Reference
ID in AutoCAD
How AutoCAD's ID command works: pick or snap a point and read its X, Y and Z in the current UCS at the command prompt, inside a command too. Try it free.
ID writes the coordinates of a point. At Specify point: pick it, snap to it or type it, and ID writes its X, Y and Z on one line at the command prompt, then ends. The values are in the current UCS, at the drawing's precision. With an object snap, Z is the object's height at that point; otherwise it is the elevation plane's. Enter ends it without a word, and objects selected before ID are dropped as it starts. Typed with an apostrophe, 'ID, it runs inside another command, which goes on after it.
- Command:
ID - Panel: Inquiry & view
- Try it: Open the editor, type
IDand press Enter.
At the command line
The engine draws it and writes its history as you would type it: the prompts in AutoCAD 2027's order, with the same option letters.
- Command: ID
- Specify point: _cen of
- X = 70.00 Y = 35.00 Z = 0.00
Questions
What does the ID command do in AutoCAD?
It reports where a point is: X, Y and Z, in the current UCS. It draws and changes nothing.
How do I find the coordinates of a point?
Type ID, then click the point with an object snap, Endpoint or Center, so it lands exactly on it. The coordinates are written at the command prompt.
How do I get the Z coordinate of a point?
Snap to it with an object snap: ID writes the object's Z there. A plain click gives the Z of the elevation plane, 0 unless ELEVATION or the UCS raise it.
Why does ID show coordinates I did not expect?
ID reads in the current UCS. If the UCS was moved or turned, the numbers are measured from its origin along its axes: UCS World to read world coordinates.