Gamepad tester. Buttons, sticks, and drift.
Connect a controller, press a button, and see every input live. The test reads how far the sticks sit from centre while untouched, which is the drift that makes characters walk on their own.
One check
- Controller
Runs like the stress test: one check after another, with the progress along the top. Nothing you show the camera or say into the microphone leaves this page.
What it measures
Measured here, not assumed.
Buttons and triggers
Every button lights as it is pressed, with analog triggers shown by how far they are pulled.
Sticks
Both sticks drawn live, with every axis value.
Drift
The largest stick reading while no button is pressed and the sticks are near centre. Above about 10 percent is drift you will feel in games.
If it fails
The usual failures, and what fixes each.
- The controller is not seen
- Press any button after connecting; browsers list a controller only after a press. On Bluetooth, forget and re-pair. On a Mac, some pads need a wired connection first.
- A stick drifts
- Raise the dead zone in the game as a stop-gap. Drift is wear in the stick module; a replacement fixes it, and some makers repair it under warranty.
- A button reads wrong
- The browser maps generic pads by guesswork. If the layout is odd but every button registers, the pad is fine; the game will map it itself.
Where a browser stops
What it cannot tell you.
- Rumble on most browsers, which expose it inconsistently.
- Gyro, touchpads and adaptive triggers, which the Gamepad API does not carry.
- Whether the pad works in a specific game, which may use its own driver.
Privacy
Nothing leaves this page.
The camera and microphone are read on this page and stopped as soon as they have been measured. The clip you can play back lives in the browser's memory and is discarded when you leave. The location check discards the position. The internet test sends random bytes to this site and nothing else. The result is stored nowhere unless you ask for it by email, and then only the fact that an email was sent is kept.
Questions
Controller tester, answered
- How do I test my controller for stick drift?
- Connect it, press a button, then let go of both sticks. The drift figure is how far they report from centre at rest. Under 4 percent is normal; above 10 percent is a fault.
- Does this work with a PS5 or Xbox controller?
- Yes, by USB or Bluetooth, in Chrome, Edge or Firefox. Switch Pro and most generic pads work too.
- Why does the right stick show as triggers?
- The browser maps unfamiliar controllers by guesswork. If every input moves something, the controller is fine; games map it themselves.
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