ViewCube preferences

The ViewCube is on by default in the scene views. You can turn off the ViewCube and edit options for the ViewCube by selecting Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences, and then selecting the ViewCube category.

Show the ViewCube: Controls whether the ViewCube is shown or hidden in the scene view. When the setting is on, the ViewCube appears as a heads-up display over top of the 3D workspace.

Display

On-screen position: Controls the placement of the ViewCube within the scene view.

The ViewCube can be set to appear in any corner of the view by selecting a preset from the drop-down menu: Top Right, Bottom Right, Top Left, or Bottom Left. The additional controls (Home Button, Roll Arrows) are automatically repositioned depending on the corner that the ViewCube occupies. The default setting is Top Right.
ViewCube Size: Controls the size of the ViewCube.

Setting options are Small, Normal, and Large. The Small setting is useful when multiple views are displayed. The default setting is Normal. The ViewCube does not change size as the scene view is resized.
Inactive Opacity: Controls the opacity level of the ViewCube and the additional controls whenever the mouse cursor is not in the vicinity of the ViewCube.

Setting options are 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. When set to 0% the ViewCube will disappear when the mouse cursor is moved away from it. When set to 100% the ViewCube appears regardless of the mouse cursor position. The default setting is 50%.

When Dragging on the ViewCube

The following settings control the behavior of the ViewCube whenever you click and then drag on it to change the scene view.

Snap to closest view: Controls whether or not the ViewCube automatically snaps to any of the pre-defined viewing angles whenever it is click-dragged to a position within proximity of a fixed view. The default setting is on.
Preserve scene up during transitions: Controls whether or not the scene view automatically maintains an upright position whenever the view changes.

The default setting is on. When turned off, the view change will not preserve default upright positions.

When Clicking on the ViewCube

The following settings control the behavior of the ViewCube whenever you click on it to change the scene view.

Fit-to-view on view change: Controls whether or not the scene view is automatically re-framed to fit the contents of the 3D scene within the new view whenever the view changes.

The default setting is on. When turned off, the view change and animated transition occurs without an automatic re-framing of the view.
Use animated transitions when switching views: Controls whether or not an animated transition occurs whenever the view is changed.

The animated transition setting animates the camera position during the view change to visually aid in determining the relationship between the existing view and the new one. The default setting is on. When the contents of your 3D scene is large you may wish to turn off this setting in order to improve the speed of view changes when using the ViewCube.

Compass

Show the Compass below the ViewCube: When on, displays a compass below the ViewCube for determining the view orientation in a geographic context.
Angle of North (degrees): Lets you specify the compass orientation. For example, to rotate the compass a quarter-turn clockwise, set Angle of North to 90.0.