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Gamepad Tester

Connect a controller and press any button. Every button, trigger and stick shows up live, with a stick drift check, dead zone circle, circularity test and vibration test.

Connect a controller and press any button

Your controller appears here as soon as the browser sees it. Nothing is installed and nothing leaves your device.

  • USB: plug the cable in, then press a face button. Wired is the most reliable way to test.
  • Bluetooth: pair the controller with your computer or phone first, then press a button.
  • Press a button: for privacy, browsers only reveal a controller after you press a button while this page is open — moving a stick may not be enough.
  • Browsers: Chrome and Edge usually give the most complete results. Firefox and Safari also support controllers, but some models may show a non-standard layout or no vibration.

How to use the gamepad tester

  1. Connect your controller with a cable or over Bluetooth, then press any button. The browser only shares the controller with the page after a button press.
  2. Press every button once. Each one lights up on the drawing while it is held and gets a green outline once it has worked. The counters below show how many times each was pressed.
  3. Squeeze both triggers slowly. The bar should rise smoothly from 0% to 100%. A trigger that jumps, stops short of 100% or never returns to 0% may be dirty or worn.
  4. Move both sticks in every direction, then let go and watch the “At rest” value and the dead zone circle.
  5. For the circularity test, rotate each stick slowly around its outer edge a few times. The tester compares how far the stick reaches in different directions.

If you use the controller with more than one device, the tabs at the top let you switch between connected controllers. The ID, mapping, number of buttons and number of axes shown for each one come straight from the browser.

What is stick drift?

Stick drift is when an analog stick reports movement while nobody is touching it. In a game it looks like your character walking slowly by itself or the camera creeping to one side. It is usually caused by wear or dirt in the sensors inside the stick module, and it tends to get worse over time.

This tester watches each stick while it is not moving. When the resting position stays outside the dead zone for more than one second, the stick is outlined in yellow and a warning appears. A tiny resting offset of a few thousandths is normal for almost every controller.

Dead zones explained

A dead zone is a small area around the centre in which a game ignores stick movement. It hides the small offset every stick has at rest. The dashed inner circle shows the dead zone you set with the slider. If your resting dot sits inside it, games using a similar dead zone will not notice the offset. Many games let you change the dead zone in their controller settings, which can be a quick workaround for mild drift.

Circularity: does your stick reach the edge?

A perfect stick would reach a distance of exactly 1.0 in every direction. Real sticks are often a little more square or a little short in some directions. The circularity result shows the average difference from 1.0 across all directions you covered. Low single-digit percentages are common. Treat the number as a comparison between your own sticks or controllers rather than a pass or fail grade, because controllers and browsers report the edge differently.

Cleaning and calibration

If drift returns soon after cleaning and calibration, the stick module is probably worn. Check whether the controller is still under warranty before opening it.

Browser support

The tester uses the standard Gamepad API, which current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari support. Chrome and Edge tend to report the most controllers with the standard layout and support vibration on many of them. Firefox and Safari may label some controllers differently or not support vibration. On phones and tablets, controllers paired over Bluetooth often work too. For more device checks, try the keyboard tester and the mouse test.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my controller not show up?

Browsers hide controllers until you press a button while the page is open, so press a face button such as A or Cross. If it still does not appear, check that it is connected in your system settings, try another USB cable or port, and close apps that might take exclusive control of it.

Does it work with PlayStation, Xbox and Switch controllers?

Usually, yes. Most current Xbox and PlayStation controllers are reported with the standard layout in Chrome and Edge. Switch Pro controllers, Joy-Cons and many third-party pads also work, but depending on the browser and connection they may appear with a non-standard layout, in which case you see their raw buttons and axes instead of the drawing.

How do I know if my stick is drifting?

Let go of the stick and watch the “At rest” value. A healthy stick settles very close to 0.000. If it stays outside the dead zone circle for more than a second, the tester shows a warning. Move it around and release it a few times, because drift can depend on the direction it springs back from.

What dead zone should I use?

Games often use something between about 5% and 15%, but there is no single right value. Set the slider just above the resting offset you see here. If you need a very large dead zone to stop the drift, the stick is probably worn.

Can this test measure input lag?

No. A web page can only read the controller once per screen refresh, and the browser adds its own delay, so any number would be misleading. This tester shows which inputs work and how accurate they are, not how fast they arrive.

Why is there no vibration test for my controller?

The vibration buttons only appear when the browser reports that the controller supports rumble. Support varies by browser, operating system and connection type, so a controller may vibrate over USB but not over Bluetooth, or not at all in some browsers.

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