Map Pins are available to all users (including free accounts) in games using the latest version of the Roll20 tabletop engine. 

Map Pins allow GMs to pin information and link handouts to specific map locations, creating a richer, more interactive storytelling experience. Pins can be visible or hidden, allowing for dramatic reveals during play like unveiling a quest or NPC backstory, shedding light on a found location, or springing a trap on an unsuspecting party. 

How to Use Map Pins

Map Pins are handout-linked markers that appear directly on the map and are connected to handouts in your journal. They can be created and configured in just a few clicks. 

Creating a Map Pin (GMs)

Create pins by: 

• Dragging handouts from the Journal to the map

• Dragging an anchor (heading) from within a handout to the map
  • This creates a “Go to Pin” button within the handout
• Or, create a pin from scratch
  • The Place Pin tool is found in the left toolbar
  • Right-click on the map > Place Pin in the menu

Tooltips

• Dragged pins autofill (as available) image, title, player notes, GM notes. 
• Pins created from scratch require the GM to fill out or link a handout in Edit Pin settings.
• Pins can override the image, Player, and GM notes even when linked to a handout using the “Custom” tab instead of “From Handout” in tooltip settings. 
• Player and GM notes are separated into tabs within the tooltip
• Tooltips display embedded images and rich text formatting from linked handouts
  • Italics, superscript/subscript, alignment, indents

Interacting with Pins

1. Click a pin to view its tooltip
2. Click an image to open it in a larger view. 
3. Press Shift + z, or Shift + Click, to show a Pin image to players. 
4. Double-click the pin to open the linked handout.
   1. Players see a pop-out icon on pins when they have permission to view a linked handout.

Visibility

When created, pins default to a hidden state and are only visible to the GM. A hidden pin has a dashed border and appears translucent, and a visible pin has a solid border and appears opaque. Each pin has a visibility toggle on the pin mini menu and can also be updated in pin settings. 

Nameplates can be set to only appear upon hover (check “Hover to display nameplate and bar overlay” in VTT Settings > Graphics) or disabled altogether in pin settings. They can also be set to auto-hide on zoom (out), reducing screen clutter. 

Pin Settings

Pin Settings can be accessed from the pin mini-menu. You can change the name, visibility, linking, and display of the pin, down to choosing exactly which information players will see. You can even set a custom Tooltip with unique images, player notes, and GM notes (740 char max each) if you don’t want to use the actual text from your handout.

Customization

The Customization tab of the Pin Settings Menu offers various settings that allow you to personalize the appearance of your Map Pins (in games you created). A responsive preview at the top of the modal shows selected customization options, which can be undone or saved with the click of a button. 

Some properties are available to everyone, while others are unlocked with a Pro or Elite subscription. 

Here are the different properties that can be customized on pins:

Pin Type

Standard Map Pins are considered "symbol" pins and are available to every GM. Image pins are available to Pro and Elite subscribers and allow for custom pin images to be used in place of the symbol pin. (More on that in the Custom Images section below.) 

Size 

All GMs can customize the size of Map Pins based on map style, grid scale, and personal preference. This is especially useful for visually representing:

• Discreet Pins: Default-sized pins sometimes cover too much map artwork, especially on smaller or half-scale grids.
• Emphasis & Hierarchy: Some GMs want to visually emphasize certain pins while keeping others more subtle.

How to Resize a Pin

1. Select a Pin on your map
2. Open Edit Pin
3. Go to the Customization tab
4. Choose a size from the available options: 
   1. Teeny
   2. Tiny
   3. Small
   4. Medium (default)
   5. Large
   6. Huge
   7. Gigantic

Shape (Pro and Elite subscribers)

Change pin shape to circle, diamond, square, or classic teardrop. Mixing and matching shapes helps categorize different location types. 

Color

Available to everyone, select from common colors in the quick menu, or use the color picker for more options. Enter a hex code for more precise color control. 

Symbol (Pro and Elite subscribers)

Choose from a library of symbols to replace the default pin dot. Quickly communicate location types (shops, inns, dangers, etc.)

Use Text (Pin Labels)

Available to everyone, check "use text" in the Symbol section and enter up to 3 alphanumeric characters to replace the symbol on your pins with text. This is great for coded locations like "1A" or "C11". We recommend increasing the size of your pin for best visibility. 

Custom Image Pins (Pro and Elite subscribers)

Toggle pin type to "Image" to upload custom pin markers (including animated images)! Pins will resize automatically to a 1:1 aspect ratio, sized 70x70px. You can also drag and drop tokens you've purchased from the Marketplace or uploaded to your image library. 

Multi-Select

Map Pins, which are layerless, can be included in selections of multiple objects (tokens, images, drawings, text, cards, Doors, and Windows). See more Select Tool and Hotkey articles for more information. 

Modifier Keys allow you to refine group selection. (Multiple can be used at once, giving you complete control.)

Bulk-Edit

Make changes to Map Pins in less time with fewer clicks by using bulk-edit tools. The following changes may be made to pins in bulk: 

• Copy
• Delete 
• Toggle hidden/visible (via mini-menu)
• Place above/below darkness (right-click context menu)

Note: When rotating/resizing a group selection, items that aren’t rotatable/resizable (Map Pins, Doors, and Windows) maintain their orientation and size, but move with the group. 
 

Default Pin Style

Newly created Map Pins automatically use the same settings as your last customized pin (memory resets to default on page refresh/session re-join). This allows you to create pins in your preferred style faster with less customization required. 

Additional Features

Nameplate Autohide

You can reduce screen clutter by setting Map Pin Nameplates to auto-hide when zoomed out (or hide and show on hover) in VTT Settings > Graphics. 

Go To Pin 

Anchor Pins

Need to find a pin you’ve placed from an anchor? From the handout itself, use the “go to pin” button. This will center your view on the pin location, even if you’re on a different page at the time, and is a great feature to pair with “Place Party” tools to quickly bring your players to their next location.

“Drag to add Pin to Board” and “Copy Header Link” buttons appear on hover (or tap on mobile). This can be changed to always display in VTT Settings > Accessibility > Show Pin Controls in Handouts. 

Context Menu

There are also Go to Pin options located in the right-click context menu in the journal. When clicked, these options center your page on the pin associated with that handout. 

When applicable, a Go to Pin Header option will show a submenu of header pins available to navigate to from that handout. (Note: if you don’t have pins or header/anchor pins, you won’t see their corresponding options in the menu).  

Note: This feature only centers the GM view, and doesn’t move players, but it’s perfect for pairing with Party Tools to quickly transport them to a new location.  

Layerless Interaction

Pins can be accessed and edited from any layer (no switching required), and not only help you organize information as a GM, but also allow your players access to notes and pictures without you having to actually share handouts to their journals. 

Using Blockquotes for Player Flavor Text 

Map Pins support a way to separate player-facing and GM-only information when Handouts include blockquote formatting within GM Notes (common in D&D official adventure Modules to indicate information to share with players).

Anchor Pins

When editing a Map Pin created from an Anchor (header within a Handout), there is a new option in the Tooltip section of Edit Pin Settings:

• Use blockquote as player flavor text

When checked, this setting automatically designates the first blockquoted section under that header as information to share with players, and displays it in the pin’s tooltip. Any remaining text under that header is treated as GM Notes.

Notes: 

• This option only appears on pins created from an Anchor (header within a Handout).
• Anchor Pins created from GM Notes default to flavor text ON
• Anchor Pins from Player Notes default to OFF
  • If you edit a pin and change which header it links to, the behavior updates automatically based on the rules above.
• This feature does not apply to Map Pins created by dragging Handouts to the tabletop. Those continue to work exactly as they did before.

Copying Map Pins with the Transmogrifier

The Transmogrifier is a tool that allows you to take elements out of any of your games and put them into any other game that you own. It works similarly to the Copy/Extend Game feature, but you can use it to add objects to in-progress games. 

Map Pins are supported by the Transmogrifier. There are two ways to successfully copy Map Pins to a new game: 

• Copy in two sessions: Handouts first (copying handouts used to make Map Pins will preserve pin linking), Pages that contain Map Pins second. 
• Copy in a single session, then initiate a hard refresh of your game to ensure proper display and linking. 

Read more about how to use the Transmogrifier here. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Map Pins be available to everybody?

Yes! All users (including free) have access to Map Pins. Advanced features (customization of shape/symbol and custom images) are available to Pro and Elite subscribers.

Can I create a pin that isn’t linked to a handout?

Yes! Use the Place Pin button from the left toolbar or the right-click menu to make a pin from scratch. You may also unlink a pin created by dragging a handout/anchor.

How do I customize pins?

Use the Customize tab within Pin Settings. 

Can I navigate from a handout to the pin I created by dragging it to the map or from scratch?

There is a “Go to Map” button found within Handouts with eligible pins created from anchors. You can also navigate to pins (anchor/header and non-anchor/header) using the Go to Pin options located in the right-click context menu in the journal. 

Does making my pin visible automatically share the handout?

No. Making a pin visible only allows players to see a preview excerpt of the handout content via its tooltip. If you want to give players full access to the handout, you’ll need to share it with their journals separately. You retain full control over what’s revealed and when.

Can I use Mod Scripts (API) with Map Pins? 

Mod Script (API) support is available for most elements of Map Pins for Pro and Elite users (documentation here). 

Need more functionality? One of our community members and script writers, Keith Curtis, has developed a Mod Script called PinTool that streamlines how Game Masters create, manage, and organize map pins. With it, Pro and Elite subscribers can: 

• Bulk create, replace, and edit Map Pins
• Place pins automatically from handout headers (H1–H4)
• Convert map tokens into structured, linked handouts
• Preserve pin positions when replacing existing note token style pins
• Handle GM Notes and Player Notes independently

Read more and watch a demo video here. 

How do I preview how Players will view Map Pins? 

Map Pins won't display correctly using Ctrl + L, as it previews "line of sight" and is not permissions-based. In order to view how pins will actually display to players, GMs must "Rejoin as player" in VTT Settings.