I have tried searching for this but all I got was using this

MathHelper.floor_double((player.rotationYaw * 4F) / 360F + 0.5D) & 3;

to find the way the player is looking and then set the meta data based on that. The problem is that that code will tell you if the player is looking north, east, south, or west, but not up or down. What code should I use to see which way the player is looking, but includes up and down?

I'm assuming this is 1.7.10? You should include the Minecraft version in the thread title.

 

Pistons and Dispensers use

BlockPistonBase.determineOrientation

from their overrides of

Block#onBlockPlacedBy

to determine the orientation from the placer.

Thank you, that works perfectly!