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How do you calibrate controller deadzones?
(sh.itjust.works)
I have a wired Xbox 360 controller ^[1.1]^ that has some drift in both analog sticks ^[1]^. I would like to calibrate the deadzones ^[2]^ to fix this issue. How do you recommend doing this? I didn't see any controller calibration option in the KDE Plasma controller settings ^[1]^.
References
- Type: Anecdote (Screenshot). Accessed: 2026-03-24T23:10Z. Location: "KDE System Settings">"Game Controller". Author: Meta
- All input methods are at rest.
- Type: Text.
Device type: Game Controller
Xbox 360
- Type: Text. Publisher: [Type: Webpage. Title: "Understanding Controller Deadzones". Publisher: "Elevation IT". URI: https://www.elevationit.uk/understanding-controller-deadzones/.]. Accessed: 2026-03-24T23:20Z. Location: §"What is a Deadzone?".>¶1.
A deadzone is the small range of joystick movement that a controller or game ignores. It prevents unintended movement, such as stick drift, from affecting gameplay. […]
The Arch wiki has a lot of good info on this:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Gamepad#Setting_up_deadzones_and_calibration
I would start with section 2.2.3: Joystick API deadzones and calibration, because the joystick API is the lowest common denominator for this stuff.