Earth Defense Force 5 · Helicopter lab · Checked 3 October 2026

No button to go down. Learn the EDF helicopter here.

Hold lift and the rotor takes its time; let go and you sink; tilt and the helicopter keeps going after the stick is back. Fly a hover, three rings and a rooftop landing with your own controller or keyboard, and the bench reads back how often you over-corrected. Below it, every class's buttons lit on your own pad, and who can play together on Switch 2.

Fly the helicopter before a mission does. Lift, tilt, land.

Hold lift and wait: the rotor has to spin up, and there is no button to go down — let go and you sink. Tilt to move, and tilt back to stop, because the helicopter keeps its speed. Hold height in the first ring for 3 seconds, fly through 3 rings round the block and land on the rooftop pad. The light helicopter answers quickly; the heavy one has the slow rotor the early models are known for.

Controller, keyboard or touch. About two minutes.

Your hands

Controller: Hold L2 to lift · left stick tilts · right stick turns
Keyboard: Hold Space to lift · W A S D tilt · Q and E turn (the game turns with the mouse)

Hold height in the first ring for 3 s
Through ring 1
Through ring 2
Through ring 3
Land on the rooftop pad

Four soldiers, four layouts. Press your pad and see what each button does.

Pick a soldier or a vehicle and the pad lights the buttons it uses. Press a button on your own controller and its row lights below — the quickest way to stop the Fencer's four shoulder buttons from being a list. The rows are the controls page's own, PlayStation first and Xbox beside it.

R2RTFire

L1LBZoom / activate

L2LTJump

L-stick ← / → + L2LS ← / → + LTDodge roll

L3 (press)LS (press)Dash

R1RBSwitch weapons

CrossAThrow a smoke flare / call a vehicle

L-stickLSMove

R-stickRSAim and look

CircleBRescue a fallen player / get in a vehicle

SquareXReload

OptionsMenuPause menu

Who can fight together on Switch 2? Count your squad and your consoles.

The Switch 2 version plays three ways: two players split-screen on one TV, up to four over local wireless, and up to four online. Put in how many of you there are and how many Switch 2 consoles you have; the planner names the way the publisher's rules let you play and what it needs.

Players2

Switch 2 consoles1

Split-screen

Two players on one Switch 2 and one copy of the game, each with half the screen. TV mode only: docked, not handheld.

Copies1

Nintendo Switch Online0

Split-screen works with the Switch 2 docked to a TV; in handheld mode it is one player — with gyro aiming.

The Switch 2 calendar

8 Oct 2026EDF 5 on Switch 2

12 Nov 2026Mission Pack 1: Extra Challenge

10 Dec 2026Mission Pack 2: Super Challenge

28 Jan 2027EDF 6 on Switch 2

Standard and Deluxe editions; the Deluxe adds DLC weapons and bonus missions. Each mission pack is $4.99 on the US eShop.

Everything this site has on Earth Defense Force 5

Four pages and none of them repeats another: the controls, this helicopter lab, the Switch 2 date and the graphics-card check. Every figure is counted from what the page holds.

113 bindings keyboard63controller50settings5 EDF 5 controls Every default bind on keyboard and pad, dated, with the settings behind them. 3 benches keyboardyescontrolleryestouchscreenyes EDF 5 input lab You are here 1 platforms milestones7questions10editions3 EDF 5 on Switch 2 When it came out, the editions and the platforms, dated from the publisher. 2 tiers ray tracingoptionalmemory8 GBgraphics cards4 Can you run EDF 5? Reads your graphics card and places it against the publisher’s own tiers.

Answers

Straight answers

The helicopter, the four classes, co-op and the Switch 2 version — answered from the game's own key configuration and D3Publisher's announcements.

How do you fly the helicopter in EDF 5?

Hold L2 (Space on PC) and wait for the rotor to spin up; keep holding to climb and let go to sink — there is no button to go down. Tilt with the left stick to move, turn with the right stick or the mouse, and tilt the other way to stop, because the helicopter keeps its speed.

How do you hover in EDF 5?

By holding and releasing lift. Hold until the helicopter starts to rise, let go before it climbs too far, and tap lift again as it starts to sink. The rotor answers slowly both ways, so tap early rather than hard.

Why does my EDF helicopter keep crashing?

Usually too much stick. The body keeps moving after you centre the stick, so a full push one way followed by a full push the other overshoots twice. Push half as far as you think and wait. Landing fast also damages the helicopter, and climbing burns fuel fastest.

Which EDF 5 class is best for beginners?

The Ranger: one layout, a dash and a dodge roll, and the widest choice of weapons. The Air Raider shares the Ranger’s buttons and adds vehicles and support. The Wing Diver flies on an energy gauge and the Fencer uses all four shoulder buttons for two arms — both are rewarding and both take longer to learn.

Can you play EDF 5 split-screen?

Yes, for two players: on PC and PlayStation 4, and on Switch 2 in TV mode from 8 October 2026. The Switch 2 version also plays four players over local wireless, each on their own console with their own copy, and four online.

What are the PC helicopter controls?

Space climbs, W and S tilt forward and back, A and D tilt to the sides, and the mouse turns. Mouse 1 fires the main weapon and Mouse 2 the second one.

Tools for the same hands

Controller check A left stick that never quite centres keeps a helicopter sliding. Check it before an air mission. Stick drift test Measure how far the tilt stick rests from centre — the helicopter flies on it. Mouse tester On PC a high mouse DPI makes aiming jump; check what your mouse reports before turning Camera Speed up. Other game labs The same treatment for the rest of the library.

Unofficial. Keymap Labs is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by D3Publisher or Sandlot. Earth Defense Force is a trademark of its owner. The layouts are the game's own key configuration and the dates D3Publisher's announcements; the helicopter, the city and the course are drawn for this page, flown by rules the game shows rather than figures read from it. Controller readings stay in this browser. Last checked 8 October 2026.

Help more players find this

The EDF 5 helicopter has no button to go down — let go of lift and you sink, and the rotor takes seconds to spin up. This lets you fly it with your own pad before a mission does, and counts your over-corrections

If it told you something you did not know, post it where other players will see it. That is the whole growth plan.

Your post · keymap.io

The EDF 5 helicopter has no button to go down — let go of lift and you sink, and the rotor takes seconds to spin up. This lets you fly it with your own pad before a mission does, and counts your over-corrections

https://keymap.io/games/earth-defense-force-5/

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