Magellan/City Levels

The city of Magellan is divided into city levels, as well as districts, in order to make finding an address easier. Each level is a standard 3m in height - this normally corresponds to one floor of a building plus enough ceiling space for ventilation ductwork and other infrastructure. However, in some parts of the city there are buildings with more internal levels than city levels.

According to the Public Mapping Legislation, the owner of every publicaly accessible building must publish details of all entrances and exits, together with which city level they are on, for inclusion in a Sector Map and Directory.

G levels

G levels are rarely seen, and are used by buildings which extend below the common infrastructure (such as geothermal or deep mining plants). Access is always on level G0, which is the same as the sector's lowest B-level. Increasing numbers on G levels extend downwards.

G-level buildings with access from multiple B-levels commonly use G00 for the internal level above G0, and occasionally G000 is seen too.

B levels

B levels are levels below the planet's average "ground level" before megacity development. If the city weren't here, B1 is the level which could have been the ground floor. Increasing numbers go downwards, generally up to about 100 or 150. The level above B1 is normally A1.

E levels

E levels only occur in a few sectors, where terrain features such as mountains made it difficult to define a consistent ground level. E levels come between A1 and B1, and their numbers or designations vary between districts.

A levels

A levels are the above-ground districts from the pre-megacity days. A1 is the lowest A-level, immediately above B1, and higher numbered levels are higher up. A numbers can reach to anything between A90 and A220, depending on the area.

O levels

O levels are numbered downwards from the altitude of a stable geostationary orbit. O1 is orbital level, and the highest numbered O and A levels meet on a Downline. This may be anywhere between O100 and O201, as the sector authorities decide.

In some areas, busineses may list a 'split address', such as "Level O144/A191" if they are within 5 or 6 levels of the official changeover point.

S levels

S0 is the level immediately above O1. SOme people also use O0, but this is both incorrect and (in some areas) illegal. Above S0 is S1, and increasing numbers get progressively higher.

X levels

X levels exist above about S400, representing levels on non-planetary-aligned space habitats. Here, you're outside the gravity well, so each sector defines its own direction of numbering. Generally, higher numbers run towards a locally accepted 'up'.

Within such a sector, increasing numbers are assigned a consistent vector. X-level street signs have an arrow pointing towards X0 so you know which way to count.