Understanding Stick Drift & Circularity Error
Stick drift happens when your joystick moves on its own without your fingers touching it. In games, this makes your character walk by themselves or causes your aim and camera to spin slowly in first-person shooters.
How to Read Your Stick Drift Results
- 0.000 to 0.030 (Green - Perfect): Snaps straight to the center. Zero stick drift.
- 0.031 to 0.060 (Normal - Good): Normal for brand-new Xbox and PlayStation controllers. Works great with a standard 5% in-game deadzone.
- 0.061 to 0.120 (Warning - Minor Drift): Starting to drift. You may notice slight aim movements in Call of Duty, Apex, or Fortnite unless you raise your deadzone setting.
- 0.120+ (Red - Heavy Drift): Heavy drift. Internal parts are worn out or dirty, and the controller needs cleaning or repair.
What is Circularity Error?
When you rotate your joystick in a full circle, it should move in a smooth, round path. If the sensors wear down or the stick housing rubs unevenly, the motion gets squished or boxy.
Standard Xbox and PS5 controllers usually test around 7% to 12% circularity error. Hall Effect controllers (like 8BitDo Ultimate or GuliKit) score between 0.5% and 5% because magnetic sensors don't wear down.