Stick drift test online
If your stick reports movement while your hands are off the controller, that is drift. This test measures how much, how steady it is, and whether it is bad enough to act on - then gives you a 0–100 Controller Health Score you can compare against later.
Free, no install. Bluetooth is fine for testing.
Before / After
- Resting drift4.8% → 0.9%
- Centre offset0.07 → 0.01
- Circularity11% → 6%
How to test for stick drift
The test only works if you stay off the sticks for the resting measurement.
- 1
Connect and leave it alone
Put the controller down on a flat surface, hands off both sticks. Any contact during this stage will be measured as input.
- 2
Watch the resting reading for five seconds
A healthy stick reads close to zero and stays there. Movement at rest is drift; movement that jumps around is a sign of a worn sensor.
- 3
Rotate the sticks fully
Circle each stick slowly against the outer edge. This measures range and circularity error - whether full deflection is even in all directions.
- 4
Read the score and breakdown
You get an overall 0–100 figure plus per-stick components, so you know which stick is the problem and which metric is dragging it down.
What counts as bad?
Scores band into severity levels so a number means something. These are the bands DriftNo uses.
| Health Score | Band | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| 88–100 | Healthy | Nothing to fix. Keep the result as a baseline. |
| 72–87 | Minor issues | Small offset or noise. Calibration may tidy it up. |
| 55–71 | Moderate wear | Noticeable drift. Worth running Quick Fix and re-testing. |
| 35–54 | Significant issues | Likely more than an offset. Expect a repair conversation. |
| 0–34 | Severe | Repair or replace the module. Calibration will not hold. |
Games apply their own deadzones, so a pad can measure poorly here and still feel acceptable in some titles.
Why an online test is accurate enough to act on
The test reads the values your controller itself reports, through the browser’s controller APIs. That is the same signal a game receives, so if DriftNo sees movement at rest, your game is seeing it too.
What a browser cannot do is inspect the inside of the stick module. That is why DriftNo reports stability as well as magnitude: a steady offset and a noisy reading have very different fixes, and the pattern is visible in the measurement even though the hardware is not.
Browser and device support
WebHID is what makes calibration writes possible, and not every browser has it.
| Browser | Stick drift test | Health Score | Calibration writes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome (desktop) | Yes | Yes | Yes, over USB where the pad allows |
| Edge (desktop) | Yes | Yes | Yes, over USB where the pad allows |
| Opera (desktop) | Yes | Yes | Yes, over USB where the pad allows |
| Firefox | Limited | Limited | No - WebHID is not available |
| Safari | Limited | Limited | No - WebHID is not available |
| Phone browsers | No | No | No - use a computer |
Test your specific controller
FAQ
How do I test stick drift online?
Open DriftNo on a computer, connect the controller, take your hands off the sticks for about five seconds, then follow the short prompts. You get a resting drift reading, a circularity measurement and a 0–100 Controller Health Score.
What is Controller Health Score?
A single 0–100 rating DriftNo calculates from resting drift, circularity error, jitter and trigger behaviour, with a component breakdown underneath. It exists so you can compare the same controller before and after a fix instead of relying on how it feels.
Which browsers and devices work?
Chrome, Edge or Opera on a desktop or laptop. Calibration writes use WebHID, which needs a USB connection on most controllers. Firefox and Safari do not support WebHID, and phone browsers cannot run the tool at all.
Do I need USB, or will Bluetooth work?
Bluetooth is fine for testing and for the Health Score. Calibration writes need USB on most controllers, so plug the cable in before running the parts of Quick Fix that save to the pad.
Does DriftNo fix stick drift permanently?
It depends on the cause. If the stick rests off-centre but is otherwise stable, calibration can correct it and the correction holds. If the potentiometer is worn - scratchy, jumpy, drift that comes back within minutes - no software can repair that. DriftNo tells you which case you are in instead of guessing.
Test your controller now
Free, about a minute, and you end up with a number instead of a suspicion.