Preparing the Geometry
The GDS-II format does not contain layer stackup information, such as thickness and elevation, this has to be supplied before import to create a 3D structure by extrusion. For extruding the layers, the import algorithm performs several extrude operations to generate one geometry object per layer.
Several layers on the same height is common for semiconductor layouts, where the fabrication process includes deposition followed by etching and then redepositing of a different layer. To handle such a process scheme, after the import, you can do etching by removing a layer from other objects, by using the Difference button from the Boolean Operations submenu in the Geometry toolbar. You can find the various import options described under the section Grouping of Geometries.