how to fix controller drift xbox one

Nothing is worse than playing an amazing game and experiencing controller drift. Perhaps you just finished climbing a mountain with Link, and then he suddenly decides to jump off a cliff for no reason whatsoever. Controller drift is becoming a prevalent issue among gamers, who are increasingly coming across characters that move by themselves or cameras that take a life of their own.

It's strange how drift is becoming an issue now. Controllers keep getting more expensive as console generations go by, and yet, if you own a DualSense or a pair of Joy-Cons, chances are you came across drift more than once. But don't fret, there are some things you can do in order to mitigate the situation.

Updated September 8th, 2021 by Russ Boswell: Although companies are getting better at developing quality software for their gaming consoles, game designers are always hard at work to push the limits of what players can experience. The war against controller drift is ever-present in 2021 and it's still heartbreaking to load up a beloved game just to watch a character doing annoying and unpredictable movements from a wonky joystick. So to give players a better idea of how to stop controller drift and what causes controller drift in the first place, the following guide has been updated.

8 Cause: Good Old Wear And Tear

Naturally, the most common reason why controllers run into drift, sooner or later, is because they are prone to wear and tear. Take the DualSense, for example. The joystick component, responsible for the longevity of your controller and preventing drift, has an operating life of about 2 million input cycles. That translates to about 400 hours of Call Of Duty gameplay.

Other games can be more or less taxing, depending on how their gameplay functions, making your controller's drift-free lifespan longer or shorter. Unfortunately, this is simply how most controllers are designed these days, like the DualSense or Switch Pro Controller.

7 Prevention: Keep Your Controller In Pristine Condition

It almost goes without saying, but the best way to prevent drift is to treat your controller like a brand new car, every time you play with it. You don't need to wash or put wax on it, you simply have to pay attention to what you do when you use your cool new DualSense.

Don't toss the controller on your bed when you finish playing, don't mash the buttons if you lose a tournament in Rocket League, and handle the sticks with extreme care. Treating your controller this way can prevent drift from showing up altogether, in some cases.

6 Cause: Lazy Joystick Design

Controllers are simply not built to last indefinitely. However, no one is expecting them to survive a nuclear blast. It's unfortunate that many users consistently run into Joy-Con and DualSense drift, especially considering both the PS5 and Nintendo Switch are relatively new consoles.

If you take in consideration Nintendo's Joy-Cons, for example, there are multiple reasons why drift can occur. All that protects the joystick component from outside agents, like dust particles or grime, is a thin flap of soft plastic. If that flap is lifted, perhaps while you play, all sorts of stuff could get in your controller and give Link an excuse to fall off a mountain.

5 Prevention: Calibrate Your Controller Or Deadzone

via pressstartaustralia.com

Your controller is drifting. You can't buy a new one and you are not Tony Stark, who could build an Iron Man suit out of old SNES games. What do you do? Make it so your controller is better able to distinguish your inputs from false ones caused by stick drift.

The Nintendo Switch has a handy calibration function in its settings, which will help the controller figure out where the stick's neutral point really is. A neutral point simply translates to the resting position of the stick. Drift causes your controller to think the neutral point is floating around. That's why your camera or character move without you touching the stick. For controllers that don't have a calibration function, look for deadzone calibration settings in individual games. This will make it so inputs caused by drift aren't registered and executed.

4 Cause: External Agents

Drift isn't just caused by gameplay or a bad overall design, but also by your habits and the controller's environment. Is your room really dusty? Does your cat rub its back on your joystick? How many chips do you eat while playing Plunder in Warzone? Believe it or not, grime and dust can get into your controller and ruin your game time.

This can easily happen without you realizing it. Perhaps you are packing your controller along with your games before a trip, and you shove everything in an old bag. Or maybe you forgot to wash your hands for a while, and you touch your controller and make it greasy. Whatever the case, external agents can easily cause even the best-designed controllers to drift.

3 Prevention: Avoid Common Causes Of Drift

via EBgames.com

The best way to prevent stick drift is to make sure your controller isn't passively exposed to stuff that might be floating in the air. Put it in a cupboard that's clean inside, to make sure your controller is basically living in a quarantine zone from The Last Of Us. You should also avoid drinking or eating while you play, since that can dirty your sticks quite easily. It's hard not to snack on peanuts while you are surveying an open world, but it's necessary.

All things considering, keeping your hands clean is a no-brainer here, but you don't need to use hand sanitizer whenever you pick up your controller. Just make sure you are exercising a moderate level of care for your controller, even when you are not using it.

2 Cause: Joystick Intensive Games

Wear and tear are expected over time but the longevity of one's joysticks depends on exactly what they're playing. Most games put normal or minimal wear on the thumbsticks (specifically the right one, or whichever a player uses to control the camera) but there are some titles that will put a controller through the paces. These games can wear down even the strongest of joysticks through fast-paced gameplay and stick-heavy mechanics.

A good example is the Indie hit Enter the Gungeon. The "twin-stick shooter" puts a lot of emphasis on constant movement and aiming. Players who find themselves loading up these types of games often will likely see drift issues far sooner than someone who is playing traditional titles or different genres.

1 Prevention: Get Comfortable Fixing Your Joysticks

Unfortunately, there isn't much that can be done to "prevent" drifting in this way because the issue is based on a player's preference. It would be wrong to force someone to play something else just because a particular type of game is hard on their joysticks, especially if it's a series or genre that they really enjoy.

What players can do is accept that drifting may happen to them if they frequent these types of games. Although it may seem intimidating at first, changing out the joysticks on a controller is pretty "simple" once players know what they're doing. Thankfully, there are tons of easy-to-follow and helpful step-by-step guides on Youtube for every possible controller type. Even better, there are inexpensive kits available that have everything a gamer needs to effectively fix their drifting issues. Learning this useful skill can make drifting issues a thing of the past.

NEXT: 10 Of The Weirdest Video Game Controllers

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