Stick Drift Test.
Stick drift is when an analog stick reports movement while you're not touching it. Let go of both sticks and watch: on a healthy controller each dot sits dead centre; a drifting stick floats off on its own. This test plots both sticks live, tracks how far each wanders at rest, and gives you a plain No-drift / Drift verdict with a numeric score. Runs in your browser on the Gamepad API — no install.
Let go of both sticks
Online stick drift test.
The score is each stick's distance from centre, as a percentage of full travel — the peak is the furthest it drifted while you left it alone.
Get an honest drift reading
- Take your hands offDrift only means anything when you're not touching the stick. Rest the controller flat, let both sticks fully release, and don't lean the pad against anything that could nudge a stick.
- Give it a few secondsDrift is often intermittent — it can appear after the stick warms up or when the pad is held at an angle. Watch for at least ten seconds; the peak ring keeps the worst moment so you don't have to catch it live.
- Test both sticksLeft and right sticks wear separately. A pad can be perfect on the left and drifting on the right, so read both scores, not just the one that feels off.
- Compare to a game's deadzoneA tiny 2–4% offset is common and most games hide it inside their deadzone. Real drift pushes well past that and keeps a character or camera moving with the pad untouched.
How to run the stick drift test
- 1Connect and wake the controller. Plug in or pair your pad, then press any button so the browser reveals it. The readout switches from "Connect a controller" to live values.
- 2Let go of both sticks. Hands off. Each dot should snap to dead centre. The live offset shows how far each stick currently sits from centre, as a percentage of full travel.
- 3Watch the peak. The faint red ring records the furthest each stick drifted while at rest. If it stays tiny, you're clean; if it balloons out, that stick is drifting.
- 4Read the verdict. No drift, Slight drift, or Drift detected — per stick, based on the peak. Suspect a bad module? Cross-check with the deadzone test or the full gamepad tester.
How the drift test measures your sticks
An analog stick reports its position as two numbers — an X axis and a Y axis — each from -1 to +1, with (0, 0) meaning perfectly centred. This test reads those axes through the browser's Gamepad API every frame and computes the stick's distance from centre as √(x² + y²). At rest that distance should be almost zero; the further it sits from zero on its own, the worse the drift.
The peak is the largest resting distance seen since you last reset, drawn as a ring so a brief, intermittent drift doesn't slip past you. We convert it to a percentage of full travel for the score, then apply simple bands: under 6% reads as clean, 6–12% as a slight offset most games absorb, and over 12% as genuine drift you'd feel in play.
Drift itself is a hardware problem, not a software one. The potentiometers (or on newer pads, Hall-effect sensors) under the stick wear, and worn carbon or contamination makes the resting voltage read off-centre. No browser can fix that — but it can measure it precisely, which tells you whether a stick module needs cleaning, a firmware recalibration, or replacement. Bigger games and consoles add their own deadzone to mask small drift, which is why a stick can fail here yet still feel usable.
When to test for stick drift
Your character moves on its own
The classic symptom: you set the controller down and the camera pans or the player creeps forward. This confirms it's the stick, not the game.
Before an RMA or warranty claim
Support asks you to prove the fault. A drift score with a visible peak footprint is exactly the evidence they want.
Buying second-hand
Drift is the number one reason used controllers are cheap. Run this before you pay — sellers rarely disclose it.
After a stick or Hall-sensor swap
Replaced the module yourself? Confirm the new part rests at centre before you close the shell.
Deciding on repair vs replace
A borderline 5–8% offset may just need a firmware recalibration; a runaway 20%+ peak means the module is done.
Comparing Hall-effect vs potentiometer pads
Hall-effect sticks are sold as drift-proof. Test a few months in and see whether the resting score really stays at zero.
Stick drift glossary
- Stick drift
- An analog stick reporting movement while untouched — its resting position sits off-centre and sends unwanted input.
- Resting offset
- How far a stick sits from dead centre when released, measured as a percentage of full travel. Near zero is healthy.
- Peak
- The largest resting offset seen since the last reset, captured as a ring so intermittent drift is caught.
- Potentiometer
- The wiping resistor most sticks use to sense position. It wears with use, which is the usual cause of drift.
- Hall-effect sensor
- A contactless magnetic stick sensor with no wiping parts, marketed as resistant to the drift that pots develop.
- Deadzone
- A radius near centre that games ignore, hiding small offsets. A large deadzone can mask early drift.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as stick drift on this test?
Let go of the stick and read the peak. Under about 6% of full travel is normal — every stick has a tiny resting offset that games absorb into their deadzone. A peak that climbs past 12% and keeps a dot floating away from centre on its own is genuine drift. The test labels each stick No drift, Slight drift, or Drift detected so you don't have to interpret the raw number.
Does this work for Xbox, PS5 and Switch controllers?
Yes. Xbox (Series/One/360), PlayStation DualSense and DualShock 4, and the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller all report their analog sticks through the standard Gamepad mapping, so the plots and scores work the same on each. Joy-Cons connected to a PC also work — see the dedicated Joy-Con drift test for framing specific to them.
How do I fix stick drift once I've found it?
A few things help in order of effort: recalibrate the controller (many pads and consoles have a stick calibration screen), update its firmware, and blow compressed air or a little isopropyl alcohol under the stick to clear dust. If the resting offset stays high after that, the potentiometer is worn and the fix is a replacement stick module — or a controller with Hall-effect sticks, which don't wear the same way.
Why does my stick read a small offset even when it looks centred?
Almost no stick rests at a perfect 0.00. Manufacturing tolerance leaves a small resting offset of a percent or two, which is why games apply a deadzone. That's normal and nothing to worry about. It's only when the offset grows large — or wanders — that it becomes the drift you feel in a game.
The plot jumps to the edge when I touch the stick — is that drift?
No. Moving the stick is supposed to send the dot to the rim; that's the stick working. Drift is specifically what happens when you're not touching it. Reset the peaks, take your hands off, and read the score then. If the peak grows while your hands are off the controller, that's drift.
Is the stick drift test free and private?
Yes. It's completely free, needs no sign-up, and reads your controller entirely in the browser through the Gamepad API. Nothing about your controller or your inputs is uploaded — the scoring happens on your device and is discarded when you leave the page.