Gamepad Tester

What it's for

See what a game controller reports to a web page: every button and stick, live. Use it to check a controller works, to find a stuck button or a stick that drifts, or to see the numbers a game or web app will receive from the browser’s Gamepad API.

For example, when a stick seems to move on its own in a game, and you want to know how far it sits from the middle and what dead zone would hide it.

How to use it

Connect the controller (by cable or Bluetooth), then press any button on it: browsers don’t show a controller to a page until it has been used. The buttons appear with their values from 0 to 1 (triggers give values in between), and pressed ones are highlighted. Under Sticks and triggers each axis shows its raw value from -1 to 1, the value after the Dead zone you set, and a position bar. A dead zone ignores small movements around the middle and stretches the rest back to the full range, as many games do; the setting is remembered in the browser. If more than one controller is connected, a Controller menu chooses which to show. Test vibration runs both motors for 0.6 seconds, where the controller and browser allow it.

Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere; the page only reads the controller while it is open.

Example

Connect a controller and press the A (or Cross) button. The first button in the list is highlighted and reads 1.00 pressed. Let go of the sticks: the axes should sit near 0.000. With Dead zone at 0.10, a raw value of 0.050 shows 0.000 (inside the dead zone), and a raw 0.550 shows 0.500.

Good to know

What you see depends on the browser, the operating system and the controller: the same controller can have different button numbers on another browser or platform, and the names (A / Cross and so on) are only used when the browser reports the standard layout. Some controllers only show after you press a button, and a few can’t be read over Bluetooth by some browsers. Vibration is not available in every browser, and some controllers don’t vibrate through it. Touchpads, motion sensors, lights and the battery level are not shown. Phones and tablets may not pass a paired controller to the page.