A Rubik's Cube pattern is a short algorithm that turns a solved cube into a picture: a checkerboard, spots, stripes or a small cube nested inside the big one. You don't need to know how to solve the cube to make them. Start from a solved cube, follow the moves, and the pattern appears. To get back, do the same moves in reverse.
Below are 13 patterns and a few tricks. Each one has an animated demo that starts from a solved cube held with white on top and green in front. Press Play to watch it, or step through one move at a time. Every pattern has been checked sticker by sticker by our cube engine, so each one ends exactly as its caption says. If a letter is new to you, the notation guide explains every move.
Easy Patterns (Under 10 Moves)
These are the best place to start. They're short enough to memorize after one or two tries.
Checkerboard
The classic first pattern. M2 E2 S2 turns each of the three middle slices a half turn. Every face ends up with its own color on the corners and center, and the opposite face's color on the four edges.
M2 E2 S2
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
If slice moves feel awkward, the same pattern comes from six face turns: R2 L2 U2 D2 F2 B2 . Either version undoes itself: do it a second time and the cube is solved again.
Six spots
Every face becomes one solid color with a different-colored spot in the middle. The eight moves come in pairs of opposite faces (U D', R L', F B', U D'), so they're easy to remember.
U D' R L' F B' U D'
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
There's also a four-move slice version: E S E' S' . It gives six spots too, with the spots in different colors.
Four spots
The top and bottom stay solved, and each of the four sides gets a spot.
F2 B2 U D' R2 L2 U D'
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
Hi
Four moves put a capital H on the front and on the back. The other four faces stay solved.
M2 U2 M2 U2
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
The Superflip
In the superflip, every corner and center is solved, but all 12 edges are flipped in place. It looks almost solved, but it's one of the hardest positions there is. Michael Reid proved in 1995 that the superflip needs 20 moves to solve, counting a half turn as one move. Then in 2010, Tomas Rokicki, Herbert Kociemba, Morley Davidson and John Dethridge proved that no position needs more than 20. That limit is called God's number. So the superflip is as far from solved as a cube can get. (Those are published proofs. Our engine can't check them, but it does confirm that the algorithm below is 20 face turns and flips every edge.)
U R2 F B R B2 R U2 L B2 R U' D' R2 F R' L B2 U2 F2
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
The superflip also undoes itself. Do the 20 moves again and the cube is solved.
Cubes Inside Cubes
Cube in a cube
Each face shows a 2x2 square inside an L-shaped border of another color. On the top, front and right, the three squares meet at the top-front-right corner, so a small cube seems to sit inside the big one. On the bottom, left and back, the squares meet at the opposite corner, so it looks like a dent from that side.
F L F U' R U F2 L2 U' L' B D' B' L2 U
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
Cube in a cube in a cube
One level deeper: each face shows three nested squares (1x1, 2x2 and the full face), each in a different color. On the top, front and right they meet at the same corner.
U' L' U' F' R2 B' R F U B2 U B' L U' F U R F'
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
Crosses, Stripes and a Kilt
Union Jack
Every face shows a plus sign in its own color, with the four corners in a second color.
U F B' L2 U2 L2 F' B U2 L2 U
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
4 crosses
Only half turns, so it's easy to follow. The top and bottom stay solved, and each side shows a plus in its own color, with the opposite side's color in the corners.
U2 R2 L2 F2 B2 D2 L2 R2 F2 B2
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
Vertical stripes
The top and bottom stay solved. Each side face gets three vertical stripes in three different colors.
F U F R L2 B D' R D2 L D' B R2 L F U F
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
Kilt
Every face uses three colors: its own color in the center, a second color on the four edges and a third on the four corners. The result looks like a tartan.
U' R2 L2 F2 B2 U' R L F B' U F2 D2 R2 L2 F2 U2 F2 U' F2
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
Snakes
Snake patterns twist bands of color around the cube. In both of these, the stickers that move form two separate snakes of 18 stickers each. Each snake crosses all six faces, and every face shows just two colors.
Python
F2 R' B' U R' L F' L F' B D' R B L2
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
Anaconda
L U B' U' R L' B R' F B' D R D' F'
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
Tricks That Bring the Cube Back
Repeat any algorithm enough times and the cube always comes back to where it started. The number of repeats it takes is the algorithm's order. Some orders make good tricks to show a friend.
The sexy move, six times
R U R' U' is a common speedcubing trigger (it's in many of our Rubik's Cube algorithms). Do it once and the cube looks scrambled. Keep going, and after exactly six repeats the cube is solved again. No smaller number of repeats does it. The beginner guide uses the same move, repeated up to five times, to drop each white corner into its slot.
(R U R' U') ×6
A solved cube, white on top and green in front.
R U, 105 times
Two moves, over and over: R U R U R U …. The cube gets thoroughly mixed up, yet after exactly 105 repeats (210 moves) it's solved. Our engine checked every repeat: no earlier one brings it back.
The longest loop: 1,260 repeats
R U2 D' B D' only comes back after 1,260 repeats, which is 6,300 moves. Our engine confirmed that count. Group theorists have shown that 1,260 is the highest order any move sequence on the cube can have (see David Joyner's Adventures in Group Theory).
Patterns that undo themselves
The checkerboard and the superflip both have order 2. Doing them twice gets you back to solved. Most patterns don't. To undo six spots, for example, you have to do the moves in reverse order, with each turn reversed.
"Solve" a cube in 4 moves
Ask a friend to scramble a solved cube with just four turns, like R U F' D, and to tell you the moves. To solve it, undo them backwards: last move first, each in the opposite direction, which gives D' F U' R'. Doing the original moves reversed but in the same order doesn't work. A real scramble takes more than 4 moves, so for those, use the Rubik's Cube solver or learn the beginner method.
Pattern algorithms come from Ruwix's pattern gallery (ruwix.com), which collects patterns from the cubing community. The four-move slice version of six spots is also listed there. Walter Randelshofer's "Pretty Patterns" list is another classic source. Every demo was checked by our cube engine against a description of the pattern: each face is checked for the colors its caption names, not compared with a stored picture. God's-number facts: Reid, "Superflip requires 20 face turns" (1995), and Rokicki, Kociemba, Davidson and Dethridge, "The Diameter of the Rubik's Cube Group Is Twenty" (2010/2013). Order 1,260: Joyner, Adventures in Group Theory (2nd ed., 2008).
FAQ
What's the easiest Rubik's Cube pattern?
The checkerboard: M2 E2 S2, just three moves. If you'd rather use face turns, R2 L2 U2 D2 F2 B2 gives the same pattern.
How do I get my cube back after a pattern?
Do the pattern's moves backwards: start from the last move and reverse each one (R becomes R', and a half turn stays a half turn). For the checkerboard and the superflip, you can simply repeat the pattern.
Can I make these patterns on a scrambled cube?
No. Each algorithm starts from a solved cube. On a scrambled cube, the same moves just give another scramble. Solve it first. The solver can tell you how.
What is the hardest Rubik's Cube position?
The superflip is the best-known example. It needs 20 moves, which is the most any position needs (see God's number).