Joystick Tester
Test flight sticks, HOTAS setups, racing wheels and any HID gamepad. Supports 128+ buttons and 10+ axes with live readout.
What the Joystick Tester does
Flight sticks and HOTAS setups often report dozens of buttons, multiple hats, and 6 to 10 axes. This tester displays every axis and button the browser exposes so you can verify a specific throttle detent, slider, or coolie hat before mapping it in a sim.
How to run the test
- Plug the base into USB and wait for the OS to enumerate it.
- Press a button to wake the API.
- Move each axis lock to lock. Watch the bar snap between negative and positive full deflection.
- Press every button once. Confirm each triggers a unique index without stuck or ghosted indices.
- Cycle every hat position and every detent on the throttle.
What HOTAS setups look like to the browser
A full HOTAS with a stick, throttle, and pedals can present as one gamepad, two gamepads, or three, depending on the vendor. Thrustmaster Warthog is usually two devices. Virpil setups can be one merged device via the vendor software. Logitech X56 is usually a single merged device. This tester detects each connected gamepad separately, so if your throttle does not appear, check whether you are looking at the stick device instead.
Why non-standard mapping is normal for sims
The W3C standard mapping was designed for console gamepads with 4 axes and about 16 buttons. Anything with more (a HOTAS with 30 buttons and 8 axes) has to report as non-standard. Non-standard just means the tester and any game reads a plain list of buttons and axes without assuming which is A or which is stick X. This is fine for sims because sim games remap everything anyway.
How to catch a broken axis before it costs you a landing
Move each axis fully lock to lock. Watch the bar snap immediately between -1.00 and 1.00. Any hesitation, dead zone, or non-linear jump is a wear pattern that will get worse. Note which axis is affected. If it is your throttle in a combat sim, that is the difference between landing and going around, so plan the repair or swap the pot.
Testing hats and detents
Coolie hats appear as either a POV hat (a single axis rotating between eight positions) or as four separate buttons for up, down, left, right. Cycle each position and confirm the tester shows the expected input. Throttle detents (idle, mil, afterburner) usually fire dedicated buttons. Verify each one fires exactly once and does not chatter.
How this compares to the racing wheel tester
Racing wheels use the same underlying HID protocol as HOTAS but with dedicated axes for wheel angle, brake, throttle, and clutch. Our Steering Wheel Tester shows those in a wheel-oriented layout. Use this Joystick Tester when you need raw HID data or when your device does not fit either mold.
Common problems and quick fixes
Common questions
Why do I only see 4 axes?+
Can I test pedals and throttle together?+
Force feedback?+
Cycle every button, hat, and axis. Note what does not respond, then fix it before your next sortie or lap.
Every diagnostic here runs locally in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
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Pair this test with any of the below for a full controller health check.
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