Gamepad Tester

How to use

1. Connect a controller by USB or Bluetooth, keep the page focused, and press a physical controller button so the browser can expose the pad.
2. If multiple controllers appear, choose the one you want to test before pressing Start.
3. Press Start, then work through every browser-exposed button. A button stays marked Observed this session after release; analog button values and peaks remain visible.
4. If the browser reports Standard mapping, test the D-pad, triggers, and both sticks in the semantic view. Otherwise use raw button indexes and raw axis values without assuming Standard Gamepad positions.
5. Review the button coverage count, untested browser indexes, raw axes, and their session ranges. Stop freezes this session; Reset clears it.
6. Use Stick Drift Test when you need center drift, dead-zone guidance, or circularity analysis instead of drawing those conclusions from this general tester.

What the result means

• Browser-exposed buttons are the Gamepad.buttons entries returned to this page.
• Observed this session means a button index produced pressed=true or value>0 during the running session. It does not prove complete hardware health.
• GamepadButton.value is useful for analog controls such as triggers. Current and peak values are browser observations only.
• Standard mapping means the browser remapped the controller to the canonical Standard Gamepad layout. Raw/non-standard mapping keeps button and axis indexes raw.
• Axes are browser Gamepad.axes values, generally normalized around -1 to 1. Session minimum and maximum show the range observed during this session.
• Latest Gamepad.timestamp delta is browser API update context, not USB polling rate, input latency, or button-to-screen latency.
• Haptic interface exposure varies by browser, platform, and controller. Exposed does not prove a motor works; not exposed does not prove the controller lacks vibration.

Limitations

• The browser Gamepad API exposes a software-visible controller representation, not direct electrical switch, firmware, USB/HID, or calibration telemetry.
• A user agent may remap, omit, normalize, or reduce exposed controller information.
• A button not observed in one session can mean it was not pressed, the OS/driver/browser did not expose it, the mapping differs, or the hardware did not report it. The page cannot distinguish all causes automatically.
• Only mapping="standard" receives canonical Standard Gamepad semantic labels. Other mappings remain raw.
• Axes and trigger values are browser-reported normalized values; this page does not grade calibration, dead zone, circularity, or physical wear.
• Gamepad.timestamp behavior and support vary; it is not USB polling rate or controller latency.
• Haptic API exposure varies. Exposed does not prove a motor works, and not exposed does not prove the controller lacks vibration.
• Connection and mapping can differ by USB/Bluetooth mode, OS, driver, remapping software, browser, adapter, and controller firmware.

Troubleshooting

No controller appears

Keep the tab focused, press a physical controller button, reconnect USB/Bluetooth, confirm the OS sees the pad, and try another supported browser before assuming hardware failure.

The controller appears but Start is disabled

Select a detected controller first. Start requires one browser-visible selected pad so the session is not recorded against an empty target.

A physical button does not appear under the label I expect

Check Mapping and the raw button index. Standard mapping uses canonical physical positions, while non-standard devices, adapters, Steam Input, DS4Windows, drivers, or vendor software can expose different logical indexes.

A button works when held but looks untested after release

It remains Observed this session after a valid pressed/value sample. Reset starts a new coverage session.

Stick values do not center exactly at zero

This general page only shows raw/current axis evidence. Use Stick Drift Test for controlled rest, dead-zone, and circularity analysis.

One of several connected controllers disconnects

Only loss of the selected controller interrupts its running session. A different controller disconnecting does not invalidate the selected controller test.

Related tools

• Stick Drift Test

  Test controller stick drift with hands-off center sampling, browser-axis noise, neutral-envelope deadzone guidance, and circularity geometry. Compare local rest-sample history.

FAQ