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Gears of War: E-Day · Controller settings lab · Checked 29 September 2026

Gears of War: E-Day controller settings, tuned to your own hands.

Time the Active Reload bar where E-Day puts it and where it used to be, try the four aim assist options on your own stick, compare the five schemes, and fit both dead zones to the controller you will play on.

Centre or corner? Time the reload bar in both places.

E-Day moves the Active Reload bar from the upper-right corner, where it has sat since 2006, to just under the reticle — The Coalition found players used the mechanic more from there, and a setting puts it back. Twelve reloads tell you which place your own eyes prefer: keep them on the target, and press when the marker crosses the bright band.

Twelve reloads, two places

Press any controller button, R or Space — or tap the screen.

Under the reticle – hits of 6
Typical miss
– ms
Leaning
–
Upper-right corner – hits of 6
Typical miss
– ms
Leaning
–

Twelve reloads decide it: six under the reticle, six in the corner, in an order you cannot guess.

Keep and share this result

Save the numbers to your private Device Passport in this browser, or copy a card that shows exactly what was measured.

Open passport

Nothing is uploaded unless you contribute. Cards and links contain only the numbers shown above.

A practice bar of our own: the marker crosses in 1.1 seconds and a hit is within 55 ms of the band’s centre, the same on every reload. The Coalition has not published the window the game uses, so this compares your two spots, not your game.

Aim assist, four ways.

E-Day lists four aim assist options for a controller. Pick one and steer the reticle with your right stick; hold the left trigger to aim. No controller? The mouse steers and the right button aims. Aim assist works in the campaign and Horde Siege only — The Coalition confirmed Versus is not affected.

On target, last five seconds 0%

A drawing of each description, not the game’s own numbers: how hard Default pulls for each weapon has not been published. Snap Aim here snaps for a tenth of a second when aiming starts; Lock-on follows the nearest target while you aim, and a hard flick sideways moves it to the next one.

Five schemes, and what each one moves.

The Control tab offers five preset layouts. Pick one to see which buttons it moves away from Default, as the game’s own Control Scheme screen lists them, and whether Toggle Sprint still applies — it does not in either Legacy scheme.

Y X B A LB RB LT RT L3 R3
Default

“The layout the game starts on.”

Sprint is the left stick click, A takes cover, evades and slides, and Y jumps. Every other scheme moves something away from here.

The buttons other schemes move

  • ACover, evade, slide
  • BMelee, shoulder swap
  • XInteract, revive
  • RBReload
  • L3Sprint, cover crouch
  • R3Scope toggle
  • Toggle Sprint available

Controller Remap in the Controller – Options menu swaps any two gameplay buttons on top of whichever scheme you pick, so a scheme is a starting point, not a cage.

Dead zones from your own sticks.

E-Day gives each stick an inner and an outer dead zone. The inner one decides how far a stick moves before anything happens — larger hides drift and costs fine aim. The outer one decides how close to the edge full speed starts. Let go of both sticks, then roll each one slowly around its edge: the settings that fit your controller come out below.

Left stick · moving
Right stick · looking and aiming
Left stick inner dead zone–
Left stick outer dead zone–
Right stick inner dead zone–
Right stick outer dead zone–

Plug in a controller and let go of both sticks.

Values are a share of the stick’s travel: the inner one sits three points past where your stick rests on its own, the outer one lets your weakest direction still reach full speed. The game’s slider scale is not published, so match the share, not a notch count.

Three speeds, and which one is in charge.

E-Day splits turning speed three ways, each with its own horizontal and vertical slider: Look while you move, Target while you aim, Scope through a scope. Hold the left trigger, or tick the scope, and watch which pair takes over. On PC the keyboard has two ways to sprint.

Look speedHorizontal · vertical look sensitivity
Target speedHorizontal · vertical target sensitivity
Scope speedHorizontal · vertical scope sensitivity
Keyboard sprint style

Hold W and use Shift. Modern: press forward and tap sprint to run. Legacy: hold the sprint key to run.

Modernstanding
Legacystanding

Aim Acceleration sits beside these on a controller: how much turning speeds up the longer a stick is held over. Mouse look, target and scope speeds are separate sliders under Mouse & Keyboard.

Everything this site has on Gears of War: E-Day

Four pages and none of them repeats another: this settings lab, the controls, the graphics-card check and the launch record. Every figure is counted from what the page holds.

24 bindings keyboard0controller24settings26 in 5 Gears of War: E-Day controls Every default bind on keyboard and pad, dated, with the settings behind them. 5 benches keyboardyescontrolleryestouchscreenyes Gears of War: E-Day input lab You are here 2 platforms milestones8questions15editions3 Gears of War: E-Day launch When it came out, the editions and the platforms, dated from the publisher. 3 tiers ray tracingrequiredmemory12 GBgraphics cards10 Can you run Gears of War: E-Day? Reads your graphics card and places it against the publisher’s own tiers.
Answers

Straight answers

The controller questions the launch week asks, answered from The Coalition’s own settings list and posts.

What are the best controller settings for Gears of War: E-Day?

The three that depend on your own controller: an inner dead zone just past where your sticks rest on their own, an outer dead zone that lets your weakest direction reach full speed, and an aim assist mode you have tried on a moving target. After that, set look, target and scope sensitivity separately — E-Day splits turning speed three ways — and decide on Toggle Aim and Auto Reload Mode.

Which control scheme should I use in E-Day?

E-Day offers five. Default sprints on the left stick click and puts cover, evade and slide on A. Modern gives evade its own button, B, and moves melee to RB; Modern Alt also moves slide to B. Legacy puts sprint back on A as in the older games, and Legacy Alt moves evade and slide from there to X. Y jumps in all five, Toggle Sprint does not apply to either Legacy scheme, and Controller Remap can swap any two gameplay buttons on top of the scheme you pick.

Does aim assist work in Versus multiplayer?

No. The Coalition confirmed during the beta that aim assist affects the campaign and Horde Siege only, whatever the setting reads — Versus is not affected.

What is the difference between Snap Aim and Lock-on Aiming?

Snap Aim moves the reticle to the closest valid spot on a nearby enemy very briefly when you start aiming, then lets go. Lock-on Aiming keeps the reticle on the closest valid enemy for as long as you aim, and flicking the stick left or right swaps to the next enemy. Default uses each weapon’s own aim assist features.

Can you move the Active Reload bar back to the corner?

Yes. E-Day puts the bar in the centre of the screen just below the reticle by default, because testing showed players used Active Reload more from there; a setting returns it to the upper-right corner where the series always had it.

How do dead zones work in Gears of War: E-Day?

Each stick has an inner and an outer dead zone. The inner one is how far the stick moves before anything happens: larger hides drift but costs fine aim. The outer one is how close to the edge full speed starts: larger means less travel to reach it. Set the inner one just past where your stick rests and the outer one from the direction your stick reaches least.

What is target sensitivity in E-Day?

Turning speed while you aim. E-Day has three pairs of sliders, each with a horizontal and a vertical value: look sensitivity while you move, target sensitivity while you aim down sights, and scope sensitivity through a scope. The mouse has its own three pairs under Mouse & Keyboard.

How does sprint work on keyboard in E-Day?

Keyboard – Sprint Style has two options. Modern: press forward and tap the sprint key to run. Legacy: hold the sprint key to run. The controller’s Toggle Sprint setting is separate and does not apply to the Legacy schemes.

Can you remap buttons in Gears of War: E-Day?

Yes. Controller Remap in the Controller – Options menu swaps the functions of gameplay buttons, and Keyboard Bindings under Mouse & Keyboard rebinds every keyboard and mouse action. Swap Sticks exchanges the two sticks’ jobs entirely.

Tools for the same hands

Stick drift test The inner dead zone should sit just past where your stick rests; measure how far that is before you touch the slider. Dead-zone tuner See what a larger inner dead zone costs slow, fine aim before you settle on one. Controller check Active Reload is one press at the right moment; confirm every button reports once and cleanly. Other game labs The same treatment for the rest of the library.

Unofficial. Keymap Labs is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Microsoft, Xbox Game Studios or The Coalition. Gears of War is a trademark of the Microsoft group of companies. The settings and their descriptions are The Coalition’s, from the E-Day support pages; the reload bar, the target range and the dead-zone advice are this page’s own instruments. Controller readings stay in this browser. Last checked 29 September 2026.