# MBTiles
MBTiles (Map Box Tiles) is container format for storing tiled datasets.
It uses a SQLite database.
It is a convenient mechanism for storing a large number of geospatial tiles in a single file, making it easily transportable.
[The specification may be found here.](https://docs.mapbox.com/help/glossary/mbtiles/)
Because MBTiles contains pre-tiled data, it is quite fast to access and local caching is unnecessary.
MBTiles is not streamable without additional software on the server side.
If you wish to deploy a tiled dataset on a simple HTTP server, consider [TMS](tms.md) instead.
## MBTilesImage, MBTilesElevation
CLASS: MBTilesImageLayer (inherits from [ImageLayer](image.md))
CLASS: MBTilesElevationLayer (inherits from [ElevationLayer](elevation.md))
| Property | Description | Type | Default |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------- | ---- | ------- |
| url | Location of the MBTiles database file | URI | |
### Example
```xml
../data/world_countries.mbtiles
elevationdata.mbtiles
```
### Creating an MBTiles file
You can use the `osgearth_conv` tool to convert a GeoTIFF (or other data source) into an MBTiles database.
Example usage:
```
osgearth_conv
--in driver GDALImage
--in url my_local_file.tif
--out driver MBTilesImage
--out url output_file.mbtiles
--out format png
--threads 4
```
Just replace the `--in driver` with the appropriate source type.
Type `osgearth_conv` alone for more command-line options.