Gamepad
Gamepad, joystick and game controllers can be used in your game. Xbox, Playstation and generic controllers are supported.
This feature can be activated by adding the Gamepad extension to your project. You will then be able to use conditions and expressions to check if a gamepad is connected, if a button is pressed, released or if a stick is pushed.
Tip
Learn how to install new extensions by following a step-by-step guide.
Move a character
Move a top-down character
The "Top-down gamepad mapper" behavior can be added to the character to make the character move according to player inputs automatically. The default configuration will work without any change for single player games.
Tip
Learn more about the Top-Down Movement behavior.
Move a platformer character
The "Platformer gamepad mapper" behavior can be added to the character to make the character move according to player inputs automatically.
Tip
Learn more about the Platform Character behavior.
Move a 3D platformer character
The "3D platformer gamepad mapper" behavior can be added to a 3d physics character to make the character move according to player inputs automatically.
Move a 3D shooter character
The "3D shooter gamepad mapper" behavior can be added to a 3d physics character to make the character move according to player inputs automatically.
Move a character with custom movement
Handle pressed buttons
Detecting pressed buttons can be done with the Gamepad button pressed (or released) condition. Playstation and Xbox controllers have different button names, but checking for A or Cross is the same.
Handle sticks
The following expressions let you read analog stick values:
Gamepads::StickAngle(gamepadNumber, stick)— angle the stick is pushed toward (in degrees).Gamepads::StickForce(gamepadNumber, stick)— overall force/magnitude of the stick push (0 to 1).Gamepads::StickForceX(gamepadNumber, stick)— horizontal axis of the stick (−1 = fully left, 1 = fully right).Gamepads::StickForceY(gamepadNumber, stick)— vertical axis of the stick (−1 = fully up, 1 = fully down).
For triggers (LT / RT / L2 / R2), use Gamepads::TriggerPressure(gamepadNumber, trigger) which returns a value from 0 (not pressed) to 1 (fully pressed). This allows smooth acceleration or braking in racing games, for example.
Deadzone
Small stick movements near the center are often caused by imprecision in the hardware. GDevelop applies a deadzone (default 0.2) that ignores stick values below that threshold. You can change the deadzone with the action "Set the deadzone of a gamepad stick" or read it with the expression Gamepads::Deadzone(gamepadNumber).
Handle several players on the same device
Detect connected gamepads
Each gamepad connected to the computer or phone is numbered from 1 to 4:
- If your game is single player, you'll usually always use condition for the Gamepad 1.
- If your game is multi player, it's a good idea to use the Gamepad connected condition to check which gamepads are connected. You could store in a variable the gamepad number associated to a player. You can also force the first player to use the Gamepad 1, and the other player to use Gamepad 2.
Detect controller type
Use the condition "Type of gamepad" or the expression Gamepads::GamepadType(gamepadNumber) to identify the kind of controller connected (Xbox, PS4, Steam Deck, etc.). This lets you display the correct button icons in your UI — for example, showing a cross button for PlayStation players and an A button for Xbox players.
Vibrate a gamepad
Use the action Gamepad vibration to make a gamepad vibrate.
Advanced Gamepad vibration allows to setup vibration magnitudes for low and high frequency rumble motors. Each player can have different rumble values.
Warning
Advanced vibration is not supported on Firefox.