The simple definition of the mandelbox is this: repeatedly transform a vector z, according to the following rules:

1. First, for each component c of z (which corresponds to a dimension), if c is greater than 1, subtract it from 2; or if c is less than -1, subtract it from −2.
2. Then, depending on the magnitude of the vector, change its magnitude using some fixed values and a specified scale factor.

The iteration applies to vector z as follows:^{[clarification needed]}

function iterate(z):
    for each component in z:
        if component > 1:
            component := 2 - component
        else if component < -1:
            component := -2 - component

    if magnitude of z < 0.5:
        z := z * 4
    else if magnitude of z < 1:
        z := z / (magnitude of z)^2
   
    z := scale * z + c

Here, c is the constant being tested, and scale is a real number.^[3]

A notable property of the mandelbox, particularly for scale −1.5, is that it contains approximations of many well known fractals within it.^[4][5][6]

For ${\displaystyle 1<|{\text{scale}}|<2}$  the mandelbox contains a solid core. Consequently, its fractal dimension is 3, or n when generalised to n dimensions.^[7]

For ${\displaystyle {\text{scale}}<-1}$  the mandelbox sides have length 4 and for ${\displaystyle 1<{\text{scale}}\leq 4{\sqrt {n}}+1}$  they have length ${\displaystyle 4\cdot {\frac {{\text{scale}}+1}{{\text{scale}}-1}}}$ .^[7]

• Mandelbulb
• Buddhabrot
• Lichtenberg figure

• Gallery and description
• Images of some Mandelbox cubes
• Video : zoom in the Mandelbox cube