Gamepad 🎮
Pick up a game controller and drive. Throttle reads any controller your phone, tablet or computer can pair — Bluetooth, USB, or a 2.4 GHz wireless dongle — so you can run trains with your eyes on the layout instead of the screen.
Connect
- Pair or plug in the controller the way you normally would for your device.
- Open Throttle and press any button on the controller. (Browsers only reveal a controller after a button press.)
- A toast confirms it, and a 🎮 badge marks the cab it drives.
The first time a controller connects, a short tip pops up next to the cab it drives with the buttons that matter most: Stop, direction, and how to show every control. Press any button (or tap ✕) to close it — it won't show again for that controller.
Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro and most modern PC controllers work straight away. Other controllers — like a USB Super Nintendo-style pad — open a short set-up that asks you to press each button once.
Default controls
| Control | Does |
|---|---|
| D-pad ↑ / ↓ | Speed up / slow down one step (hold to repeat) |
| D-pad ← / → | Reverse / Forward — only while stopped, on throttle styles with a reverser (Dashboard, Slider, Proto) |
| D-pad ↓ past zero | Reverse — on the Buttons and Dial styles, which have no reverser; the stick and LT also pass through zero into reverse |
| A | Lights (F0) |
| B | Stop this cab |
| X | Bell (F1) |
| Y | Horn (F2) — sounds while held |
| L / R | Previous / next cab |
| Start | Emergency stop — every train |
| Select | Show the controls |
| Left stick ↑ / ↓ | Accelerate / brake — let go and the train holds its speed |
| RT / LT | Accelerate / brake by pressure |
While a controller is connected, the focused cab shows small button hints on its own controls — the Stop button, the speed steps, the direction switch — so you can see which button does what without opening help. They appear on every throttle style.
Settings → Gamepad
Everything about your controller lives in Settings → Gamepad:
- Button style — Auto, Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo. Auto picks the labels from the controller's name; choose one yourself if the labels don't match what's printed on your pad. The Nintendo style is position-true: the bottom button reads B and the right one A, just like on a Switch controller, and they still do the same jobs as the same spots on other pads.
- How to drive — a short summary of the controls for your current throttle style.
- Your buttons — a diagram of your controller that lights up each button as you press it. Tap A, X, Y or a spare button on the diagram to change what it does: pick a function (named after the loco on the cab you're driving) or Not assigned. B, the D-pad, L / R, Select and Start keep their fixed jobs.
- Customize buttons — walks you through pressing each button once. Use it for a controller Throttle doesn't recognise, or to add up to four spare buttons (like back paddles) that you can then tap to assign.
- Feel — the D-pad speed step (1, 2 or 5), and for controllers with a stick: how quickly it reaches full speed, its dead zone, and Invert stick.
- Reset to defaults puts everything back, except the Button style.
Good to know
- Which cab? The cab on screen is the one the controller drives. In 2-up and 4-up views, tap a cab or use L / R to move the 🎮 badge.
- After a stop, let go first. If you're still holding the stick, a trigger or a D-pad button when you press B or Start (or when someone stops the train from the screen or another device), the train stays stopped until you let go. Center the stick or press the button again to drive on.
- If the controller drops (battery, out of range), the train keeps running at its speed and Throttle warns you — use the on-screen Stop or E-stop. Any horn or bell held down is let go.
- One controller at a time for now. With two connected, the one that connected first drives; if it drops, the other takes over.
- iPhone and iPad: works in Safari and when Throttle is added to the Home Screen — pair the controller in Settings → Bluetooth first.
Prefer a dedicated app?
DEJA's WiThrottle server works with Engine Driver (Android) and ThrottleCard (iPhone, iPad, Mac), both of which have their own controller support.