CSS top
Specifies the distance of an element from the top of its current location if the element has position: relative declared or from the top of its nearest ancestor when the ancestor has position: relative and the element has position: absolute declared.
Syntax
top: <value>;
where <value> can be one of the following:
- Length value:
20px - Percentage value:
5% - Keyword value:
auto,inherit
Note: If none of the ancestors have position: relative declared, the absolute positioned element will traverse the DOM until it reaches the <body> tag, at which point it will position itself at the top of the page regardless of its location in the source HTML.
Example 1
Set the position of .box element 40px from the top of the nearest relative position ancestor or from the document if none exist.
.box {height: 100px;width: 100px;background-color: blue;position: absolute;top: 40px;}

The blue box is positioned 40px down from the top of the nearest ancestor with position: relative declared, which is the green box.
Example 2
Set the position of .box element 100px from the elements top edge.
.box {height: 100px;width: 100px;background-color: blue;position: relative;top: 100px;}

The blue box is positioned 100px down from its original position, represented by the red line.
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