Gamepad Tester (Stick Drift & Dead Zone)
See gamepad buttons, triggers and axes live, measure stick drift at rest with a trace, preview a dead zone and try rumble. Nothing to install.
Privacy: keys, buttons and movement are counted inside this browser and not sent anywhere. Ads on this page (Google AdSense) work separately — see the privacy policy.
To log Wi-Fi or internet drops and Bluetooth connects and disconnects over time, use the Windows program PortDock Hardware Tester (free).
Connect a gamepad and press any button once. Browsers do not expose a gamepad to the page until a button is pressed.
The Gamepad API is not available in this browser. Open the page over https in a current Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
Gray circle = dead zone, faint line = last 2 s trace, white dot = raw value, teal dot = after dead zone
How to use
- Connect the gamepad over USB or Bluetooth and press a button once; it appears below. Several pads can be shown at once.
- Press each button and trigger and check that its cell lights up; triggers (LT, RT) should rise smoothly from 0 to 1.
- Rotate each stick fully to see it touch the outer circle, and check on the trace that it returns to the center when released.
- Leave the sticks alone and press «Measure drift». For 3 seconds it measures how far they sit from center and suggests a dead zone that covers it.
Reading stick drift
A released stick commonly reads a small value around 0.02–0.05 rather than 0. Games hide this with a dead zone (a radius around the center treated as 0). If the distance at rest exceeds 0.1 or grows over time, worn or dirty stick parts are worth suspecting. These are the values the browser receives, which can differ from driver or game calibration.
Browser limits
- A page cannot see a gamepad until a button has been pressed (privacy rule in the specification).
- Pads the browser does not recognise as the standard mapping show button numbers without names. The same pad can number buttons differently per browser and connection (USB or Bluetooth).
- Values are read once per screen frame, so the pad's polling rate (such as 1000 Hz) cannot be measured.
- Rumble works only in browsers that provide vibrationActuator, such as Chrome and Edge. DualSense adaptive triggers and advanced haptics are not covered.
On equipment PCs too
Where robots, camera gimbals or test rigs are jogged with a gamepad, use it to check axis directions and dead zone against the machine settings beforehand. For keyboards and mice, see the keyboard tester and mouse double click test.
FAQ
I connected it but nothing appears
Press a button once. If it still does not appear, check whether Windows «Game controllers» (joy.cpl) sees it and try another USB port or cable. Some pads have an X-input/D-input switch.
The stick is not 0 when released
Small values are common. Measure with «Measure drift» and set the game's dead zone a little larger. Above 0.1, or if it keeps growing, check the stick hardware.
Is my gamepad data sent anywhere?
No. Values are drawn inside this browser tab only, and this tool's code makes no network requests.