Players Can't See the Map in Foundry VTT? Fix Black Screens and Missing Scenes

It's the most common first-session problem in Foundry VTT: everything looks fine on the GM screen, but your players see black, see the wrong scene, or can't open the handout you just shared. It's almost always one of a handful of settings. Work through this checklist from the top. Each step links to the exact part of our Foundry Basics video that covers it.

Most common causes: the scene isn't active (step 1), the player doesn't own a token (step 2), or the token has vision but there's no light (step 3).

1. Are they on the right scene?

▶ “Creating a Battlemap: Viewing the Scene” in #FoundryVTT Basics - Getting Started With Fou… (28:08) · “UI: Navigation” (15:08)

Viewing a scene only changes what you see. Activating a scene moves everyone to it. If you've been prepping a scene and just viewing it, your players are still on the active scene, marked with a star in the navigation bar. Right-click the scene and choose Activate.

Also check navigation: a scene can be GM-only (an eye with a slash) or visible to all players. Players can always reach the active scene.

2. Do they own a token on the scene?

▶ “Ownership of Actors and Other Objects” in #FoundryVTT Basics - Getting Started With Fou… (1:00:11) · “Ownership Viewer” in The Top 5 MUST HAVE #FoundryVTT Modules for 2… (7:52)

With token vision on, players see the scene through tokens they own. If a player has no owned token on the scene, they see nothing. Right-click their actor → Configure Ownership and give that player Owner (Observer or Limited isn't enough to control the token). Then drop the token on the scene. Players can also pick that actor as their Player Character in User Configuration.

Ownership Viewer puts colored dots next to every actor, item, and journal so you can see ownership at a glance and catch the one you missed. Folder ownership changes only apply to what's in the folder at the time.

3. Is there light for them to see by?

▶ “Vision and Additional Wall Types” in #FoundryVTT Basics - Getting Started With Fou… (1:04:34) · “Lights” (36:27) · “Scene Darkness” (40:28)

By default, tokens only see where there's light. A dark scene with no light sources and no darkvision looks black to players even though you, as GM, can see the map. Fix it by:

• Adding light sources with Draw Light Source (click for the origin, drag for the radius, and remember to click Update Ambient Light when you configure one, because closing the window discards changes).
• Lowering the scene's darkness: set Darkness Level on the scene's Lighting tab (0 is brightest, 1 is darkest), or use Transition to Daylight.
• Giving the token vision suited to the scene in its token settings, such as darkvision if your system uses it.

4. Or turn token vision off entirely

▶ “Creating a Theatre of the Mind Scene” in #FoundryVTT Basics - Getting Started With Fou… (45:20)

For theatre-of-the-mind scenes, title cards, or world maps, players don't need tokens at all. In the scene's settings, turn Token Vision off and Global Illumination on, and players will see everything without owning a token. Set the Initial View Position so everyone starts on the shot you framed.

5. Are walls blocking their sight?

▶ “Walls and Doors Basics” in #FoundryVTT Basics - Getting Started With Fou… (30:55) · “UI and First Looks” in Supercharge Your Walls - Monk's Wall Enhancem… (1:07)

Walls can block movement, light, sight, and sound separately. A wall drawn in the wrong place, or set to block sight when it shouldn't, can black out a whole room. Double-click a wall to check what it restricts. Special types behave differently: limited walls block on the second wall the sight passes through, proximity walls block until a token gets close, and reverse proximity walls are transparent until a token gets close.

6. On Foundry v14: is the token on the right level?

▶ “Scene Setup” in #FoundryVTT Basics - A Practical Guide to v14… (1:45) · “Surfaces” (14:48)

With v14's core Levels, each level only shows other levels you've marked as visible levels, and that's a one-way setting: level 2 can see level 1 without level 1 seeing level 2. Placeables (tiles, lights, walls, sounds) only appear on the levels they're tagged with. An empty levels field means they appear on every level. If a token is on a different level from the content, it won't see it. Also note that players can change their token's elevation but not its level: the GM or a stairs region (Change Level behavior) has to do that. Our v14 Levels guide covers all of this.

7. Can't see a journal, handout, or map note?

▶ “Adding Scene Notes with Journal Entries” in #FoundryVTT Basics - Getting Started With Fou… (1:06:03) · “Journal Entries” (53:43)

Players only see map notes for journals they have permission to see, and journal pages can have their own ownership, separate from the journal. Give the player (or All Players) at least Observer on the journal or page. Secret blocks inside a journal stay visible only to the GM and owners.

Related guides

• Getting Started with Foundry VTT, which covers scenes, lights, walls, ownership, and vision step by step
• How to use Levels in Foundry v14
• Modules broke after a Foundry update?
• All How To guides