Skyward Sword is split into several layers of loading precision. There are three main levels:
All Areas and Rooms that share the same map are called a Map. This can be seen when pressing the '+' button. Your coordinates are based off the Map. This means that a BiTWarp (or some other way to change Link's coordinates) can make Link move to Areas and Rooms much further along in the Map, since they share the same Map.
Areas are sub-zones of Maps. Sometimes a Map may contain only one Area (such as Skyview Temple) and some contain several (such as Lanaryu Mining Facility). If you enter a new room, and the screen fades to black or white, then a new Area is being loaded. When the Area is loaded, all the Rooms in the area are partially loaded.
Rooms are generally divided by doors, but not always. For example, all the "rooms" in the Knight's Academy are one large Room. Upon entering a Room, the individual Room is fully loaded. If the Area has not been partially loaded yet, then the room will be unloaded.
This means that you can skip past certain barriers while the room is partially loaded. Leaving a room and re-entering it will fully load the room. Alternatively, saving and then reloading the file will also fully load the room.
As you cannot leave or enter another loading zone, there have been no found uses yet. Unlike a partial load, re-entering a room does not load the room, as you still need to hit an Area loading zone. Saving and reloading also does not load the room. The game thinks you are in a different Area, because you never went past an Area loading zone to update the new Area.
A layer, also known as a state, is a memory value the game uses to determine which actors, objects and triggers should be loaded onto a given area. This value is calculated based off of your story flags during the loading process. Every area in the game possesses different layers. By default, the layer is 0. For many maps, layer 0 isn't supposed to ever be explored, as it will contain a very low amount of actors. However, with glitches, it is oftentimes possible to avoid triggering the event that will set layer 1, and you can then explore a layer you were never supposed to. This is the case of Skyview Zero and Eldin Zero for instance.
The following tables list the necessary story events to trigger to progress to another layer for each area, with remarks when a layer has interesting properties. The layers are given in their ascending priority order.
| Layer | Story Event to trigger | Interesting Properties |
| Skyloft |
| 1&2 (Day & Night) | - | Layer 2 is used for the Fi Chase. |
| 10 | Watch the Groose Cutscene | The loftwing can be rescued past the waterfall cave (Note: this layer has a lower priority despite being a high number) |
| 3 | Loftwing Rescued | Wing Ceremony |
| 4&5 (Day & Night) | Hero's Tunic or Defeating the Imprisoned 1 or Defeating the Imprisoned 2 | Hylia's Trial Gate can appear |
| 6&7 (Day & Night) | Stone of Trials placed in the Statue | Sky Keep appears |
| 8&9 (Day & Night) | Beating Sky Keep | The Goddess Statue is no more on Skyloft |
| Knight's Academy |
| 1&2 (Day & Night) | - | - |
| 3&4 (Day & Night) | Hero's Tunic | - |
| Bazaar |
| 1 | - | - |
| 2 | After meeting Batreaux and talking to past Impa before the True Master Sword cutscene | The Fortune teller isn't in the Bazaar because his crystal ball broke |
| 3 | Sleeping after collecting the Fortune Teller gratitude crystals | The Fortune teller is back in the Bazaar |
| Goddess Statue |
| 1 | - | Default layer, same for both day and night |
| 2&3 (Day & Night) | Hero's Tunic | - |
| Batreaux's House |
| 1 | - | - |
| 2 | Sleeping after Batreaux becomes human | Batreaux isn't in his house anymore |
| Fortune-teller Sparrot’s House |
| 1&2 (Day & Night) | - | - |
| 3&4 (Day & Night) | Sleeping after collecting the Fortune Teller gratitude crystals | - |
| Sky |
| 2 | - | Normal sky |
| 3 | Loftwing rescued | Loftwing Tutorial layer |
| 1 | 2nd half of the Wing Ceremony Cutscene | Wing Ceremony layer. The loading zone all around Skyloft layer 3 will force this layer of the Sky, and so the cutscene can be skipped |
| 2 | Hero's Tunic | Normal sky |
| 4 | - | Night time layer |
| 6* | Set before jumping into the sky to learn the Spiral Charge (can be unset by talking to Owlan) | Spiral Charge Tutorial layer. This flag however does not force the sky layer to be 6, instead it spawns Sky layer 6 loading zones and despawns other sky loading zones on Skyloft. |
| Thunderhead |
| 1 | - | - |
| 2 | Levias explaining the Song of the Hero quest | The Thunderhead is calm |
| Bamboo Island |
| 1 | - | - |
| 2 | Talk to Peater to start Clean Cut Challenge | Minigame layer |
| Sealed Grounds Spiral † |
| 0 | - | The statue is activated |
| 1 | Hero's Tunic | The cutscene near the Sealed Temple can be watched. Sealing spike event |
| 2 | Playing the Ballad of the Goddess with Impa | Imprisoned 1 fight |
| 3 | Din's Flame Cutscene (also talking to Golo for the Lanayru Song of the Hero quest temporarely until you learn the Thunder Dragon's Song) | Imprisoned 2 fight. The Lanayru Song of the Hero quest locks you out of the Faron Song of the Hero quest until you learn the song by downgrading the layer |
| 4 | Levias explaining the Song of the Hero quest | Imprisoned 3 fight |
| 5 | Defeating the Imprisoned 3 | - |
| 6 | Defeating the Horde | - |
| Sealed Grounds Spiral with Statue of the Goddess † |
| 0 | - | - |
| 1 | Beating Sky Keep | - |
| 2 | Defeating Ghirahim 3 | - |
| Behind the Temple |
| 0 | - | No gate, the statue is activated |
| 1 | Hero's Tunic | After entering the Sealed Temple from the Sealed Grounds, the bokoblins appear and assault the Goron |
| 2 | Faron Woods Introductory Cutscene | No more bokoblin assault |
| 3 | Harp Cutscene | Groose Event |
| 4 | Din's Flame Cutscene | - |
| 5 | Levias explaining the Song of the Hero quest | Gate to Faron Woods closed †† |
| 6 | Defeating the Imprisoned 3 | Gate to Faron Woods closed †† |
| 7 | Learning the Water Dragon's Song | - |
| 8 | Beating Sky Keep | - |
| Sealed Temple |
| 0 | - | No doors |
| 1 | Cutscene near Sealed Temple entrance in Sealed Grounds | Can meet Impa and beacon tutorial |
| 2 | Groose Cutscene behind the temple watched | Only layer where you can learn the Ballad of the Goddess and watch the Gate of Time raising cutscene. The closed Gate of Time can appear |
| 3 | Din's Flame Cutscene | The closed Gate of Time can appear. Only layer where the Imprisoned 2 fight can be triggered |
| 4 | Defeating the Imprisoned 2 | The Gate of Time opening cutscene can play ††† . Both the closed and the opened Gate of Time can appear. |
| 5 | Levias explaining the Song of the Hero quest | The opened Gate of Time can appear |
| 6 | Defeating the Imprisoned 3 (also talking to Golo for the Lanayru Song of the Hero quest temporarely until you learn the Thunder Dragon's Song) | The Lanayru Song of the Hero quest prevents the Faron Song of the Hero quest by changing the layer away from the Imprisoned 3 layer. The opened Gate of Time can appear |
| 7 | Beating Sky Keep | The opened Gate of Time can appear |
| Hylia's Temple |
| 0 | - | No doors |
| 1 | Gate of Time opened †††† | The True Master Sword Cutscene can be watched |
| 2 | Beating Sky Keep | - |
| 3 | Defeating Ghirahim 3 | - |
| Hylia's Realm |
| 0 | - | The Horde Cutscene can not be watched and needs to be skipped |
| 13 | Beating Sky Keep | The Horde Cutscene can be watched |
| 1 | Horde Cutscene | Can fight the Horde |
| 7 | Defeating the Horde | Can trigger the Ghirahim 3 fight without having to refight the Horde |
| 3 | Defeating Ghirahim 3 | Can enter the warp to fight Demise |
| Faron Woods and Deep Woods |
| 0 | - | - |
| 1 | Sealed Grounds Introductory Cutscene | Kikwi rescue and slingshot. Only layer where the Skyview Temple entering cutscene can play |
| 2 | Fi text after obtaining the Ruby Tablet | This sets the story flag for Machi to have been located |
| 3 | Learning Farore's Courage | Farore's Trial Gate can appear |
| 4 | Completing Farore's Silent Realm | Farore's Trial Gate can appear |
| 5 | Learning the Water Dragon's Song | - |
| Inside the Great Tree |
| 0 | - | No water inside the Great Tree on layer 0 |
| 1 | Sealed Grounds Introductory Cutscene | - |
| 2 | Farore's Flame Cutscene | - |
| 3 | Learning the Water Dragon's Song | The water level inside the Great Tree rises, no more hanging platforms |
| Skyview Temple |
| 0 | - | Skyview Zero (no doors) |
| 1 | Entering Skyview Temple Cutscene | Skyview 1 |
| 2 | Completing Farore's Silent Realm | Skyview 2 |
| 3 | Farore's Flame Cutscene | Skyview 3 |
| Skyview Temple Boss Room |
| 13 | - | By default, a cutscene plays in this boss room on layer 13, and that cutscene always forces the Ghirahim 1 fight on layer 0 |
| 1 | Defeating Ghirahim 1 | - |
| 2 | Fi Text after obtaining the Ruby Tablet | - |
| 3 | Completing Farore's Silent Realm | Triple Stalfos fight |
| 4 | Defeating Triple Stalfos Boss Fight | - |
| Skyview Spring |
| 0 | - | No cutscene showing off the Spring |
| 1 | Defeating Ghirahim 1 | - |
| 2 | Fi Text after obtaining the Ruby Tablet | - |
| 3 | Completing Farore's Silent Realm | Sacred Water appears |
| 4 | Healing the Water Dragon | - |
| Lake Floria |
| 0 | - | - |
| 1 | Completing Farore's Silent Realm | Parella Chase |
| 2 | Farore's Flame Cutscene | - |
| 3 | Learning the Water Dragon's Song | - |
| Water Dragon's Lair |
| 0 | - | No Water Dragon |
| 1 | Completing Farore's Silent Realm | - |
| 2 | Levias explaining the Song of the Hero quest | - |
| 3 | Learning the Water Dragon's Song | - |
| Floria Waterfall |
| 0 | - | No Waterfall |
| 1 | Completing Farore's Silent Realm | Waterfall |
| 2 | Ancient Cistern introductory Cutscene | No Waterfall, can enter Ancient Cistern by jumping from a lilypad |
| 3 | Farore's Flame Cutscene | No Waterfall |
| Ancient Cistern Boss Room |
| 1 | - | - |
| 3 | Koloktos defeated | No Ghirahim cutscene, can theoretically start the fight by interacting with Koloktos on this layer |
| Flooded Faron Woods |
| 0 | - | - |
| 1 | Levias explaining the Song of the Hero quest | - |
| 2 | Meeting the Water Dragon inside the Tree and starting Tadtone collecting | - |
| 3 | Learning the Water Dragon's Song | - |
| Flooded Great Tree |
| 0 | - | No water inside the Great Tree on layer 0. The Water Dragon Cutscene cannot be started. There are also no loading zones |
| 1 | Levias explaining the Song of the Hero quest | - |
| 2 | Meeting the Water Dragon inside the Tree and starting Tadtone collecting | - |
| Eldin Volcano and Digging Mitts Cave |
| 0 | - | Eldin Zero |
| 1 | Fi Text after obtaining the Ruby Tablet | Impa cutscene at the bridge. Can obtain the digging mitts |
| 2 | Lanayru Light Pillar | Din's Trial Gate can appear |
| 3 | Collecting the Water Basin | Scrapper escort enemy set |
| 4 | Fire Dragon Text after learning the Fire Dragon's Song | Many fallen towers and lava floating platforms appear |
| Thrill Digger Cave |
| 0 | - | - |
| 1 | Fi Text after obtaining the Ruby Tablet | - |
| Earth Temple Boss Room |
| 0 | - | No door to the Spring |
| 1 | Fi Text after obtaining the Ruby Tablet | - |
| 2 | Amber Tablet Cutscene | - |
| Inside the Volcano Summit and Volcano Summit Waterfall |
| 0 | - | - |
| 1 | Fi Text after obtaining the Ruby Tablet | - |
| 2 | Lanayru Light Pillar | - |
| 3 | Collecting the Water Basin | Scrapper escort enemy set |
| 4 | Fire Dragon Text after learning the Fire Dragon's Song | The Fire Dragon's Room is accessible via a lava floating platform |
| Fire Sanctuary Entrance |
| 0 | - | The goron appears on all layers as long as you've completed Din's Silent Realm |
| 1 | Fi Text after obtaining the Ruby Tablet | - |
| 2 | Lanayru Light Pillar | - |
| 3 | Collecting the Water Basin | - |
| 4 | Din's Flame Cutscene | - |
| Bokoblin Base |
| 0 | - | The items don't exist neither do the loading zones. The only usable loading zone is the Sheikah Stone hint screen, which forces layer 1 |
| 1 | Levias explaining the Song of the Hero quest | The items appear. Note that the loading zone from Inside the Volcano Summit (Bokobase version) to the main area of Bokoblin Base is a forced layer 1 load, thus allows the BiTWarp version of Early Bokoblin Base to obtain the items even before meeting Levias. The same applies to the Shiekah Stone hint screen. |
| Fire Dragon's Room |
| 0 | - | The loading zone back to the Volcano loads you into Bokoblin Base |
| 2 | Fire Dragon Text after learning the Fire Dragon's Song | The loading zone back to the Volcano loads you to the normal Volcano Summit |
| Fire Sanctuary Boss Room |
| 13 | - | By default, a cutscene plays in this boss room on layer 13, and that cutscene always forces the Ghirahim 2 fight on layer 0 |
| 1 | Defeating Ghirahim 2 | - |
| 2 | Din's Flame Cutscene | - |
| Lanayru Mines |
| 0 | - | - |
| 1 | Lanayru Light Pillar | - |
| 2 | Harp Cutscene | - |
| 3 | Talking to the Goron about the Lanayru Song of the Hero quest | - |
| 4 | Learning the Thunder Dragon's Song | - |
| Lanayru Desert |
| 0 | - | Contrarely to the other trial gates, Nayru's Trial Gate can appear on all layers |
| 1 | Lanayru Mines Introductory Cutscene | Hook Beetle fight layer. The Lanayru Mining Facility entering cutscene can only play on this layer. The loading zone to enter the Lanayru Mining Facility does not exist before watching the LMF Introductory Cutscene, and as such the first time you enter LMF from the main entrance has to be with the entering cutscene |
| 2 | Harp Cutscene | - |
| Temple of Time and Power Generators |
| 0 | - | - |
| 1 | Lanayru Light Pillar | The Temple of Time has rubbles blocking the entrance |
| 2 | Harp Cutscene | - |
| Lanayru Mining Facility Boss Room |
| 1 | - | - |
| 3 | Opening the door after Molderach | - |
| Sand Sea |
| 1 | - | - |
| 4 | Shipyard Introductory Cutscene | - |
| 2 | Place timeshift orb on pedestal to open Shark Head | - |
| 5 | Sandship shot | The Sandship is visible |
| 3 | Nayru's Flame Cutscene | - |
| Shipyard |
| 1 | - | - |
| 2 | Talk to Goron to start Rickety Coaster minigame | Minigame layer |
| Shipyard Construction Bay |
| 1 | - | - |
| 2 | Fi Text after defeating Molderach 2 | - |
| 3 | Talking to Skipper after defeating Molderach 2 | - |
| Pirate Stronghold Exterior |
| 2 | - | - |
| 1 | Place timeshift orb on pedestal to open Shark Head | This has nothing to do with you being able to find the Sandship or not. Changes keese and rupee positionning to avoid them hanging in the air. |
| Lanayru Caves |
| 0 | - | No rocks inside the crawlspace and no Goron, opened path to the Gorge |
| 1 | Completing Nayru's Silent Realm | The Goron appears and gives you a small key |
| 2 | Levias explaining the Song of the Hero quest | - |
| 3 | Talking to Groose about the Imprisoned 3 (unsets after learning the Water Dragon's Song) | The Faron Song of the Hero quest prevents you from doing the Lanayru Song of the Hero quest at the same time |
| 4 | Learning the Thunder Dragon's Song | - |
| Lanayru Gorge |
| 0 | - | Hitting the minecart timeshift stone causes you to void-out and softlock |
| 1 | Levias explaining the Song of the Hero quest | The minecart escort works properly. The small key appears only on this layer. |
| 2 | Completing the Minecart Escort | The past Thunder Dragon can appear |
| Sky Keep Courage Room |
| 1 | - | - |
| 2 | Defeating the Stalmaster | - |
| Sky Keep Wisdom Room |
| 1 | - | - |
| 2 | Obtaining the Triforce of Wisdom | - |
| Sky Keep Dreadfuse Room |
| 1 | - | - |
| 2 | Defeating Dreadfuse and reloading the area | - |
| Sky Keep Triforce Room |
| 1 | Forced layer when striking your sword in the Wisdom Pedestal | The Triforce of Wisdom is here |
| 2 | Forced layer when striking your sword in the Power Pedestal | The Triforce of Power is here |
| 3 | Forced layer when striking your sword in the Courage Pedestal | The Triforce of Courage is here |
† - The racetracks appearing in the Sealed Grounds is not a layer thing: they appear after beating the Ancient Cistern, and can appear on all layer. The map with the Goddess Statue in the Sealed Grounds is a different map than the regular Sealed Grounds. In order for the the Sealed Grounds map with the Statue of the Goddess to load instead of the regular Sealed Grounds, you must beat Sky Keep.
†† The Faron Woods gate being open or not depends on a specific story flag. That story flag is set when meeting Impa for the first time inside the Sealed Temple layer 1. However layers 5 and 6 force the gate to be closed no matter what.
††† - To open the Gate of Time, the only requirements are scene flags 2x40 (check the Scene Flag Documentation sheet) and skyward striking the closed Gate of Time after beating the Imprisoned 2. This means it is possible to open the Gate of Time before the Sealed Temple layer 4, and the cutscene isn't necessary. The Master Sword is technically not required either for this since scene flag 2x40 can be rbmed or bitmagiced (but Sealed Temple layer 3 currently is to start the Imprisoned fight, which in turn requires beating the Fire Sanctuary and with it getting the Master Sword).
†††† - Not necessarely the Gate of Time opening cutscene, simply striking a closed gate of time that you can target is enough
