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Finding Your Way Around Your Code

Searching inside your files, jumping to a definition, and why the file tree shows no problem counts.

The file tree is not just a list

Once a project is more than a handful of files, scrolling is the slow way. Everything on this page is in the panel you already have open on the left of the Code Studio.

One search box — names and contents together

The search box above the tree searches file names and what is inside the files at the same time — no mode to pick. Type the name of a command, a message a player sees, or a config key, and you get matching file names first, then the matching lines — file, line number and the line itself — even when you have no idea which file it is in.

The results are keyboard-driven: ↑ and ↓ move through them, Enter opens the one you are on, and Esc clears the search. Picking a line result opens the file at that line.

Recent Files

With the search box empty, the tree shows a Recent Files block above everything else: the last five files you opened. Most of the time the file you want next is one you had a minute ago, and this is faster than any search.

Following the code itself

Inside the editor you can move by meaning rather than by file name:

• F12 — go to the definition of the thing under the cursor
• Shift + F12 — find references
• Alt + Shift + F7 — find all usages, listed so you can see what a change would touch

All three only look inside Java files, so in a Discord bot, a config or a web project they find nothing.

Ctrl + Click starts off. Turn on "Ctrl/Cmd+Click jumps to file" under Profile → Preferences → Editor and holding Ctrl while clicking a symbol opens its file — in Java files. F12 works regardless, so it stays the reliable jump from the keyboard.

These come from the full editor. If you switched the Code Studio to the Simple Editor under Profile → Preferences → Editor, you get syntax highlighting only and these stop working — see Editor & Themes.

No problem counts in the file tree today

The file tree is meant to show a small number beside a file with problems in it — red for errors, amber for warnings. Those numbers do not appear today, whatever is in the file, so a tree with no numbers does not mean a project with no problems.

The build itself is the real verdict — see Cloud Build, and Auto-Fix for what happens when it fails.

Content search shows up to 50 matching lines and needs at least two characters, so search for something specific — a command name or a message — rather than a single letter.

Where to next

• Doing it without the mouse: Keyboard Shortcuts — The keys for everything on this page.
• Still hunting for something: The Smaller IDE Tools — The references panel, and the rest of the Tools menu.
• When the build complains: Auto-Fix — What to do when a build finds problems.

29 of 37 in Code Studio (IDE) · Last checked 11 September 2026 · Previous: Adding & Moving Files