user: Give a detailed overview of General: syntax, arguments, return values, common patterns.

assistant: The following options are always present, independent of the current mode.
Some of the overlays can be customized in the
[Viewport Preferences](../../preferences/viewport.xhtml).

### Guides

Grid
:   Show grid in orthographic side view.

Floor
:   Show the ground plane in perspective view.

Axes
:   Show the X, Y and/or Z axis lines.

Scale
:   The distance between lines in the grid/floor.

Subdivisions
:   The number of subdivisions between grid lines.

Text Info
:   Show various bits of information in the top left corner of the viewport.

    - **View Perspective** –
      Name of the [View Perspective](../navigate/projections.xhtml),
      such as “Top Orthographic” or “User Perspective.”
    - **Playback Frame Rate (FPS)** –
      Displays the Frames Per Second at which the animation is playing.
      By default, Blender goes through every single frame, which may result in an FPS that’s lower than
      intended (and the animation playing slower than realtime); the FPS turns red in this case.
      You can change this behavior in the [Playback popover](../../../animation/animation_editors.xhtml#animation-editors-playback) within an editors playback controls.
    - **Object Info** –
      Shows the current frame in parentheses, followed by the names of the selected
      [Collection](../../../scene_layout/collections/index.xhtml),
      the [active object](../../../scene_layout/object/selecting.xhtml#object-active), and the active data-block’s name.
      When applicable, also shows the selected [Shape Key](../../../animation/shape_keys/introduction.xhtml)
      and (in angle brackets) the [Marker](../../../animation/markers.xhtml) on the current frame.
      If the object has a keyframe on the current frame, the Object Info is displayed in yellow.
    - **Grid Resolution** –
      When the view is aligned to a world axis (see [Viewpoint](../navigate/viewpoint.xhtml)),
      the Text Info additionally shows the smallest distance between two parallel grid lines.

Statistics
:   Show information about the amount of objects and geometry.
    Note that the counters depend on the current selection.
    For example, selecting a mesh gives info on the number of vertices, edges, and faces,
    while selecting a light shows the number of lights in the scene.

    - **Objects** – Number of the selected objects and the total count.
    - **Geometry** – Displays information about the current scene depending on the mode and object type.
      This can be the number of vertices, faces, triangles, or bones.

3D Cursor
:   Show the [3D Cursor](../3d_cursor.xhtml).

Annotations
:   Show [annotations](../../../interface/annotate_tool.xhtml).

Camera Guides
:   Show camera guides
    ([Safe Areas](../../../render/cameras.xhtml#bpy-types-displaysafeareas) & [Composition Guides](../../../render/cameras.xhtml#bpy-types-camera-show-composition)).
    Only available in [camera view](../navigate/camera_view.xhtml#bpy-ops-view3d-view-camera).

Reference Spheres
:   Show two spheres, one glossy and one diffuse, that react to lighting to assist in look development.
    Only available in *Material Preview* shading [Shading Mode](shading.xhtml).
    The size of the spheres can be adjusted in the [Viewport Preferences](../../preferences/viewport.xhtml).

### Objects

Extras
:   Show objects that don’t have geometry (such as empties, cameras and lights).

    This also influences the display of:

    - Rigid Body [Collision Shape](../../../physics/rigid_body/properties/collisions.xhtml#bpy-types-rigidbodyobject-collision-shape)
    - Object [Texture Space](../../../scene_layout/object/properties/display.xhtml#bpy-types-object-show-texture-space)

Light Colors
:   Shades the outline of light objects to the color the light produces.

Relationship Lines
:   Show dashed lines indicating parent or constraint relationships.

Outline Selected
:   Show an outline around selected objects.

Bones
:   Show Bones.

Motion Paths
:   Show the [motion path](../../../animation/motion_paths.xhtml) overlay.

Origin
:   Show the [origins](../../../scene_layout/object/origin.xhtml) of the selected objects.

Origin (All)
:   Show the origins of all objects.

Bone Wireframe Opacity
:   The maximum opacity used for bones drawn in the *Wireframe*
    [shading mode](shading.xhtml) (or in *Solid* shading mode with X-Ray active).
    This is helpful when it is necessary to reduce clutter and focus on the mesh rather than bones.

### Geometry

Wireframe
:   Display mesh edges. Similar to [Wireframe Shading](shading.xhtml#dview-shading-rendered),
    but displays edges on top of existing shading.
    The value slider adjusts which edges to display:
    lower values hide edges on surfaces that are almost flat, while a value of 1 shows all edges.

    Opacity
    :   The opacity of the displayed edges, from 0 (invisible) to 1 (fully opaque).

Fade Inactive Geometry
:   In modes other than Object Mode, fade out objects that you’re not working on.
    The slider controls how much they’re faded out.

Face Orientation
:   Highlights the backside of faces in red. In general, if a face is shown in red
    on the outside of a mesh, it’s most likely oriented incorrectly and needs
    to have its normal flipped. This can be done with the [Flip](../../../modeling/meshes/editing/mesh/normals.xhtml#bpy-ops-mesh-flip-normals)
    or [Recalculate](../../../modeling/meshes/editing/mesh/normals.xhtml#bpy-ops-mesh-normals-make-consistent) operators for meshes,
    and with the [Switch Direction](../../../modeling/surfaces/editing/segments.xhtml#modeling-surfaces-editing-segments-switch-direction) operator
    for Surface objects.

### Viewer Node

Visualizes [Attributes](../../../modeling/geometry_nodes/attributes_reference.xhtml)
connected to the [Viewer Node](../../../modeling/geometry_nodes/output/viewer.xhtml).

Viewer Node
:   Visualize the value of the attribute connected to the *Viewer Node* as a grayscale color.

    Color Opacity
    :   Opacity of the attribute that is currently visualized.

Attribute Text
:   Show attribute values as text in viewport.

### Motion Tracking

Show the [motion tracking](../../../movie_clip/tracking/introduction.xhtml) overlay.

Camera Path
:   Show the reconstructed camera path.

Marker Names
:   Show the names of the reconstructed tracking markers.

Tracks
:   Change the display of the tracking markers:
    plain axes, arrows and so on.

Size
:   Change the display size of the tracking markers.