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Software Configuration

If your software is already installed, start here. This page provides the exact settings for each program used with curated binds.

Note

You should also consult the README for your specific joystick setup, since some combinations require slight changes.

vJoy Configuration

  • Open vJoy Configuration
  • First vJoy Device: check all axes, set 128 buttons, Continuous POV mode, and 4 POV hats.
  • Second vJoy Device: check all axes, set 127 buttons, Continuous POV mode, and 4 POV hats.
  • Apply changes and close the tool before loading Joystick Gremlin.

vJoy Configuration — first device: all axes, 128 buttons, Continuous POV, 4 POV hats

vJoy Configuration — second device: all axes, 127 buttons, Continuous POV, 4 POV hats

Warning

  • You will almost certainly need to restart windows after making changes here.
  • Two vJoy devices are needed for most joystick profiles due to the 8-axis-per-device limitation.
  • If your left/right sticks act swapped in game, fix the device order with the pp_resortdevices console command — see Joystick order. It's a one-time fix; never edit the exported XML to work around it.
  • If Star Citizen detects more than two vJoy devices, users commonly run into sorting headaches. If you are adding rudder pedals on top of the config there should be enough axis between the two vjoys.

HIDHide Configuration

Applications (Allow-List)

This list controls which programs are allowed to see physical devices.

  • Confirm HIDHide Configuration Client is present (normally default)
  • Add joystick_gremlin.exe
  • Add manufacturer software that needs direct hardware visibility (for example: VKBDevCfg, Virpil software, Thrustmaster TARGET, MOZA tools)

Warning

Do not add Star Citizen to this allow-list. Star Citizen must not see physical sticks directly when using curated vJoy-based binds.

HIDHide Applications tab — allow-list with joystick_gremlin.exe, the HidHide client/CLI, and manufacturer software

Devices

This is where we blacklist all physical devices that might interfere with SC.

  • Hide physical joystick and throttle devices
  • Hide non-joystick HID devices that may inject game input (for example: gamepads, Razer Tartarus, keyboards with optical/analog switches)
  • Do not hide vJoy devices
  • Enable Device Hiding only after the allow-list is complete

Analog keyboards count as four game controllers

Wooting and other analog keyboards enumerate as 4 joystick devices, which pushes your vJoy devices down Star Citizen's joystick order (they show up as joystick 5 and 6 instead of 1 and 2). Hide the keyboard in this Devices tab — it still types normally when hidden; you only lose its analog-gamepad emulation, which Star Citizen doesn't support anyway.

Warning

Common breakpoints: - Enabling HIDHide before adding required applications - Leaving gamepads/keypads/analog keyboards unhidden - Adding Star Citizen to the allow-list

Re-plug your sticks after enabling Device Hiding

HIDHide only starts cloaking a device the next time Windows enumerates it. After the allow-list is done and Enable Device Hiding is ticked, unplug your joysticks and plug them back in (or reboot). Until you do, Star Citizen can still see the raw physical sticks — doubled inputs / wrong axes — even though HIDHide is configured correctly. This is a frequent "I did everything right but it's still broken" snag.

HIDHide Devices tab — physical sticks ticked (hidden), vJoy devices left unchecked, Enable device hiding on

Joystick Gremlin Configuration

  1. Open Joystick Gremlin (R14.x — 14.3 or newer; R13 is no longer supported).

  2. Load the Joystick Gremlin profile from your stick's folder. The filename starts with Joystick Gremlin Profile and ends in [R14].xml. (The other .xml files in the folder — the layout_ENH_*_exported.xml ones — are for Star Citizen's keybind menu, not JG; don't pick them here.) With the profile loaded, the main window should look like this — your physical stick(s), both vJoy devices, and Keyboard as device tabs:

    Joystick Gremlin main window with a curated profile loaded — device tabs for the physical stick, vJoy Device 1 and 2, and Keyboard, with a Map to vJoy action shown 3. Run Tools → Swap Devices to re-point the profile's bindings onto your physically connected hardware. For each swap: pick the From profile device (the device the profile was authored on), pick the matching To connected device (the stick you have plugged in), then click Swap Bindings — JG reports how many inputs it moved. Do this once per stick, as shown below.

    Swap Devices dialog — first stick: select the profile device, select the connected device, then click Swap Bindings

    Swap Devices dialog — second stick: select the profile device, select the connected device, then click Swap Bindings

    Save the profile afterwards by clicking the Save icon in the toolbar — the page with a down arrow on it. Ctrl+S doesn't work in JG; the toolbar icon is the only save. Without the save you'll redo this every time JG starts. 4. Verify each physical input resolves to the expected virtual output in JG's Input Viewer. 5. Activate the profile by clicking the joystick icon in the toolbar ( ). It turns blue when the profile is live. If your axes don't move in the Input Viewer, it's off.

Save after every profile edit — not just Swap Devices

This applies to anything you change in JG: device swaps, axis inversions, remaps, added actions. Edits live only in memory until you click the toolbar Save icon (the page with a down arrow — Ctrl+S does nothing). Skip the save and your change silently reverts the next time JG restarts — a classic "it worked, then undid itself" support case.

Note

Run Joystick Gremlin with the same privilege level each launch to avoid inconsistent behavior.

Quick Validation Before Launching Star Citizen

  1. joy.cpl (USB Game Controllers) shows the expected vJoy devices and no physical devices

    Game Controllers (joy.cpl) — two vJoy Devices listed with status OK and no physical sticks

  2. Open Joystick Gremlin Input Viewer, check buttons and axis for both vJoy devices, then move physical controls while the profile is active to verify output.

Next Step

Only after those checks pass, Continue with Star Citizen Setup.