8BitDo input modes

Most 8BitDo controllers can act as different kinds of controller: an Xbox controller (XInput), a generic one (DInput), a Switch Pro Controller and more. You pick the mode with a switch on the controller or by holding a button while you turn it on, and your model's manual lists the combinations. On Windows, XInput is the safest choice, since browsers know its layout.

Tool description

This tester shows what your 8BitDo controller sends to the browser. Connect it with a cable, Bluetooth or its receiver, then press any button, since browsers only show a controller once one of its buttons is pressed.

8BitDo prints Nintendo's letters, with B at the bottom and A on the right, and the tester labels them the same way. The picture lights up A, B, X, Y, L1, R1, Select, Start and Home as you press them, fills L2 and R2 as far as you pull them and moves the sticks. L3 and R3 are the stick presses. Under it, each button has a tile with how far it's pressed, and both sticks show their exact position from -1 to 1. If your browser can make the controller vibrate, Test vibration rumbles it for one second.

If the browser doesn't know the controller's layout, the tester says so and numbers the buttons and axes the way the browser reports them. Switching to XInput mode and connecting again usually fixes that.

Checking the sticks

Let go of both sticks. A healthy stick rests close to zero, like 0.0039. A value that stays around 0.1 or more, or changes on its own, means the stick drifts.

Features

  • A controller picture with the buttons labeled as printed on 8BitDo controllers
  • How far each button and trigger is pressed, and each stick's exact position
  • A one second vibration test