Stick drift test
Put the controller down and let the test watch the sticks for three seconds. It says how far each one rests from its centre, whether games will notice, and whether it is more than a new stick reads.
Press any button on the controller
Browsers show a controller only after a button is pressed, so that pages cannot list your devices unasked. Wired or Bluetooth both work.
This browser cannot read controllers.
Try a current Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari on a computer, Safari on an iPhone or iPad, or Chrome on Android.
The controller was disconnected. Connect it again and press a button; your results are kept.
Result: No problem found so far
Press every button, then run the checks below: the result is written here as you go.
Sticks
The rings are dead zones: the inner one 10 %, which many games use, the outer one 24 %, Xbox's standard for the left stick (27 % for the right).
Drift check
Put the controller down and do not touch the sticks. The check reads them for three seconds.
Range check
Push each stick to its edge and turn it slowly round, two or three times.
Buttons
Press each one. A button turns blue while held and stays ticked once it has worked.
Triggers
Press each trigger all the way down. A trigger reports how far it is pressed, not just on or off.
Rumble
Each button runs a motor for one second. The tab must stay in front while it runs.
This browser cannot run this controller's motors: Firefox and the browsers on iPhone and iPad run none, and Chrome and Edge on Windows do not run a PS5 controller's. The rest of the test is not affected.
Report
For a return, a warranty claim or a sale: print it, save it as a PDF, or copy the text.
How it works
- Connect the controller and press any button so the browser shows it.
- Lay it flat on a table, thumbs away, and press «Check for drift».
- Read the result for each stick: no drift, slight, drift or strong, with how far off centre it rests.
- Turn each stick round its edge too: a stick that drifts often also stops short in one direction.
- Print or copy the report if the controller goes back to the shop or to the maker.
What the results mean
- What drift is
- A stick that reports movement while nobody touches it. It comes from wear in the stick's sensor or dirt under its cap, and it usually grows with use rather than going away.
- Why a game may not show it yet
- Games ignore the small area round the centre, the dead zone. A stick resting 6 % off centre moves nothing in a game with a 10 % dead zone, and starts to creep once the wear passes it.
- Three seconds, hands off
- A thumb resting on a stick reads like drift. The check reads both sticks together while the controller lies still, and refuses the reading when a stick was touched.
- Stuck far off centre
- A stick that rests past even a 24 % dead zone is read as strong drift, not as a moved stick: if it sits still, it is the stick, not the hand.
Questions
Can cleaning fix drift?
Sometimes, when the cause is dirt: a short burst of compressed air round the stick's base while turning it. Wear inside the sensor does not clean away; the stick module or the controller is then replaced.
My games set a dead zone. Which number matters?
The one the game uses. The test draws two rings, 10 % and 24 %: if the stick's rest point sits inside the game's ring, the game ignores it.
Is a little drift on a new controller normal?
A new stick rests within about 3 % of its centre. More than that on a new controller is worth naming to the shop while the return window is open.
Does drift show on one stick only?
Often. The left stick, used for moving, usually wears first. The test reads both, so the report shows which.