Gamepad / Controller Tester
Test every button, trigger and stick — and measure drift as a number.
Waiting for a controller
Connect it, then press any button. Browsers deliberately hide gamepads from a page until a button is pressed, so nothing appears here until you do.
How this test works
Connect the controller and press any button — browsers deliberately hide gamepads from a page until you do. From there every button and axis is polled each frame and drawn live, with analog triggers showing their percentage rather than just pressed or not. The names above the buttons are only used when the controller declares the standard mapping, which is the browser's guarantee that button 0 is the bottom face button; without it the controls are numbered, because printing "A" over an arbitrary index is a guess dressed up as a diagnosis. "Read resting position" takes the drift measurement: let go of the sticks completely and it records how far from centre each one sits.
What the results mean
- Standard mapping
- The controller reports the W3C standard layout, so button and axis positions are guaranteed and the names shown are reliable. Controllers without it still work — their controls are just numbered.
- Resting position
- Distance from centre with nothing touching the stick, from 0 to 1. Below 0.08 is the noise every stick has. From 0.15 the reading escapes the deadzone most games apply, which is when the character starts moving on its own.
- Analog triggers
- Triggers report a value between 0 and 100%, not just pressed. A trigger that jumps straight to 100% has lost its analog travel.
- Buttons exercised
- How many distinct buttons have registered at least once. Work through all of them, including the stick presses, which are easy to forget.
Common problems and fixes
- Nothing appears when I connect the controller
- Press a button. Browsers hide gamepads until the page has seen input, so a connected controller is invisible until then. If it stays invisible, try a cable rather than Bluetooth.
- The buttons are named wrongly
- Check the mapping line in the result. If it does not say "standard", the names are not available and the controls are numbered by index — which is the honest answer for that controller.
- My character walks by itself in games
- That is drift. Use "Read resting position" with your hands off to get the number, then try recalibrating in the platform settings before considering a repair.
- The stick only reaches part way in one direction
- Watch the axis bars as you push the stick to its limit. A stick that stops short on one side has a worn potentiometer or a shifted centre, and calibration sometimes recovers it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I test a controller for stick drift?
Connect it, press a button so the browser reveals it, then take your hands off the sticks completely and press "Read resting position". The number is how far each stick sits from centre. Anything below 0.08 is the noise every analog stick has; 0.15 and above is outside the deadzone most games apply, which is the level at which you see the character move on its own.
Can stick drift be fixed?
Sometimes. Recalibrating in the console or platform settings re-centres the reading and buys back a usable controller for a while. Compressed air around the stick base clears dust-related drift. Beyond that it is worn potentiometers, and the fix is a replacement stick module — a cheap part and a common repair — or a new controller. Check the warranty first: drift is a recognised fault and several manufacturers repair it free.
Which controllers work with this test?
Any controller the browser exposes through the Gamepad API, which covers Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro and most third-party pads, over USB or Bluetooth. Controllers that report the standard mapping get named buttons; the rest get numbered ones and still test fully.