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bigtreetech / gist:484380b26be613b9139bc537510393df
Last active May 18, 2025 20:48
A deep(ish) dive into z-offset

What is a z-offset?

It seems like a simple question with a simple answer right? It's that thing that you adjust and save when you want the nozzle to be either higher or lower from the bed. But, how does it actually work behind the scenes? What are you actually adjusting? And how does that variable change from one type of probe to another? Let's dig in.

When you install either a z-endstop or a z-probe onto a toolhead it will invariably be at a different height to the nozzle unless the nozzle itself is the probe. However the physical height of the probe actually does not matter much, it is the height at which the probe triggers that matters. The trigger height is defined as the height at which the probe will tell the software that it has reached a certain threshold of "closeness" to the bed and the software should stop moving the z-axis. With a standard inductive probe, the trigger height is the height at which the internal sensing circuit within the probe decides that there is a metal object close enough a