Measure how far your sticks wander when you are not touching them.
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0.0% from centre
0.0% from centre
Stick drift is what happens when a stick reports movement you did not make — the camera creeps, the character walks off on its own. This test measures how far each stick actually sits from its centre point, both cold and after being moved, then tells you how big a deadzone would cover it.
How the number is worked out: the tool samples the stick position many times per second and measures the distance from dead centre, where 0% is perfectly centred and 100% is fully deflected. You get the largest distance seen and the average resting position, for both the cold test and the after-movement test. The recommended deadzone is the worst drift seen plus 50% headroom, rounded up.
Some controllers and drivers quietly zero out small movements before your browser ever sees them, so genuine low-level drift can read as a clean 0%. That is why this test also measures where the stick settles after you have moved it — that stage catches drift the cold test misses. If both stages read 0% and a game still drifts, the cause may be the game's own sensitivity or calibration rather than the hardware.
Under about 1.5% is excellent and normal. Up to 4% is fine and covered by almost any game's built-in deadzone. Between 4% and 8% you will start to notice it in slow aiming. Above 8% it is affecting play, and above 15% it is severe.
Most analog sticks report position in steps rather than smoothly, so the last decimal place will always wobble a little. The tool reports one decimal place because anything beyond that is noise.
Sometimes. Cleaning around the stick base with compressed air or isopropyl alcohol clears out dust and fixes a fair share of mild cases. Some controllers have a recalibration option in their settings. Worn potentiometers need the stick module replaced, which is a repair job. Raising the deadzone in-game hides the symptom without fixing the cause.
A small area around the centre of the stick that the game ignores. Set it just above your measured drift and the unwanted movement stops reaching the game — at the cost of slightly less precision for small, deliberate movements.
Post it in the forums and someone who has had the same fault will usually know whether it is worth cleaning, repairing or replacing. You do not need an account to read, and it is free to join.