How to use the stick drift test
- Connect the controller and press any button so the page can see it.
- Put the controller down on a table and take your hands off it.
- Press “Check for drift”. For five seconds the test records how far each stick sits from the centre. Touching the controller stops the check.
- Then pick it up and roll each stick slowly around its outer edge a few times to trace its reach.
The readings go from 0 at the centre to 1 at the edge. “At rest” is the largest distance from the centre that each stick reported during the check. The dashed rings on each plot mark 0.125 and the deadzone Microsoft suggests for that stick, so you can see at a glance where the dot sits.
What stick drift is
A stick measures its position with two sensors, one for each direction. When you let go, springs bring it back to the centre and both sensors should read zero. Drift is when they do not: the stick reports a small push that nobody is making, and your character walks or the camera turns on its own.
In most sticks the sensors are potentiometers, where a contact slides along a resistive track. Wear and dirt on those tracks are the usual causes of drift, which is why it tends to appear after months of use and on the stick you move most.
Reading the result
A little offset is normal, which is why games ignore small movements around the centre. That ignored zone is the deadzone. Two published defaults give a sense of scale:
- Unity’s input system, used by many games, ignores stick movement below 0.125 unless the game changes it.
- Microsoft’s XInput documentation suggests deadzones of 7849 and 8689 out of 32767 for the left and right sticks: about 0.24 and 0.27.
| At rest | What it means |
|---|---|
| Below 0.05 | No drift worth the name. |
| 0.05 to 0.125 | A small offset. Typical default deadzones hide it, but games with very small deadzones may notice. |
| 0.125 to 0.24 | Drift that games with small deadzones pick up. Raising the deadzone hides it. |
| Above 0.24 | Strong drift, larger than XInput’s suggested deadzone. Most games will register it. |
“Deadzone to set” is each stick’s reading plus a small margin. Set it in the game’s controller settings, or in Steam’s controller settings for games you play through Steam. A bigger deadzone also means the stick has to move further before anything happens, so use the smallest one that stops the drift.
Checking the reach
Rolling the stick around its edge draws its reach in green. Many controllers report a slightly square shape, reaching further at the diagonals, and that is normal. Compare the two sticks instead: one that reaches clearly less far than the other, or has a flat spot in one direction, may not let you run at full speed in games.
How to fix stick drift
- Update the controller. Xbox controllers update through the Xbox Accessories app or the console, and a DualSense through the PS5 or Sony’s PlayStation Accessories app for Windows.
- Calibrate it where you can. A Nintendo Switch has a Calibrate Control Sticks option under System Settings → Controllers and Sensors.
- Clean around the stick. Blow compressed air into the gap around the base of the stick while moving it in circles. Some people report that a little isopropyl alcohol worked into the same gap helps too.
- Raise the deadzone in the game, as above. It hides mild drift without any repair.
- Check the warranty. Drift on a controller still under warranty is worth reporting.
- Replace the stick. Some controllers, such as the DualSense Edge, have stick modules you can swap yourself. Sticks that use magnets (Hall effect or TMR sensors) instead of resistive tracks are designed to avoid the wear that causes drift.
Limits of a browser test
The page shows the stick values the browser receives. Some systems and drivers already remove small movements before a browser sees them, so a stick that drifts in one game can look steady here. If in doubt, run the test in another browser or on another computer, or compare with what the game shows.
To check the buttons and triggers as well, use the controller test.