Introduction to map tile services

What is a map tile service?

A map tile service, also known as a raster tile service, is a data service that provides access to tile data. The tiles are composed of images and do not contain attributes. A map tile service is created (published) from an existing hosted feature layer. Each service is composed of one tiled dataset and does not contain multiple layers like feature services. The tiles represent a "snapshot" of the features in a feature layer. If the features in the feature layer change, the map tile layer needs to be regenerated to match. The tiles are stored as caches of images (PNG32) for different zoom levels. Map tile services are typically used to effectively display large amounts of feature data in mapping applications as image tiles.

What can you do with a map tile service?

You use a map tile service when you want to:

• Publish a map tile service from a feature layer in a feature service.
• Store and access data as pre-cached image tiles in different formats e.g. JPEG or PNG.
• Optimize accessing and displaying large amounts of data as tiles.
• Use image tile data in offline applications.

What does the service URL look like?

When you publish a new map tile service, the URL is created by the system. To find the URL you can use the hosted map tile layer item in the portal associated with your ArcGIS account.

The service URL format to access the service is:

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https://{host}/{organizationId}/arcgis/rest/services/{serviceName}/MapServer

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https://{host}/{organizationId}/arcgis/rest/services/{serviceName}/MapServer

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https://{host}/{webadaptor}/rest/services/Hosted/{serviceName}/MapServer

The service URL format to access the map tiles is:

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https://{host}/{organizationId}/arcgis/rest/services/{serviceName}/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}

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https://{host}/{organizationId}/arcgis/rest/services/{serviceName}/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}

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https://{host}/{webadaptor}/rest/services/Hosted/{serviceName}/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}

Tutorials

Add a feature layer

Access and display point, line, and polygon features from a feature service.

JavaScript  .NET Kotlin Swift Java Qt  Esri Leaflet MapLibre OpenLayers CesiumJS  Python 

Add a vector tile layer

Access and display a vector tile layer in a map.

JavaScript  Esri Leaflet MapLibre OpenLayers 

Add a map tile layer

Access and display a map tile layer in a map.

Esri Leaflet MapLibre OpenLayers CesiumJS 

Style a feature layer

Use symbols and renderers to style feature layers.

JavaScript  .NETJava Qt  Esri Leaflet MapLibre OpenLayers CesiumJS 

Query a feature layer (spatial)

Execute a spatial query to get features from a feature layer.

JavaScript  Esri Leaflet MapLibre OpenLayers CesiumJS  Python  REST 

Query a feature layer (SQL)

Execute a SQL query to access polygon features from a feature layer.

JavaScript  .NETJava Qt  Esri Leaflet MapLibre OpenLayers CesiumJS  Python  ArcGIS REST JS  REST 

Edit feature data

Add, update, and delete features in a feature service.

JavaScript  Python  ArcGIS REST JS  REST 

Display a popup

Format a popup to show attributes in a feature layer.

JavaScript  Esri Leaflet MapLibre OpenLayers CesiumJS 

Workflows

Create a feature service for an app

Learn how to import parcel data, create and style a feature layer, and then access the features in an app.

Create a feature layer view for an editor app

Learn how to import parcel data, create and style a feature layer view, and then access the features in an editing app.

Create a vector tile service for an app

Learn how to import parcel data, style a feature layer, and then create a vector tile service for an app.

Create a map tile service for an app

Learn how to import contour data, style a feature layer, and create a map tile service for an app.

Services

API support

Use Client APIs to create, manage, and access data services. The table below outlines the level of support for each API.

Tools