geoprimsField-grade geospatial math

Map tile parent and children

The parent tile one zoom out and the four children one zoom in of a z/x/y tile or quadkey, in XYZ or TMS numbering.

11/568/772

The parent of this tile is 11/568/772.

Children
TileQuadkey
13/2274/30880320011120010
13/2275/30880320011120011
13/2274/30890320011120012
13/2275/30890320011120013
Parent quadkey
Provenance
Computed by
indexing.tile.family 1.0.0, core 0.1.0
Model
Parent = (z − 1, ⌊x/2⌋, ⌊y/2⌋); children = (z + 1, 2x + i, 2y + j). TMS y = 2^z − 1 − XYZ y
Accuracy
Exact
Notes
None
Cites
OpenStreetMap Wiki, Slippy map tilenames; Microsoft, Bing Maps Tile System

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How we got thisFormula, worked example, sources, and proof

Model: Parent = (z − 1, ⌊x/2⌋, ⌊y/2⌋); children = (z + 1, 2x + i, 2y + j). TMS y = 2^z − 1 − XYZ y

Show your work

  1. Children

    (z + 1, 2x + i, 2y + j) for i, j in 0, 1

    12/1137/1544 = 4 tiles

  2. Parent

    (z − 1, ⌊x / 2⌋, ⌊y / 2⌋)

    12/1137/1544 = 11/568/772

The same steps an agent gets from the MCP server with explain: true.

Accuracy: Exact

When to use this: Use this to walk a tile pyramid: the parent one zoom out, the four children one zoom in, with their quadkeys. It is the step you need when invalidating a cache upward, splitting a download, or reading a tile reference someone gave you in the other numbering.

Limitations: XYZ and TMS number the y axis from opposite ends, and the two agree only at zoom 0, where the grid is one tile tall -- which is exactly why an untested conversion looks right and is not. Say which convention you mean; the default is XYZ, what web maps use. A quadkey carries its own zoom in its length, so a six-character quadkey is a zoom-6 tile and cannot be a shorthand for a deeper one. Zoom 0 has no parent, and this says none rather than returning a tile that does not exist.

Worked example: Tile 12/1137/1544. Source: Slippy map tile arithmetic: parent 11/568/772. It is golden test vector v001, and every build checks the tool still gives its answer within its tolerance.

You enter

Tile
12/1137/1544

You get

Parent
11/568/772
Parent quadkey
03200111200

Review: Not yet independently reviewed by a GIS professional.

Last verified: 2026-09-18, when a maintainer last confirmed this tool's sources at the issuer. See the sources ledger.

Status: version 1.0.0, core 0.1.0. See this tool in the verification report.

Checked against: 23 golden test vectors (download the test vectors, each with its source and tolerance). See how results are checked and every source.

Sources