irrelevant (but are technically all "Yes").

General

Image	Name	Visible (if worldbrush)	Casts shadows	Cuts VIS leaves	Blocks NPC LOS	Solid to NPCs	Solid to Player(s)	Solid to physics	Solid to bullets	Usage / Notes
	Areaportal	N/A	No	Yes			No		No	Use with areaportals (func_areaportals and func_areaportalwindows). (This table assumes this use.)
	Black	Yes	Yes	Yes			Yes		Yes (leaves marks)	Note:This is the tools/toolsblack texture, not the halflife/black texture.
	Block LOS	No	No	No	Yes		No		No	Blocks the line of sight of NPCs and bots. mat_wireframe 1/2 will reveal that while this texture doesn't block visleaves, it draws crossing polygons, and them alone are capable of preventing the engine from rendering enveloped brushwork. This can be worked around through turning the Block LOS textured brush into a func_brush with its Solidity keyvalue set to a solid state. (A Block LOS func_brush can still be traversed in this state.)
	Block bullets	No	No	Yes			Yes		Yes (no marks)	Solid to bullets but not other objects. This does not automatically stop bullets, it's a regular wall only solid to bullets. Note:This may be painfully obvious, but this brush only blocks bullets from guns. This will not block projectiles from NPCs such as the acid spit from antlion workers.
	Block light	No	Yes	No (just geometry)			Yes		No	Its transparency coupled with its VIS blocking, will create a leak effect. Blocks NPC line of sight.
	Clip	No	No	No			Yes		No	Solid to all objects but physically simulated projectiles. In Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 this clips players as both special infected and survivors. Does not function in Portal. Bug:In Half-Life 2: Deathmatch it only acts as a player clip (solid only to players).  [todo tested in ?]
	ControlClip	Yes	Yes	Yes			Yes		Yes (leaves marks)	Purpose is not entirely confirmed. Seems that it is necessary for func_vehicleclip.(See "player clip" below for the tool texture that restricts player movement.)
	Dotted	Yes	No	Yes			Yes		Yes (leaves marks)	A face textured with this texture is rendered on top of all other brush geometry. Furthermore, a brush with Dotted on any face will not block visibility nor cull any face that it touches, meaning that any area enclosed in a Dotted-textured brush will not be removed from the map in any way.
	Hint	No	No	Yes			No		No	This texture is used to instruct the compiler to cut visleaves.
	Invisible	No	No	Yes			Yes		No	Solid to all objects.
	(Invisible) Ladder	No	No	Yes			Yes		No	Use in Counter-Strike: Source with func_ladder.
	Nodraw	No	Yes	Yes			Yes		Yes (no marks)	Its transparency coupled with its VIS blocking, will create a leak visual effect. Seals leaks. Blocks visibility if used on all surfaces of the same brush.
	Nodraw Roof									Only available in Counter-Strike: Source. Identical to Nodraw, the only difference being a separate texture name to differentiate them.
	NPC clip	No	No	No			No		No	Solid to NPCs but not players or other objects.
	Occluder	N/A	No	No			No		No	Used for func_occluder entities. (This table assumes that this texture is used on a func_occluder entity.)
	Origin	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Deprecated for use in Source maps. (After giving the error "origin brushes not allowed in world" the compiler will fail.) Basic idea of an origin brush was used in GoldSource mapping, where it was used to set the rotation origin of rotating entities.
	Player clip	No	No	No			Yes		No	Solid to players but not NPCs or other objects. In L4D and L4D2 this clips players as survivors, but not as special infected.
	Skip	No	No	No			No		No	Has no effect on anything. Useful in combination with Hint tool textures. Skip faces are removed during compile, so a brush textured with skip won't prevent leaks. Also useful as a tool in Hammer for grouping, moving and place-holding objects.
	Trigger	N/A	No	No			No		No	Use on Trigger and func_viscluster entities, and Buyzones in Counter-Strike: Source. Also don't forget to move the selected trigger brush(es) ToEntity so you can change the properties. (This table assumes that this texture is used on a trigger type entity.)

Sky(boxes) and fog

Image	Name	Visible (if worldbrush)	Casts shadows	Cuts VIS leaves	Blocks NPC LOS	Solid to NPCs	Solid to Player(s)	Solid to physics	Solid to bullets	Usage / Notes
	Fog	Yes	No	Yes			Yes		Yes (leaves marks)	Todo: Does not seem to work? (You can use this for func_smokevolume instead of the trigger texture but NOT for func_dustcloud.)
	Skybox	No	No	Yes			Yes		Yes (no marks)	This texture is used to make 2D skyboxes. Casts light if there is a light_environment entity in the map. Cannot be used in the same PVS as the toolsskybox2d tool texture.
	2D Skybox									Available only in the Orange Box engine and later. Use to make 2D skyboxes without displaying the 3D Skybox. Casts light if there is a light_environment entity in the map. Cannot be used in the same PVS as the toolsskybox tool texture.
	SkyFog	No	Yes	Yes			Yes		Yes (leaves marks)	[Todo] toolsskyfog.vmt does not contain any properties. (Generates error Error: Material "tools/toolsskyfog" uses unknown shader "SkyFog".)
	Fog Volume									(Left 4 Dead Only). Used in conjunction with multiple env_fog_controllers to change fog colours and densities in a level