Source: https://mokxi.com/libraries/joystick Updated: 2026-11-02 Libraries / Communication Arduino library · Communication # The Arduino Joystick Library: make a USB game controller Matthew Heironimus’s Arduino Joystick Library makes a Leonardo, Micro or Pro Micro show up on the computer as a game controller, with no driver. It is what most DIY fight sticks, hit boxes, button boxes, flight panels, pedals and sim-racing shifters are built on, because the ATmega32U4 can be a USB device itself. Open the example in the editor See the calls Built in on Mokxi: #include and it builds, with nothing to install. Free, and no account needed. ## What Arduino Joystick Library does You describe the controller you want in the Joystick_ constructor: how many buttons (up to 32), how many hat switches (up to 2), and which axes exist, from X and Y through the rudder, throttle, brake and steering. The library builds the USB descriptor to match, so the computer’s game controller settings show exactly those inputs. Each axis takes values in a range you set with setXAxisRange() and the like, 0 to 1023 by default to match analogRead(). By default every change is sent at once; begin(false) holds the changes until sendState(), which sends one report per pass of loop() however many buttons changed. Library Manager name | Arduino Joystick Library Author | Matthew Heironimus Include | #include Boards | Arduino Leonardo, SparkFun Pro Micro, Arduino Micro In the simulator | Runs, with a gap the note below names. ## Install it It builds on Arduino Leonardo, SparkFun Pro Micro, Arduino Micro. In Mokxi it is built in: #include and the sketch compiles, with no download, no zip and no Library Manager. On a real board, install "Arduino Joystick Library" by Matthew Heironimus from the Arduino IDE’s Library Manager (Sketch, Include Library, Manage Libraries), or add Arduino Joystick Library to lib_deps in PlatformIO. Mokxi follows the calls of release 2, so a sketch written here builds there too. What to know in the simulator: There is no computer on the other end: the reports are shown on Serial. Arduino Leonardo · SparkFun Pro Micro · Arduino Micro ## The calls you will use In the order a sketch meets them. ### Joystick_ Joystick; A controller with every input the library offers: 32 buttons, 2 hats and all the axes. Most sketches pass arguments to ask only for what they have. ### Joystick.begin() Starts the controller. begin(false) turns off automatic sending so the sketch calls sendState() itself. ### Joystick.setButton(0, value) Sets button 0 (counted from zero) to pressed (1) or released (0). ### Joystick.setXAxis(analogRead(A0)) Sets the X axis within its range; setYAxis(), setZAxis(), setThrottle() and the rest work the same way. ### Joystick.setXAxisRange(0, 1023) Sets the values that mean full left and full right, for a sensor that does not read 0 to 1023. ### Joystick.setHatSwitch(0, 90) Sets a hat (the d-pad) in degrees: 0 up, 90 right, 180 down, 270 left, -1 released. ### Joystick.pressButton(3) Presses one button; releaseButton(3) lets it go. ### Joystick.sendState() Sends the current state of everything in one report, used with begin(false). ## Example: Dance pad on a Pro Micro On the SparkFun Pro Micro. It runs in the browser exactly as printed. sketch.ino · SparkFun Pro Micro Open it in the editor, wired and ready to run · Dance pad on a Pro Micro: the project page ## Common errors and how to fix them ### 'Joystick_' does not name a type The library is not installed or the include is missing. Install "Joystick" by Matthew Heironimus (it is on GitHub rather than in every Library Manager list) and put #include at the top. ### The controller shows up but buttons light up the wrong numbers Buttons count from 0 in the sketch and usually from 1 in the computer’s controller settings, so button 0 shows as button 1. Map them in the game rather than renumbering the wiring. ### Joystick.h will not build for an Uno or Nano Only boards whose chip is its own USB device can be a game controller. Use a Leonardo, Micro or Pro Micro (ATmega32U4). ### Inputs feel laggy when many buttons change at once With automatic sending on, every setButton() sends a report. Call Joystick.begin(false), set everything, then call sendState() once per loop(). ## Projects that use Arduino Joystick Library Built-in projects that include it. Each page has the full sketch and opens in the editor, already wired. Flight stick and throttle on a Pro Micro A two-axis stick with a center deadzone and an expo curve, a twist rudder, a hall sensor throttle, a hat switch and two buttons, sent as one Joystick.h report. Guitar controller on a Pro Micro Five fret buttons, a two-switch strum bar, a whammy knob and a tilt switch for star power, sent as a gamepad report through Joystick.h. Sim racing button box Two encoders, an ignition key with a start button, three toggles, four buttons and three LEDs on a Pro Micro, sent to the game as one USB controller. Load cell pedals on a Pro Micro A load cell brake on an HX711 that responds to force, a hall sensor throttle and a pot clutch, each calibrated and sent as one Joystick.h report. H-pattern shifter and handbrake Two pots read an H-pattern gate with hysteresis and push-down reverse, two microswitches make sequential paddles and a hall sensor is the handbrake, with the gear on a display. Autopilot and landing gear panel An autopilot knob for heading, altitude and vertical speed on a four-digit display, an AP button, and a gear lever with three green lights and a red one in transit. ## Keep going ### Learn - Design Your Own Fight Stick or Leverless Controller - Leverless Controller Build: Buttons, Pins and Code - DIY Rhythm Game Controller: Guitar and Dance Pad ### More communication libraries - OneWire - TinyGPS - TinyGPSPlus - MFRC522 - SoftwareSerial - AltSoftSerial - i2cdetect - Keyboard Every built-in library · Open the editor ## Try Arduino Joystick Library without installing anything Open the example, change the sketch, and keep your version in a free account. Start building free Open the editor