Gamepad Tester

How to test a controller

1. 1 Plug the controller in or pair it, then press any button. Browsers deliberately ignore a gamepad until it sends something, so nothing appears before that first press.
2. 2 Press every button and watch the grid. A button that never lights is either broken or mapped somewhere the browser cannot see.
3. 3 Move both sticks to each edge. The bars should travel the full width and return to the middle when you let go.
4. 4 For stick drift, let go and leave the controller alone. A stick at rest should read close to zero; a value that sits away from centre by itself is drift.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check for stick drift?

Release the sticks, put the controller down and watch the axis values. Anything that stays meaningfully away from centre, or wanders while untouched, is drift. It usually comes from a worn potentiometer and gets worse over time.

My controller is connected but nothing shows.

Press a button first. The Gamepad API only reveals a controller after real input, which is a privacy measure rather than a fault. If it still stays empty, try a cable instead of Bluetooth.

Why are the buttons numbered instead of named?

Because the browser reports positions, not labels. The same index is A on an Xbox pad and Cross on a PlayStation pad, so numbers stay honest where names would guess.

Vibration does nothing.

Rumble support depends on the browser, the controller and how it is connected. It is common over USB in Chromium browsers and often missing elsewhere, so silence here does not mean the motors are dead.