Dashboard
The Dashboard is the first screen you see when PadForge launches. It provides a real-time overview of engine status, virtual controllers, connected devices, and driver health.
The Dashboard contains five vertically stacked sections:
| Section | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Input Engine | Master power switch and performance readout |
| Virtual Controllers | One card per controller slot, plus an "Add" card |
| Motion Server | DSU/cemuhook gyroscope broadcasting for emulators |
| Web Controller | Browser-based controller for phones, tablets, and other PCs |
| Drivers | Installation status of all optional drivers |
If something is wrong — a missing driver, a disconnected controller, a stopped engine — you will see it here first.
The engine card sits at the top and displays four elements in a single row:
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Power button | Starts or stops the engine. Color indicates state (see below). |
| Status text | "Running", "Stopped", or "Idle". |
| Polling frequency | Measured polling rate in Hz (e.g., "987.3 Hz"). Shows a dash when stopped. |
| Device count | Online vs. total devices (e.g., "2 / 3 devices online"). "Online" means currently plugged in. "Total" includes remembered devices from earlier sessions. |
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green | Engine is running and processing input normally |
| Yellow | Engine is idle — started but no virtual controller slots exist yet |
| Red | Engine is stopped — virtual controllers are inactive |
Tip: Enable "Auto-start engine on launch" in Settings to skip the manual power button click each time.
Each virtual controller slot appears as a card below the engine card.
| Element | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Power icon | Top-left | Color indicates slot status (see below). Click to enable or disable. |
| Gamepad icon + slot number | Next to power icon | Global controller number (1, 2, 3, ...). |
| Type icons | After separator bar | Five icons: Xbox, PlayStation, DirectInput, Keyboard+Mouse, MIDI. Active type is bright; others are dimmed. Click a dimmed icon to switch type. Missing-driver types appear faint and unclickable. |
| Per-type instance number | After type icons | Instance within the current type (e.g., "2" for the second Xbox slot). |
| Device name | Second row | Primary physical device mapped to this slot, or "No device". Long names scroll automatically. |
| Status text | Third row, left | "Active", "Idle", "No mapping", or "Disabled". |
| Mapped / Connected counts | Third row, right | E.g., "2 mapped, 1 connected". |
| Delete button (X) | Upper-right corner | Removes this slot entirely. |
| Color | Condition | Tooltip |
|---|---|---|
| Green | Enabled, at least one mapped device connected | "Active" |
| Yellow | Enabled, but blocked: no devices connected, engine stopped, or required driver missing | Shows specific reason |
| Flashing green | Virtual controller is initializing | "Initializing" |
| Red | Manually disabled | "Disabled" |
Click anywhere on a card (except delete/power) to open that slot's configuration: Button and Axis Mappings, Stick Dead Zones, Trigger Dead Zones, Force Feedback, and Macros.
When at least one controller type has remaining capacity (e.g., 16 Xbox 360, 16 DualShock 4, 16 DirectInput), an Add Controller card appears at the bottom. Click it to choose a type for the new slot. See Controller Slots for type limits and slot management.
The card disappears when all type limits are reached.
Broadcasts gyroscope and accelerometer data over UDP using the DSU/cemuhook protocol. Emulators like Cemu, Dolphin, Yuzu, and Ryujinx use this for motion controls (e.g., gyro aiming in Breath of the Wild).
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable DSU motion server | Starts or stops the server |
| Port | UDP port (default: 26760). Change only for port conflicts. Range: 1024–65535. |
| Status indicator | Green dot = running. Red dot = stopped. |
The DSU protocol supports a maximum of 4 slots. Only the first 4 virtual controllers broadcast motion data.
For full details, see DSU Motion Server.
Provides a browser-based controller interface accessible from any device on your local network.
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable web controller | Starts or stops the web server |
| Port | HTTP/WebSocket port (default: 8080). Range: 1024–65535. |
| Status indicator | Green dot = running (displays a clickable local URL, e.g., http://192.168.1.42:8080). Red dot = stopped. |
For full details, see Web Controller.
Shows installation status of each optional driver. Each row displays the driver name on the left and its status ("Installed" or "Not Installed") on the right.
| Driver / Service | Purpose | When to install |
|---|---|---|
| HidHide | Hides physical controllers from games to prevent double input (e.g., every press registers twice, or diagonal drift when pushing straight). | Install if games receive duplicate input. |
| ViGEmBus | Creates virtual Xbox 360 and DualShock 4 controllers. Required for Xbox and PlayStation output types. | Install first — most commonly needed driver. |
| vJoy | Creates custom DirectInput virtual joysticks with configurable axes, buttons, and POV hats. | Install for older DirectInput games, flight sims, or non-standard layouts. |
| Windows MIDI Services | Enables MIDI virtual controller output. Requires Windows 11 24H2 (build 26100)+. | Install to send MIDI messages to DAWs, synths, or VJ tools. |
If a driver is not installed, its controller type icons on virtual controller cards are greyed out and unclickable. Install or manage drivers from the Settings page.
- Controller Slots — Add and manage virtual controllers
- Devices — View physical controllers and assign them to slots
- Settings — Configure the engine, appearance, and drivers