Blender Axes

Blender's native orientation is:

• Forward: -Y
• Up: Z
• Right: X

The up axis is usually easy to remember because Blender's vertical axis is Z. The forward axis is the less obvious one: objects in Blender generally face along negative Y.

Export Settings

Export dialogs often show fields like Forward Axis and Up Axis. These settings are usually about converting Blender's coordinate system into the target format or engine's coordinate system.

So if an exporter defaults to something like:

Forward Axis: -Z
Up Axis: Y

that does not mean Blender's own forward/up axes are -Z and Y. It means the exporter is transforming Blender's native orientation into the convention expected by the target.

Rule Of Thumb

Blender native:
Forward = -Y
Up      = Z
Right   = X