Surface

A surface or triangle in Super Mario 64 is a piece of geometry that exerts some kind of force or effect on Mario. Every triangle falls into one of three categories: a floor triangle, a wall triangle, or a ceiling triangle. However, a triangle does not store what category it is. Instead, its category is determined based on the y component of the triangle's normal vector. If y component > 0.01, then it is a floor. If y component < -0.01, then it is a ceiling. Otherwise, it is a wall.

Walls

A triangle is a wall triangle if and only if -0.01 < normal.y < 0.01.

Hitbox

The hitbox of a wall during both the initial handle and a ground quarter step, simplified

The hitbox of a wall during an air quarter step, simplified

The hitbox of a wall in the water, including both the inital handle and the single frame movement, simplified

All wall hitboxes are handled once per frame and once per quarter step of Mario's movement. Most of the time, a wall has two separate hitboxes handled one after the other within a frame or quarter step.

• A wall hitbox's initial frame handle has a hitbox extending 50 units forward and 50 units backward, offset down 60, and then a hitbox extending 24 units in each direction offset down 30.
• A quarter step of ground movement has a hitbox extending 24 units forward and 24 units backward, offset down 30, and then a hitbox extending 50 units in each direction offset down 60. This is the opposite order from the initial handle, but the outcome is the same.
• A quarter step of air movement gives the wall a hitbox of 50 units in each direction offset down 150, and then a hitbox of 50 units offset down 30.
• Water movement does not implement quarter steps. After one frame of water movement, a wall hitbox extends 110 units in each direction, offset down 10. Since both the water handle and the initial handle both happen once per frame, the hitboxes can be overlaid.

Non-vertical walls

This wall in BoB is not quite vertical.

The majority of walls in the game are perfectly vertical, but not all. Walls that are not vertical are one cause of Glitchy Ledge Grabs.

Floors

A floor triangle is a triangle with normal.y > 0.01.

Hitbox

A floor's hitbox extends 78 units below and 100 units above the floor triangle. This allows Mario to move vertically along floors; if he is moving up or down a slope or stairs, he will be off the floor after his horizontal motion but still in its hitbox, which will snap him to the floor. He will always be snapped up if he's in a floor's hitbox below the floor, but he'll only be snapped down while above a floor if he is in a ground movement state. When walking on a slope, Mario will move horizontally at a rate slower than his actual speed, known as his De Facto Speed.

Any location that is not inside or above a floor hitbox is considered out of bounds; Mario will not be able to move into it of his own volition, and if forced into it, he will die.

Ceilings

A ceiling hitbox extends from 160 units below the ceiling to infinitely above. For ground and air movement, the ceiling will try its best to keep Mario out of it. If Mario walks into the ceiling, his quarter step will be canceled, and he will remain in place and do the pushing animation. If Mario is moving upwards in the air when coming in contact with the ceiling, his quarter step will be canceled and his vertical speed will be set to 0. On the contrary, when Mario falls onto a ceiling while airborne, his quarter step will be canceled and his horizontal speed will get set to 0, making him fall straight down. Although a ceiling will extend upwards infinitely, a floor can overwrite the ceiling hitbox, meaning that its hitbox will stop right when the floor hitbox starts.

On the American release of the game, there is an interesting ceiling example found in Rainbow Ride, where the top of the chimney is not capped off, making the ceiling go up forever, softlocking Mario if he ends up sliding into it.

Even though ceilings try to push Mario outwards, they can still be accessed using various techniques, such as getting pushed by an enemy. Note that once Mario is standing inside the ceiling, he is no longer able to move anywhere due to his quarter steps being cancelled.

For Water movement, Mario instead gets warped downward by ceilings. These downwarps are used in various TASes and speedruns.

Surface Types

Table of Surface Types

Type	Surface Hex	Behavior	Slipperiness	Unused	Sample Level	Description/Notes
Floor/Wall/Ceiling	0x00	Default	Default		Most	Regular Ground
Floor/Wall	0x01	Lava	Default		LLL/BitFS/SL/RR	Lava that burns Mario
Floor	0x04		Default	X		Has Exertion
Ceiling	0x05	Climbable	Default		Many	Ceilings that Mario can climb on
Floor	0x09	Slow Movement	Default	X		Slows movement for Mario when he moves
Floor	0x0A	Death Plane	Default		Many	Triggers death, used in most stages where you can fall off
Floor	0x0B		Default		BoB/SSL Pyramid	Camera mode 1025, close camera
Floor	0x0D		Default		Courtyard (fountain)	For camera behavior
Floor	0x0E	Flowing Water	Default		Basement/Outside/CotMC	Has exertion and pushes Mario in water
Floor	0x12	Intangible	Default		BBH	Seperates BBH mansion from merry-go-round, for room usage
Floor	0x13	Slide Default	Slide		Most	The default slide floor
Floor	0x14	Slippery Default	Slippery		Most	The default slippery floor
Floor	0x15	Non-slippery Default	Non-Slippery		Most	The default non-slippery floor
Floor	0x1A	Different Noise	Default		BBH	Has a varied noise depending on terrain (mostly unused)
Floor	0x1B	Loading Zone	Default		Endless Stairs/WDW	Changes Mario's position/can load new level
Floor	0x1C	Loading Zone	Default		WDW	Changes Mario's position/can load new level
Floor	0x1D	Loading Zone	Default		SSL Pyramid/DDD	Changes Mario's position/can load new level
Floor	0x1E	Loading Zone	Default		SSL Pyramid/DDD	Changes Mario's position/can load new level
Floor	0x21	Shallow Quicksand	Default		THI Huge/TTM	Has a depth of 10 units
Floor	0x22	Deep Quicksand	Default		SSL Pyramid	Has a depth of 160, kills Mario at the bottom
Floor	0x23	Instant Quicksand	Default		SSL	Instant death quicksand, underneath mist
Floor	0x24	Deep Moving Quicksand	Default		SSL	Has a depth of 160, kills Mario at the bottom, has exertion
Floor	0x25	Shallow Moving Quicksand	Default		SSL	Has a depth of 25, has exertion
Floor	0x26	Quicksand	Default		SSL	Has a depth of 60
Floor	0x27	Moving Quicksand	Default		SSL	Has a depth of 60, has exertion
Floor/Wall	0x28	Constructions	Default		Most	Fences, cannons
Floor	0x29	Default with Noise	Default		BoB/WF/BBH	Default floor with different noises
Floor	0x2A	Slippery with Noise	Slippery		BoB/Outside	Slippery floor with different noises
Floor	0x2C	Horizontal Wind	Default		SL/BitS/RR/THI Huge	Creates sideways wind
Floor	0x2D	Instant Moving Quicksand	Default		SSL	Instant death quicksand, has exertion
Floor	0x2E	Ice	Slide		CCM/SL/THI	Is slippery, transparent, and has a unique shadow
Floor	0x2F	TotWC Trigger/Sun Carpet	Default		Lobby	Floor to trigger TotWC
Floor	0x30	Hard Default	Default		CCM/SSL/SL	Always has fall damage, regardless of terrain
Floor	0x32	Surface Warp	Default		TotWC/DDD/JRB	Warp with no height check (moving above triggers it)
Floor	0x33	Slide Timer Start	Default		PSS	Starts the timer for the slide
Floor	0x34	Slide Timer End	Default		PSS	Ends the timer for the slide
Floor	0x35	Hard Slippery Surface	Slippery		SSL	Always has fall damage, slippery
Floor	0x36	Hard Slide Surface	Slide		SL	Always has fall damage, slide
Floor	0x37	Hard Non-Slippery Surface	Non-Slippery		CCM/SL/WMotR	Always has fall damage, Non-Slippery
Floor	0x38	Upwards Wind	Default		CCM/THI/TTM	Creates upward wind, also acts as a death barrier
	0x40	Vertices Information	-			Beginning of the vertices information in the level data
	0x41	Continue	-
	0x42	End	-			Marks the end of level data
	0x43	Objects	-			Beginning of some object information in the level data
	0x44	Waterlike Collision	-			Beginning of the waterlike information in the level data
Floor	0x65		Default		BoB/WF	Camera mode 2817, zoomed out
Floor	0x66		Default		SSL Pyramid/TTC/THI	For camera behavior
Floor	0x68		Default		THI Wiggler	For camera behavior
Floor	0x69		Default		THI Tiny	For camera behavior
Floor	0x6E		Default		WF/SSL	For camera behavior
Floor	0x6F		Default		BitDW/THI	For camera behavior
Floor	0x70		Default		BoB/TTM	For camera behavior
Floor/Wall/Ceiling	0x72	Camera-only Surface	Default		Basement/CotMC/SL	Intangible as a surface for Mario, however restricts camera movement
Floor	0x73	Slide with Noise	Slide	X		Has noises, unused
Floor	0x74	Slide with Noise	Slide	X		Has noises, unused
Floor	0x75	Snowman's Path	Slide		CCM	Snowmans head race path; has noise
Floor/Wall	0x76	Surfaces with Flags	Default		Most	Most surfaces that have flags use this type
Floor	0x77		Default	X		Can have flags
Floor	0x78		Slide		THI Huge	Possibly for camera behavior, has noise
Floor	0x79		Slippery		CCM	For camera behavior
Floor	0x7A	Switch Surface	Non-Slippery		Many	Switches and Dorrie use this surface
Wall	0x7B	Invisi-Cap Mesh's	Default		Many	Passible with invisible cap
Floor	0xA6	BoB Painting/TTM Slide Entrance	Default		Lobby/TTM	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xA7	BoB Painting/TTM Slide Entrance	Default		Lobby/TTM	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xA8	BoB Painting/TTM Slide Entrance	Default		Lobby/TTM	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xA9	CCM Painting	Default		Lobby	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xAA	CCM Painting	Default		Lobby	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xAB	CCM Painting	Default		Lobby	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xAC	WF Painting	Default		Lobby	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xAD	WF Painting	Default		Lobby	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xAE	WF Painting	Default		Lobby	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xAF	JRB Painting	Default		Lobby	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xB0	JRB Painting	Default		Lobby	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xB1	JRB Painting	Default		Lobby	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xB2	LLL Painting	Default		Basement	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xB3	LLL Painting	Default		Basement	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xB4	LLL Painting	Default		Basement	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xB5	SSL Wall	Default		Basement	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xB6	SSL Wall	Default		Basement	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xB7	SSL Wall	Default		Basement	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xB8	Unused HMC Wall?	Default	X		Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xB9	Unused HMC Wall?	Default	X		Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xBA	Unused HMC Wall?	Default	X		Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xBB	DDD Wall	Default		Basement	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xBC	Unused DDD Wall?	Default	X		Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xBD	Unused DDD Wall?	Default	X		Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xBE	WDW Painting	Default		Upstairs	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xBF	WDW Painting	Default		Upstairs	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xC0	WDW Painting	Default		Upstairs	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xC1	THI-Tiny Painting	Default		Upstairs	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xC2	THI-Tiny Painting	Default		Upstairs	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xC3	THI-Tiny Painting	Default		Upstairs	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xC4	TTM Painting	Default		Upstairs	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xC5	TTM Painting	Default		Upstairs	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xC6	TTM Painting	Default		Upstairs	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xC7		Default	X		Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xC8		Default	X		Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xC9		Default	X		Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xCA	Unused SL Painting?	Default	X		Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xCB	Unused SL Painting?	Default	X		Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xCC	Unused SL Painting?	Default	X		Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xCD	THI-Large Painting	Default		Upstairs	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xCE	THI-Large Painting	Default		Upstairs	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xCF	THI-Large Painting	Default		Upstairs	Wobbles camera, locks it
Floor	0xD0	HMC/CotMC Pool Loading	Default		Basement/HMC	Possibly for triggering the pool graphic to load
Floor	0xD1		Default	X
Floor	0xD2		Default	X
Floor	0xD3	BoB Painting/TTM Slide Entrance	Default		Lobby	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xD4	BoB Painting/TTM Slide Entrance	Default		Lobby	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xD5	BoB Painting/TTM Slide Entrance	Default		Lobby	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xD6	CCM Painting	Default		Lobby	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xD7	CCM Painting	Default		Lobby	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xD8	CCM Painting	Default		Lobby	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xD9	WF Painting	Default		Lobby	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xDA	WF Painting	Default		Lobby	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xDB	WF Painting	Default		Lobby	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xDC	JRB Painting	Default		Lobby	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xDD	JRB Painting	Default		Lobby	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xDE	JRB Painting	Default		Lobby	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xDF	LLL Painting	Default		Basement	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xE0	LLL Painting	Default		Basement	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xE1	LLL Painting	Default		Basement	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xE2	SSL Wall	Default		Basement	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xE3	SSL Wall	Default		Basement	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xE4	SSL Wall	Default		Basement	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xE8	DDD Wall	Default		Basement	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xE9	DDD Wall	Default		Basement	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xEA	DDD Wall	Default		Basement	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xEB	WDW Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xEC	WDW Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xED	WDW Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xEE	THI Tiny Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xEF	THI Tiny Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xF0	THI Tiny Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xF1	TTM Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xF2	TTM Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xF3	TTM Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xF4	TTC Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xF5	TTC Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xF6	TTC Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xF7	SL Wall	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xF8	SL Wall	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xF9	SL Wall	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xFA	THI Huge Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xFB	THI Huge Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xFC	THI Huge Painting	Default		Upstairs	Horizontal Course Warp
Floor	0xFD	Hole Course Entry	Default		Basement/HMC	Flat Course Entry
Floor	0xFF	BitDW Entry (Not a Warp)	Default		Lobby	BitDW Entry