Stick Range Test — Full Edge-to-Edge Travel
Push your stick to every edge and corner and watch each one light up. This stick range test verifies the full physical travel of both analog sticks — confirming each one reaches 100% in every direction.
A stick that can't reach its outer limit costs you in-game: capped sprint speed, a steering wheel that won't fully turn, a camera that won't pan all the way. The tool below maps eight edge targets around the field — push the stick out to clear each one and check your stick reaches all corners. Everything runs in your browser through the standard Gamepad API — no download, no signup, nothing leaves your device.
Press a button to begin
Connect via USB or pair over Bluetooth, then press any button so the browser detects your pad.
Push the stick fully into each target to light it.
A healthy stick lights all 8 edges and peaks at or near 100% reach.
When a stick can't reach the edge
Limited travel is a quieter fault than drift — there's no unwanted movement, just movement that never arrives. An analog stick travel distance test makes that missing range visible.
What reduced range costs you
A stick that tops out at 80% feels fine for casual play but quietly caps your ceiling. Here's where a failed stick 100% range test shows up.
Capped movement speed
Many games tie walk-to-sprint to how far the stick is pushed. Short travel means you never hit full speed.
Limited turn rate
In shooters, max camera turn speed sits at the stick's edge. Lose the edge and you lose your fastest turn.
Incomplete steering lock
Racing games map full lock to full deflection. A stick that won't reach the corner won't reach full lock either.
Weak diagonals
Range often fails first at the corners, so diagonal movement is cut short before the cardinal directions are.
Why range gets lost
Reduced travel comes from a handful of specific causes — each one shows a slightly different pattern on a gamepad stick boundary test.
Worn potentiometer travel
The resistive track no longer reads the stick's outer positions accurately, so the reported value tops out below 100% even at full physical tilt.
Physical obstruction
Dust, debris, or a worn thumbstick cap can physically stop the stick short of its housing edge — the joystick maximum deflection checker reads low as a result.
An aggressive outer dead zone
Some of what looks like lost range is software — an outer dead zone set so wide it clips the reading before the stick reaches its true edge.
Housing or gate wear
A worn stick gate can let the stick slip past true centre alignment, making one side of the range fall consistently shorter than the other.
Reading your range result
Two numbers tell the story: how many of the 8 edges you reached, and your peak reach percentage.
Healthy range
All 8 edges lit, peak reach at or near 100%. The stick travels its full range in every direction — nothing to fix.
Partial range
Some edges won't light, or peak reach stalls around 85–95%. Often debris or an outer dead zone — clean and re-test before worrying.
Restricted range
Peak reach well under 90%, several edges unreachable. The stick has a genuine travel fault and likely needs servicing.
If the corners fail but the cardinals pass, that's the classic early sign — diagonal travel almost always degrades first on an analog stick corner reach test.
Running the stick range test
One full sweep of the stick clears all eight edges in well under a minute.
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1
Connect and pick a stick
Link your pad, then choose the left or right stick to test.
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2
Push fully to each edge
Press the stick all the way out — light, partial pressure won't clear a target.
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3
Sweep all eight points
Roll the stick around the rim so every cardinal and diagonal target lights.
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4
Check peak reach
Confirm all 8 edges lit and peak reach sits at or near 100%.
Before you blame the hardware
A surprising amount of "lost range" is debris. Run this checklist before assuming a fault.
Air around the collar
A short burst of compressed air clears grit from the stick base.
Work the full range
Several slow full rotations can free a stick that's stiff at the edge.
Check the thumbstick cap
A loose or worn cap can catch on the housing and block full travel.
Lower any outer dead zone
An aggressive outer dead zone clips the reading — test with it reduced.
If the range is genuinely short
When cleaning doesn't restore full travel, work through these from least to most involved.
Re-test on another device
Rule out a software dead zone by testing the same pad on a different machine or browser first.
Recalibrate the controller
Some pads have a built-in calibration routine that re-learns the stick's true outer limits.
Replace the thumbstick cap
A fresh cap is cheap and fixes range loss caused purely by a worn or catching cap.
Replace the stick module
Worn potentiometer travel doesn't recover — the module, or the controller, needs replacing.