Gamepad Input
Gamepad Input
Roblox accepts input from USB gamepads such as Xbox and Playstation controllers. A game can support up to eight local controllers per client.
Detecting Gamepads
You can detect whether a player’s device currently has a gamepad active using the UserInputService/GamepadEnabled|UserInputService.GamepadEnabled
property. Note that this property merely shows whether or not any gamepads are connected, not how many are plugged in or which slots they’re in.
Since up to eight gamepads can be connected to a client at once, it’s important to know which are active. One method is to listen to the UserInputService/GamepadConnected|GamepadConnected
and UserInputService/GamepadDisconnected|GamepadDisconnected
events which will fire when a device is enabled or disabled respectively. Both will pass a Enum/UserInputType
enum to the connected function indicating which gamepad caused the event (in most cases it will be Enum.UserInputType.Gamepad1
but if your game supports local multiplayer, you should confirm this).
You can also actively query whether a particular controller is connected using the UserInputService/GetGamepadConnected|UserInputService:GetGamepadConnected()
function. This takes a Enum/UserInputType
enum as an argument and only accepts values of Enum.UserInputType.Gamepad1
through Enum.UserInputType.Gamepad8
.
Getting Input
There are three ways to get input from a gamepad:
- Use
ContextActionService
if you plan to bind custom game controls to both gamepads and other input sources like keyboards or mobile touch controls. - Listen for gamepad events directly using
UserInputService
. - Query the state of a gamepad’s input with the
UserInputService/GetGamepadState|UserInputService:GetGamepadState()
function.
ContextActionService
ContextActionService
is especially useful for binding controls to both gamepads and other input sources. For example, if you want to bind a custom “open spell book” action to the right trigger (R2) on a gamepad and the B key on a keyboard, ContextActionService
can handle both cases in one function:
ContextActionService
will fire on all input states (enum/UserInputState|Begin
, enum/UserInputState|Change
, and enum/UserInputState|End
), so it's highly recommended that you check the InputObject/UserInputState|UserInputState
as seen on line 4 to ensure the desired action only happens on the state you intend it to.
UserInputService
When detecting gamepad events with UserInputService
, all of the controls will fire the UserInputService/InputBegan|InputBegan
and UserInputService/InputEnded|InputEnded
events. In the handling function, the InputObject/UserInputType
property indicates which gamepad fired the event and InputObject/KeyCode
indicates the specific button or stick that fired it.
Most gamepads also support analog controls. To detect input from these, use the UserInputService/InputChanged|InputChanged
event and detect the position of the input’s axis via InputObject/Position
. The thumbstick’s position will always be on the X and Y axes between the values of -1 and 1, while the trigger buttons will only have values between 0 and 1 on the Z axis (0 at its starting position; 1 when fully pressed).
Gamepad Input State
The state of all the buttons and sticks on a gamepad can be detected at any time with the UserInputService/GetGamepadState|UserInputService:GetGamepadState()
function. This is useful if you need to detect gamepad input when a non-controller event occurs. For example, the following code detects when a character’s left foot touches something while the player is holding down the right trigger:
Supported Inputs
Not all gamepads have the same number or types of inputs, so it’s important to check which inputs a connected gamepad has. You can do so with the UserInputService/GetSupportedGamepadKeyCodes|UserInputService:GetSupportedGamepadKeyCodes()
function which takes a Enum/UserInputType
enum as an argument and returns a table with a list of all available inputs for the specified controller.
UserInputService/GamepadSupports|UserInputService:GamepadSupports()
.
Best Practices
As with any method of user input, it’s best to create some consistency across different games and applications. This helps players immediately feel familiar and comfortable with your control scheme. Here are some suggested practices when implementing gamepad controls:
- If you implement any user prompts or GUI selection, the A button should be “accept.”
- For any GUI or any state that is modal, the B button should be “cancel.”
- On-screen hints for which buttons do what are helpful, especially for a complicated GUI like an inventory system, upgrade system, etc.
- Character movement should be tied to the left thumbstick.
- Camera movement should be tied to the right thumbstick.
- Primary actions usually happen with the right trigger (R2) or the A button.
- Secondary actions usually happen with the left trigger (L2) or the R1 and L1 buttons. If you’re tying a secondary action to a front-face button, X and Y are good choices.
- Allowing players to remap buttons can make your game much more accessible.