Deep dives

Controls

// src/main.js · src/gamepad.js · added 2026-10-16

Three ways to play, all active at once: mouse and keyboard, keyboard only, or a controller. Keyboard-only and controller play don't need the mouse captured, so they also work over remote desktop.

01Starting and pausing

Starting	Joining a match or starting Practice drops you straight into play; the pause screen only appears when you pause. If the browser hasn't given the game the mouse yet (after a page load), keys and controller work at once and a hint says Click to aim with the mouse: that click captures the mouse without firing.
Mouse	Click: the mouse is captured for aiming. Esc frees it and pauses.
Keyboard	Press Enter on the menu: the game runs without capturing the mouse. Esc pauses, Enter resumes.
Controller	Press Ⓐ (or Start) on the menu; Start pauses and resumes. The menu shows the controller layout as soon as one is connected.
Fallback	If the browser refuses to capture the mouse (some remote-desktop setups), the game starts in keyboard mode automatically.

Looking down after a quick reload: the dropped magazine lies on the floor; the ammo counter shows 20 / 20 with two spare-magazine bars, one full and one partly full. — **Quick reload**Hold reload and the old magazine drops to the floor for good; tap it instead and the magazine goes back in your pouch. The bars by the ammo count are your spare magazines, filled to their paint.

The Esc menu on its Controls tab: keyboard and mouse keys on the left, controller buttons on the right. — **Esc › Controls**Every key and button, keyboard and mouse beside the controller. Plant / defuse shows in Search & Destroy.

02Keyboard and mouse

WASDMove

MouseLook

ArrowsLook (no mouse needed)

L-ShiftSprint

SpaceJump

CCrouch

Q / ELean

LMB / EnterShoot

RMB / R-ShiftAim down sights

RReload: tap to swap mags, hold to drop the mag (quicker)

1 / 2 / WheelPrimary / sidearm

EscPause

Keyboard-only shooting is on Enter (also /) and aiming on Right Shift (also .), next to the arrow keys. Ctrl is avoided on purpose: Ctrl+W while walking would close the browser tab.

03Controller

LSMove (push further = faster)

RSLook

L3Sprint

RTShoot

LTAim down sights

ⒶJump

ⒷCrouch

ⓍReload: tap to swap, hold to drop the mag

ⓎSwitch primary / sidearm (plant or defuse where you can)

LB / RBLean

StartPause

Controllers	Anything the browser reports in the standard layout: Xbox, PlayStation (✕ ○ □ △ in place of Ⓐ Ⓑ Ⓧ Ⓨ), Switch Pro. Plug in or pair, then press a button so the browser sees it.
Feel	Dead zone on both sticks (small drift is ignored), a response curve on the right stick for fine aim, look speed halved while aiming down sights. Sprint is CoD-style: click L3 and it holds until you stop pushing forward. Crouching (C, Ctrl or Ⓑ) ends a sprint and you can't sprint crouched; Shift or L3 stands you up and sprints again.
Rumble	A light tap when you fire and a strong one when you're hit, on controllers that support it.
Sound	Browsers only start audio after a click or key press, and a controller button doesn't count in every browser. If it's silent, press any key once.

04Menus and online

Menus	Arrow keys or D-pad/stick move, Enter or Ⓐ selects, Esc or Ⓑ goes back. Ⓐ on a dropdown cycles its options; left/right on the D-pad moves a slider.
Sprint stamina	Sprint lasts about 4.5 s from full and refills over 3.5 s once you've been off it for 0.8 s. Run it dry and you're winded: no sprint until it's back to 35%. A thin bar over the ammo counter shows it while it isn't full (orange when winded). Sprint is 6.2 m/s, run 4.6 m/s.
Spectating	Search & Destroy, once you're out: you see through a living teammate's eyes; `Space` or `Ⓐ` switches to the next one.
Scoreboard	Hold `Tab` or Back/View during an online match: eliminations, outs and K/D for everyone. In Search & Destroy it marks who's out for the round.
Switching	Your loadout has a primary marker and a sidearm. `1` / `2`, the mouse wheel (one switch per flick) or `Ⓨ` swaps them: the other comes up from below in 0.45 s and can't fire or aim until it's up; a reload in progress is called off. Each keeps its own magazine and spares. Every life starts on the primary.
Esc menu	`Esc` or Start: Resume, Settings (applied live), Loadout (practice: the new marker is in your hands at once; online: from your next spawn, the next round in Search & Destroy), Controls, and Leave match / Main menu (also `L` or `Ⓨ`). Online the match keeps going behind it. With a controller it opens on Resume: D-pad or stick moves, right goes into the screen and left back to the tabs, LB / RB switch tabs, Ⓐ selects (cycles a dropdown, ticks a box), left / right moves a slider, Ⓑ steps back to the tabs and from there resumes, Start resumes.
Capture a task	Dev builds only: hold `T` to dictate a task for the task board, release to review it. In a match it pauses first.
Touch	Phones and tablets (`src/touch.js`): a stick appears where your left thumb lands (push it to the edge to sprint); drag on the right half to look, Fire works as a look pad too. Buttons: Fire, Aim (a toggle), Jump, Crouch, Reload, Swap (Plant / Defuse when you can), Scores and Menu. They show on the first touch and hide when a mouse or key is used.
Settings	Mouse sensitivity, controller look speed, invert controller look, field of view, graphics (quality preset, shadows, resolution, tree detail, textures, anti-aliasing, frame rate), volume, FPS counter and ping readout (main menu › Settings, or the Esc menu in a game). Name and jersey number are under main menu › Operators.

05Map editor

The editor works without a mouse too: WASD moves, the arrow keys look around, E/Q go up and down. See the Map editor page for the full list.