---
title: "Master key system chart planner with key schedule · LockCommand"
description: "Free master key system chart planner for Kwikset and Schlage. Enter the top master key to get TPP change keys, the pins for every lock and a key schedule to print."
url: https://lockcommand.com/tools/master-key-planner
---

[Free tool · no account needed](https://lockcommand.com/tools)

# Master key system chart planner

Enter the top master key and how many change keys you need. You get the change key bittings, the pins for every lock and a key schedule to print, with the MACS rule checked on every key.

## Your system

Example values: change them to yours

5 positions, depths 0 to 9 for change keys, MACS 7.

First cut nearest the bow. Cuts near the middle of the range leave the most change keys.

Progression

Two-step (Schlage has no #1 master pin)

## What this master key allows

Change keys possible

634

Skipped for MACS

390

of 1,024 the progression makes

Progression for each position

| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| TMK | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Change cuts | 5 7 9 1 | 7 9 1 3 | 5 7 9 1 | 7 9 1 3 | 5 7 9 1 |

Total position progression: every position steps through the cuts listed, the last position fastest. No change key shares a cut with the TMK, so no change key opens another unit's lock.

Each lock also opens with 30 other keys that mix its own cuts with the TMK's. Some of them open more than one door. They aren't on the schedule: never cut one.

## Key schedule

Type a door or room for each key. It goes on the printout. Pins are bottom + master for each chamber, chamber 1 nearest the bow.

Key schedule: Oak Street Apartments

Date: ______________

Schlage 5-pin (SC1). Two-level system, total position progression, two-step. Schlage top pins: #1 for a stack of 0 to 3, #2 for 4 to 6, #3 for 7 to 9.

| Key | Bitting | Door or room | Pins (bottom + master) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| A (TMK) | 35353 | All doors | Opens every lock below |
| A1 | 57575 | Unit 1 | 3+2 5+2 3+2 5+2 3+2 |
| A2 | 57577 | Unit 2 | 3+2 5+2 3+2 5+2 3+4 |
| A3 | 57579 | Unit 3 | 3+2 5+2 3+2 5+2 3+6 |
| A4 | 57571 | ______________ | 3+2 5+2 3+2 5+2 1+2 |
| A5 | 57595 | ______________ | 3+2 5+2 3+2 5+4 3+2 |
| A6 | 57597 | ______________ | 3+2 5+2 3+2 5+4 3+4 |
| A7 | 57599 | ______________ | 3+2 5+2 3+2 5+4 3+6 |
| A8 | 57515 | ______________ | 3+2 5+2 3+2 1+4 3+2 |
| A9 | 57517 | ______________ | 3+2 5+2 3+2 1+4 3+4 |
| A10 | 57511 | ______________ | 3+2 5+2 3+2 1+4 1+2 |

Check against your manufacturer's pinning chart. Keep this schedule locked away: it opens every door in the system. Made with the free master key planner at lockcommand.com/tools.

Bill the building for the rekey on site with an invoice and a pay link into your own Stripe, Square or PayPal.

[Invoice the rekey in LockCommand](https://app.lockcommand.com/sign-up?from=tool-master-key-planner)

## How to use it

A master key system lets one key open many locks while each door keeps its own key. The top master key (TMK) opens every lock in the system, and each door gets a change key that opens only that door. That's a two-level system, and it's what this planner builds: the right size for a fourplex, a small office or a row of storage units. For grand masters, cross keying or a campus, use master keying software and a key bitting array you keep on file.

### How the change keys are made: total position progression

The planner uses total position progression (TPP). Every position on a change key is cut to something other than the TMK cut in that position. With two-step progression it only uses cuts an even number of steps away from the TMK cut. On a Schlage, if the TMK has a 3 in position 1, the change keys use 5, 7, 9 or 1 there.

1. Each position gets a list of change cuts, counted up from the TMK cut and then wrapping round to the shallow ones.
2. The keys are listed in order with the last position changing fastest, like an odometer.
3. Any key that breaks MACS is skipped. So is any key that matches the TMK.
4. The first keys that pass become A1, A2, A3 and so on, under the TMK, which is A.

Because no change key shares a cut with the TMK in any position, no change key opens another door's lock. Each lock only takes the TMK cut or its own cut in every chamber. The order only decides which keys come first. It doesn't change which keys are safe.

### TPP or rotating constant?

The other common method is the rotating constant, also called hold and vary. Some positions on every change key are held at the TMK cut, and which positions are held rotates from one group of keys to the next. Those chambers need no master pin, so the locks have fewer shear lines and the system has more keys. The catch is that keys from different groups can open each other's locks unless every pair is checked. TPP can't make that mistake, which is why this planner uses it. If you need more keys than TPP gives you, that's the point to move to proper master keying software.

### How many change keys can you get?

Two-step progression leaves four change cuts per position on a 0 to 9 lock, so a 5-pin Schlage system has 4 to the 5th power, 1,024 keys, before MACS. Real systems keep fewer, because some keys put a deep cut next to a shallow one. These counts come straight from the planner, with the TMK cuts near the middle of the range.

| Lock and progression | TMK | Before MACS | Usable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Schlage 5-pin, two-step | 35353 | 1,024 | 634 |
| Schlage 6-pin, two-step | 353535 | 4,096 | 2,258 |
| Kwikset 5-pin, two-step | 34343 | 32 | 13 |
| Kwikset 5-pin, single-step | 34343 | 3,125 | 2,309 |
| Kwikset 6-pin, two-step | 343434 | 64 | 21 |
| Kwikset 6-pin, single-step | 343434 | 15,625 | 10,727 |

### Choosing the TMK

Cuts near the middle of the range leave the most room. A Kwikset TMK gives fewer keys than a Schlage: change keys stay within cuts 1 to 6, since Kwikset reserves #7 for builders' keys, so two-step leaves two or three cuts per position, and MACS 4 rules out a 1 next to a 6. Kwikset kits carry #1 master pins, so the planner lets you pick single-step for Kwikset if you need more keys. Schlage stays two-step, because Schlage makes no #1 master pin.

### A worked example

Schlage 5-pin, TMK 35353, two-step. Position 1 progresses through 5, 7, 9, 1 and position 2 through 7, 9, 1, 3. The first change keys are 57575, 57577, 57579 and 57571. Lock A1 gets bottom pins 3-5-3-5-3 and master pins 2-2-2-2-2. The TMK lifts every chamber to the top of its bottom pin. A1 lifts each one to the top of the master pin. To pin a single door by hand, the [Kwikset and Schlage pinning calculator](https://lockcommand.com/tools/pinning-calculator) gives the top pins as well.

### Incidental keys: the ones not on the schedule

A lock with a master pin in every chamber has two shear points in each one. Any key that uses either cut in every chamber opens it, not only the change key and the TMK. On a 5-pin lock that's 2 to the 5th power, 32 keys, so 30 extra keys open lock A1. In the example, 37575 and 55575 both open A1. Because a TMK cut works in every lock, some of these keys open more than one door: 37575 also opens the lock for 77575. They act like small master keys nobody planned. TPP keeps them off the schedule, but it can't stop someone cutting one, so keep the bitting list locked away and never issue a key that isn't on it.

### The schedule and key control

Type a door or room next to each key and print the schedule, or copy it into a spreadsheet. It lists every key symbol, bitting and pin stack. Treat it like the keys themselves: it opens every door in the building. Stamp the keys with their symbol, not the bitting, and keep a record of who holds each one. Bidding the whole job? The [commercial rekey bid builder](https://lockcommand.com/tools/commercial-rekey-bid) prices it by doors, cylinders and keys.

### Sources

Last checked October 2026.

- Locksmith Ledger, [The Concepts and Mechanics of Master Keying](https://www.locksmithledger.com/keys-tools/article/10290193/the-concepts-and-mechanics-of-master-keying-developing-master-keys-using-generic-types) : four change cuts per column in a two-step system, and TMK cuts kept out of the change cells to stop interchange; and [Masterkeying by the Numbers](https://www.locksmithledger.com/keys-tools/key-control-systems/article/21095739/masterkeying-by-the-numbers) : the key bitting array, and 4 to the 5th power, 1,024 change keys, for a 5-pin system.
- Schlage, [Primus service manual](https://commercial.schlage.com/content/dam/allegion-us-2/web-files/schlage/technical-documents/Schlage_Primus_Service_Manual_108482.pdf) and Allegion's [Combinating Rule 15](https://kc.allegion.com/kb/article/what-is-schlage-combinating-rule-15) article: two-step progression, MACS 7, master pins from #2.
- Kwikset, [Rekeying with Kwikset Locks](https://images.kwikset.com/is/content/Kwikset/Redesign%202019/Literature/Documents/KW-REKEY-MANUAL.pdf) : master pins #1 to #6, #7 for builders' keys, .160" top pins when master keyed.
- Tyler J. Thomas, [Key Bitting Specifications](https://lsamichigan.org/Tech/KeyBittingSpecifications-TylerJThomas.pdf) (2025): Kwikset MACS 4, single-step, and the 7th depth used in factory master key systems.

Check against your manufacturer's pinning chart before you pin the first cylinder.

## Questions

### How does a master key system work?

Each lock has master pins, so it has two shear points per chamber: one for its own change key and one for the master key. The change key opens one lock and the master key opens all of them.

### What progression does the planner use?

Total position progression. Every position on every change key differs from the top master key, two steps at a time for Schlage, and two or one step at a time for Kwikset.

### Can one tenant's key open a neighbor's door?

Not between the change keys it makes. Each lock accepts only the master cut or its own cut in each chamber, and no change key uses the master cut in any position, so two different change keys can't open each other's locks.

### How many change keys can a master key system have?

With two-step progression on a 0 to 9 lock, four change cuts per position: 1,024 keys for 5 pins and 4,096 for 6 pins before MACS. The planner shows how many are left after MACS for your top master key.

### Why did I get fewer change keys than I asked for?

The master key you picked leaves too few cuts, or too many combinations break MACS. Move the master key's cuts toward the middle of the depth range and try again.

### Can it plan grand master or cross keyed systems?

No. It plans two-level systems only. Bigger systems need a key bitting array kept on file and master keying software, so changes years later don't clash with keys already out there.

### Does it save my system anywhere?

No. Everything stays in your browser and disappears when you close the page. Print the schedule, save it as a PDF or copy it into a spreadsheet.

## More for your shop

- [Pinning calculator Kwikset and Schlage pinning chart: turn a key's cuts into bottom, master and top pins, with MACS checked.](https://lockcommand.com/tools/pinning-calculator)
- [SFIC core pinning (A2) A2 SFIC pinning chart: bottom, master, build-up and top pins from the control and operating keys.](https://lockcommand.com/tools/sfic-pinning-calculator)
- [Commercial rekey quote builder Price a building rekey by doors, cylinders and keys, with master key setup, and print the bid.](https://lockcommand.com/tools/commercial-rekey-bid)
- [Payments Invoices and pay links that pay into your own Stripe, Square, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App or Zelle, with no LockCommand fee.](https://lockcommand.com/features/payments)
- [Locksmith invoice generator Make a locksmith invoice with parts, labor, trip fee and tax, and print or save it as a PDF.](https://lockcommand.com/tools/invoice-generator)

## Let LockCommand do this on every job

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