What Layer is My Point on?

The answer to this question is, “It depends.”

The label text is on a layer. The marker (or symbol) is on a separate layer. Lastly, there is what I call the overall layer; the layer that is reported in the Cogo Point Properties.

Points inserted into Civil 3D behave differently depending on several factors.

Ultimately, points inserted into a drawing that match a description key will always take properties from that description key. In other words, description keys always “win.” (Unless you change the point group overrides)

If the point already exists in your drawing before a description key matching it is created, it will not pick up the description key’s properties.

I created a flowchart to help unmask the mystery of points. The flowchart was made with several assumptions:

• Description keys exist at the time the point is created.
• If a marker style is specified, the label style is also specified.
• None of the layers are set to “0.”
• Description Key overrides are not in use in the point groups.

I hope this helps deepen your understanding of Point behavior in Civil 3D.