Specialized Diagnostic

Fight Stick & Hitbox SOCD Test

Test your arcade stick, Hitbox, Mixbox, and leverless controller online for free. Verify 8-button Vewlix layouts, Sanwa switches, and Capcom Pro Tour SOCD rules.

Connect Arcade Stick, Hitbox, or Leverless fight stick...

No Fight Stick Detected

DIRECTIONAL INPUTS

UP (▲)

LEFT (◀)

RIGHT (▶)

DOWN (▼)

8-BUTTON ARCADE LAYOUT (VEWLIX)

LP (Light Punch)

MP (Med Punch)

HP (Heavy Punch)

3P (All Punches)

LK (Light Kick)

MK (Med Kick)

HK (Heavy Kick)

3K (All Kicks)

SOCD CLEANER TEST (Left + Right Neutral Rule) NEUTRAL CLEAN ✅

Pressing LEFT + RIGHT simultaneously on a leverless Hitbox controller should resolve to Neutral (0,0) under official Capcom Pro Tour rules.

Arcade Layout & SOCD Rule Verification

Press individual buttons and test opposing directional combinations simultaneously:

CPT Legal (Neutral SOCD)

Left + Right = Neutral; Up + Down = Neutral. Fully compliant with Capcom Pro Tour and EVO tournament standards.

Legacy SOCD (Up Priority)

Up + Down = Up. Permitted in casual play, but banned in modern official competitive Street Fighter 6 tournaments.

Switch Bounce / Ghosting (Fault)

Microswitch chatters or drops during sustained hold. Indicates worn mechanical leaf switch or loose spade wire.

How to Get Started

Just three steps to run a complete controller test and understand your controller's health status.

Connect Controller

Connect your controller to your computer via USB cable or Bluetooth. If the browser doesn't respond, press any button on the controller to activate the connection.

Button Detection

Press each button in the visual interface and confirm the corresponding area lights up on screen. This helps troubleshoot unresponsive or double-clicking buttons.

Sticks & Vibration

Rotate the sticks to check linearity and drift issues; click the vibration test button to feel if the left and right motor feedback is working properly.

What would you like to do next?

Select a diagnostic calibration suite, deadzone analyzer, or high-frequency overclock tool.

Fix

Repair & Calibration

Calibrate zero-point offsets or follow step-by-step repair guides.

WebHID Calibration

Optimize

Game Deadzones

Calculate exact radial vs axial deadzone overlays for Fortnite, Apex, & COD.

Deadzone Calculator

Telemetry

Overclock & Circularity

Verify browser-observed update timing Hz stability and statistical circularity grades.

Hz & Circularity Tools

The Mechanics of Arcade Sticks & Leverless Controllers

In competitive fighting games (such as Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and Guilty Gear Strive), frame-perfect execution of motion buffers (quarter-circles, DP inputs, and instant air dashes) requires absolute microswitch consistency.

Simultaneous Opposing Cardinal Directions (SOCD) Standards

On traditional joystick fight sticks, it is physically impossible to press Left and Right simultaneously because a single restrictor gate lever connects to all four switches.

On all-button leverless controllers (Hitbox, Snack Box Micro, Haute42), separate thumb and finger buttons allow simultaneous opposing inputs. Modern tournament rules enforce:

Horizontal SOCD: Left + Right = Neutral (no movement output).
Vertical SOCD (Capcom Pro Tour Standard): Down + Up = Neutral. (Older firmware used "Up Priority" where Down + Up = Up, allowing unfair instant flash kicks).
Last Input Priority (Second-Input Priority): The newer button pressed overrides the previously held direction. (Legal in Tekken, but restricted in Street Fighter 6).

Microswitch Debounce & Arcade Pushbutton Maintenance

Whether your stick uses Sanwa OBSF-30 pushbuttons or Cherry MX keyboard switches (common in GP2040-CE open-source boards), mechanical switch chatter occurs when contact leaves bounce before stabilizing. If you experience dropped inputs or double hits, clean the quick-disconnect spade terminals or replace the internal microswitch.

Controller Hardware Glossary & Tips

Stick Drift & Deadzones

Stick drift occurs when analog sticks register input without being touched. This is typically caused by physical wear in traditional carbon-film potentiometers. A deadzone is a software-level threshold (e.g., 5-10%) applied to ignore these microscopic false inputs.

Hall Effect Sensors

Unlike traditional ALPS potentiometers, Hall Effect modules use magnetic fields to measure stick position. Because there is no physical contact or friction between the internal components, they are virtually immune to wear-induced stick drift, drastically extending the controller's lifespan.

Polling Rate (Hz) & Input Latency

Polling rate is how often your controller sends data to your device, measured in Hertz (Hz). A standard Bluetooth connection yields around 125Hz (8ms latency). Overclocking or using a wired USB connection can push this to 500Hz-1000Hz (1ms-2ms latency), critical for competitive gaming.

Circularity Error

When you rotate a joystick along its outer edge, a perfect module should trace a mathematically perfect circle. Circularity error measures the deviation from this perfect circle. High deviations (>15%) can result in uneven diagonal movement speeds in FPS games.

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about testing your controller.

How do I test an Arcade Stick, Hitbox, or leverless controller online?

Connect your fight stick or leverless controller via USB. Press any arcade button to wake the Gamepad API. The tool renders an 8-button Vewlix/Noir layout (LP, MP, HP, 3P, LK, MK, HK, 3K) and tests directional microswitches in real time.

What is SOCD (Simultaneous Opposing Cardinal Directions) cleaning?

SOCD cleaning governs how leverless controllers resolve conflicting simultaneous directional inputs. Under official Capcom Pro Tour (CPT) tournament rules, pressing Left + Right must output Neutral, and pressing Up + Down must output Neutral.

How do I verify if my leverless controller is Capcom Pro Tour (CPT) legal?

Press and hold Left, then press Right without releasing Left. If the visualizer returns to center (Neutral), your horizontal SOCD is compliant. Next, hold Down and press Up. If the output registers Neutral (rather than Up Priority), your controller is tournament-legal.

Does this tester support Sanwa, Seimitsu, Crown, and Qanba microswitches?

Yes. The tester detects discrete microswitch contacts from Sanwa Denshi (OBSF-30), Seimitsu (PS-14), Samducksa Crown mechanical switches, and custom Brook Universal Fighting Boards.

How do I diagnose a sticking or chatter-prone arcade pushbutton?

Press each arcade button rapidly 10 times. If a button registers double-actuations on a single stroke or remains highlighted after release, the internal microswitch leaf spring is fatigued or contaminated with dust.

How this test works & its limits

This test reads your controller through the browser's standard Gamepad API — no drivers, no installs, nothing leaves your device.
Readings depend on connection mode: Bluetooth reports at lower rates than USB. Compare like-for-like (wired vs wired).
We measure the input reaching the browser — display lag and game-engine queues are outside this test's view.
A clean reading now does not guarantee no drift in-game: deadzones differ per game, and wear develops over time. Use the Drift Timeline to track yours.
This is a diagnostic, not a hardware-lab certification. For repair or RMA decisions, confirm with a second run or second tool.

Read the full methodology

100% Client-Side

All Gamepad API data stays in your browser. Zero tracking or data collection.

Instant Results

No downloads, plugins, or software installation needed. Works instantly.

Free Forever

No paywalls, subscription requirements, or hidden usage limits.