Is Minecraft (PC) Controller-Friendly?

Am I able to use a controller to play the PC version of Minecraft? If so, can I just plug it in and play or do I have to do something else before being able use one?

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8 Answers

There is no built-in controller support on the PC version of Minecraft. You will need something like Xpadder to change each controller input to a keyboard/mouse input in order to use a controller.

The Bedrock Edition of Minecraft (formerly known as "Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition") supports multiple control schemes, including controllers and touchscreens. Just connect the controller to your PC and play.

Keep in mind that this version of Minecraft is not currently available on macOS (although the iOS/iPadOS version may be playable on Macs with M1 chip, starting with the late 2020 MacBook Air) or Linux, and has some differences compared to the Java version (aka. "Minecraft: Java Edition"). It is possible to convert Java worlds into Bedrock worlds, but this is not officially supported. Do it at your own risk.

6

With a mod, yes. You can use the Minecraft Joypad/Split Screen Mod for actual analog movement (not just eight directions like with XPadder) and UI modifications for the controller (instead of only using an analog stick to emulate a mouse). It also creates the possibility of playing split screen with a friend (but you can use it just to play full screen single-player with a controller):

If you're on Linux, you may have luck with Joy2Key, found here:

Debian package:

Ubuntu package:

Another option is QJoyPad: which also claims mouse support.

I haven't tested these myself.

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you can use your xbox 360 controller and steam controller with steam. Just add the game to steam and choose the controller layout with 15 upvotes. In game swap the q and lshift buttons so you'll go down with red b button

I use Mr.Crayfish's Controllable mod, Which Requires just plugging in a controller before launching minecraft. Made for 1.12.2 and download here: Click me. link to offical website

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I created an (open source) application called PlusPad, specifically for use with Minecraft: Java Edition. It runs in the background and uses MonoGame to capture gamepad input to translate into Windows API calls for mouse and keyboard actions.

It runs on Windows and has been tested with Xbox 360 gamepads.

The simulated inputs are:

Controller Input	Mapped to
Left Stick	WASD
Right Stick	Mouse movement
Back	F3
Start	ESC
Back + Start	Enable/disable input
L3	Ctrl
R3	LShift
A	Space
B	Q
X	F5
Y	E
LB	Mouse wheel up
RB	Mouse wheel down
LT	Mouse 2
RT	Mouse 1
DPad up	Text input - next character
DPad down	Text input - previous character
DPad left	Backspace
DPad right	Text input - accept character

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This may not work for everyone but its usefull for me if you have steam. you can add the short cut to your library,change it to big picture,go to minecraft short cut,click game settings,then change the button scheme.Also be sure to have the driver software installed.