Navigator — GPS routes, live navigation & the Territory game

The Navigator (/navigator) is URBALT's single map for getting around: turn-by-turn GPS navigation, planning and sharing rides, and the Territory capture game. As of July 2026 it replaced the old Community destinations — /community/routes and /community/territory (and their /rules and /new pages) now redirect straight here.

Getting there

Open /navigator from the main navigation, the homepage's Territory tile, or any "Share a route" link. Pick your mode — bike, scooter, or on foot — and allow location access when your browser asks. Browsing the map works without an account; starting a ride, saving a route, or playing Territory needs you to be signed in.

Turn-by-turn navigation

Search for a destination or long-press the map to drop a pin, then follow the route with live GPS. A few things worth knowing:

The camera stays where you put it. Drag or rotate the map while riding and it stays there — it no longer snaps back to your position on its own. Tap Recenter when you want the camera to follow you again.
Recenter zoom adapts to your speed — closer in when you're slow or stopped, pulled back further when you're moving fast, so you always see roughly the same amount of road ahead.

Map tools

3D buildings — a toggle button turns them on or off. Previously buildings hid themselves automatically during turn-by-turn; now you decide (on by default).
Theme switcher — a button cycles light → dark → "panama-brown" without leaving the Navigator. It's separate from the site-wide theme switch in the header.
Collapsible tool rail — the map buttons (info, 3D, recenter, theme…) tuck behind a small "⋯" button so they don't sit permanently over the map. Tap it to expand, tap again to collapse.
Language — open the ☰ menu → Settings to change the site language without leaving the Navigator.

Sharing and finding routes

Plan a ride in the Navigator or upload a GPX file to share it with the community — see the routes guide for the full walkthrough (file format, size limit, what gets calculated automatically, privacy). A shared route still gets its own page (e.g. /community/routes/kakerdaja-loop), the ride tracker still works, and the share form is linked from your panel's "Share a route" card.

The Territory game

Territory is a free game layered onto the map: select a loop of city blocks, physically ride, scoot, or walk the outline, then declare to capture everything inside. A few rules changed in July 2026 to make selection match what's actually rideable:

Real adjacency only. Two blocks only count as neighbours if they share an actual edge (a real common border) — touching at a single corner, or just being close together, no longer counts. This closes the old bug where you could select two blocks with no way to actually ride between them.
Auto-bridge. Tap a block that isn't directly touching your current selection, and the game automatically finds and adds the chain of free blocks connecting it — even blocks off your current screen. You'll see a hint like "Connected through the cells in between."
Enclosed areas fill in live. As you build your selection, any free block that ends up fully enclosed by it joins the claim automatically — hint: "Enclosed cells joined the claim."
The perimeter is the real limit. A claim's outline (the actual distance you'll ride) can be at most 25 km. The block-count cap (300) is just a technical safety net — normal play never gets close to it.
Forests and parks are capturable. Trails, tracks, footways, cycleways, and bridleways cut through wooded and park areas the same way streets cut through the city, so hikers, joggers, and mountain bikers can capture using the real trail network. A large forest or park with no paths through it stays one single block. The sea can never be captured; lakes can — you can loop around one.
The block grid itself was recut. Block shapes and boundaries were regenerated city-wide to follow real streets and paths more precisely, so they may look different from before.

Scooter (glider) legal speed limits

E-scooter routes and Territory's scooter mode respect the legal top speed where you actually are: 25 km/h in Estonia, 25 km/h in Latvia, and 20 km/h in Lithuania. The cap follows your live location, not the domain you're browsing on, so it stays correct if you cross a border mid-ride. This affects route ETA estimates and the in-game speed cap for scooter mode.

Safety reminder

The Navigator is a guide, not a guarantee. Trails and roads change — always check current conditions, respect private property and nature-reserve zones, obey local traffic laws, and ride within your skill. URBALT does not verify routes or Territory claims for legality, safety, or current accessibility — you ride at your own risk.