Controls Editor in BlueStacks 4.230 and above

How will this help?

This detailed guide will help you understand how to create controls in BlueStacks 4.230 and above, using the Controls Editor.

This article answers the following questions:

• How to access Controls editor in BlueStacks 4.230 and above
• How to manage Control schemes in the Control Editor
• What types of key controls are available in Control Editor

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What's new?

• The release of BlueStacks version 4.230 has brought some significant changes to how you would access the Controls editor.
• We've added an "Update controls" button for your control schemes. This allows you to keep your control schemes updated to the latest version. 

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How can I access the Controls Editor?

You can now access the most advanced Controls Editor on BlueStacks in one of the following two ways:

• By right-clicking on the Game Controls icon on the side toolbar while playing a game, as shown below.

• By left-clicking on the Game controls icon and selecting Open advanced editor from the menu.

Both of the above steps will open the Controls Editor window next to BlueStacks, as shown below.

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Managing Control schemes

On the 'Controls Editor' window, the first section is the Control scheme, as shown in the image below.

This section gives you the following options to manage your control schemes:

• The first icon to the right of the Control scheme is for updating controls. Clicking on this icon lets you download the latest default control configurations available for that game.
  NOTE: If you had made any changes to the default controls, then downloading the revised default controls using this option will cause those changes to be erased. Please edit the controls again as per your preference after downloading. 
• The second icon lets you import key controls from your computer's OS. BlueStacks lets you import .cfg files for this operation. 
• The next icon lets you export one or more control schemes saved on your BlueStacks to Windows in the form of .cfg files.
• The last icon is called Open Folder. Clicking on this option opens the default location where all the modified control schemes are saved on your computer.
• Below these icons is a drop bar. You may click on the arrow at the right of this bar and choose from the saved control configurations on your BlueStacks.

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Types of key controls in Controls Editor

Pro tip - Right-click on the key controls that want to create, in order to view the advanced options menu. An example is shown below in "Tap spot" and a few others. Also, if you would not like to see the key bindings for controls in-game, simply untick the "Show keys on overlay" option in the advanced menu.

Types of key controls:

• Tap spot
• Repeated tap
• D-pad
• Aim, pan and shoot 
• Zoom
• MOBA skill pad 
• Swipe
• Free look
• Tilt
• Script
• Rotate
• Edge Scrolling

Tap spot - This key control is used in the instance wherein you would like to imitate the action of a tap on the screen. For example, the key to open your backpack in an FPS game or to turn left/right in a racing game.

Repeated tap - This action is used when you would like to reproduce the action of repeatedly tapping on the screen. For example, in a game like Hill Climb Racing, holding down the "Gas" button will effectively spin your car out of control. Configuring a "Repeated tap" on this key will keep your car in control.

You can also customize the number of taps you would like in the key, as shown above.

D-pad - These key controls are used to emulate movement controls in various games, such as War Robots as shown below.

Aim, pan and shoot. - You can assign a key to enter/exit shooting mode through this key in shooting games.

Zoom - Here, you can assign a key to imitate "Zoom in" and/or "Zoom out" actions in a game. In the advanced menu, you can adjust the various features of "Zoom" such as acceleration and depth of zoom.

MOBA skill pad - This control is used for MOBA games and provides a variety of options to you on the actions you can perform using this. We highly recommend you go through MOBA skill settings and MOBA stop movement FAQs to learn more about these.

Swipe - You can use this control to assign swipe keys in a game of your choice.

Free look - This control can be used in instances wherein you would like to view your surroundings without changing the direction you are aiming at.

Tilt - In games that require you to tilt the phone in a certain direction, this is an extremely helpful tool to have.

Script -With this control, you can assign a key to run a script of your choice. 

Rotate - Here, assigned keys can spin a wheel (like steering wheel in a racing game) in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. Refer here for more info on this feature.

Smart Edge Scrolling - This feature helps you scroll around your map simply by moving the cursor.  Useful for strategy games like Rise of Kingdoms and Clash of Clans. Refer here for more info on this fun accessible feature.

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Thank you for choosing BlueStacks. We hope you enjoy using it. If you have any further questions, please contact us at support@bluestacks.com. Happy Gaming!

Last updated on August 19, 2020.