Aspects of the disclosure provide methods and apparatuses for video encoding/decoding. In some examples, an apparatus for video decoding includes receiving circuitry and processing circuitry. According to an aspect of the disclosure, the processing circuitry decodes prediction information of a current block in a current coding tree unit (CTU) within a picture from a coded video bitstream. The prediction information is indicative of an intra block copy mode. The processing circuitry further determines a reference area in the picture for the current block based on signals in the coded video bitstream that indicate constraints of the reference area, and then the processing circuitry reconstructs at least a sample of the current block based on reference samples of the reference area in the picture.