BeamNG.drive on a Mac with a controller
The BeamNG.drive layout is built into InputConfig, free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.
On a Mac: No Mac version. It runs on Apple silicon through CrossOver or the Game Porting Toolkit, and the game's own gamepad support often does not survive the wrapper.
Yes, BeamNG.drive plays on a Mac with a controller, through a wrapper and this layout. BeamNG is a crash simulator, and the two buttons you press most are recover and reset, which are two face buttons here. The game's pad support is good when a wrapper passes it. This is for when it does not.
On this page: 9 sections
The layout, control by control
How the layout thinks
- Drive. The left stick steers with the arrow keys. The right trigger is the throttle and the left trigger brakes and reverses.
- Gears and brake. The bumpers shift up (X) and down (Z), and the bottom face button pulls the handbrake (Space).
- Recover. The left face button recovers the vehicle in place (Insert), and the top resets it (R).
- Lights. The right face button toggles the headlights (N).
- Cameras. The right stick orbits the camera. The left stick click cycles the view (C) and the right toggles the free camera (Shift C). The D-pad picks the external, chase, bumper and free observer cameras (F2 to F5).
- Menus. Back opens the radial or pause menu, and Options the vehicle selector (Tab).
Recover and reset are face buttons, because in BeamNG you press them constantly.
Tune it
- Steering. The steer rows send arrow keys, which are on or off. Raise their deadzone so a resting thumb does not turn the wheel.
- Slow motion. On a PlayStation pad, put its key on the touchpad press, for the crash replay.
Slow motion on one press is how you watch the crash you just made.
If the wrapper passes your controller
If the game sees the pad on its own, use its scheme, which has analog steering, and keep this preset off, or every press lands twice. If the car turns gradually with the preset off, the game has your pad and its analog steering.
BeamNG.drive controller support: controller or keyboard
Steam's store page lists partial controller support for BeamNG.drive: it plays on a controller, but some parts, such as a launcher, text entry or a menu, still expect a keyboard or a mouse. This layout sends keys and mouse movement from the pad, which can cover the parts the game's own support leaves out. With partial support, a layout fills the gaps the game leaves.
From Steam's listing, checked in October 2026. Every game's listing is in Mac games with controller support.
If your controller is not working in BeamNG.drive
When BeamNG.drive does not react to your controller on a Mac, climb this ladder, smallest step first:
- Check that the Mac sees the controller. Open the gamepad tester and press a button. If nothing lights up there, the problem is the connection, and a controller that is connected but not working covers that first.
- Expect less inside a wrapper. In CrossOver or the Game Porting Toolkit, Wine passes a controller to BeamNG.drive only some of the time, and the keyboard and mouse get through every time. Using a controller with CrossOver games has the checks.
- Play it from keys. If BeamNG.drive still ignores the pad, activate this layout. It sends the keyboard and mouse controls BeamNG.drive already reads. Turn the game's own controller option off while it runs, or a press can arrive twice. The layout works whether or not BeamNG.drive ever sees the controller.
Get it in two clicks
- Get InputConfig free on the Mac App Store, open it, and click Smart Preset Maker on the welcome screen.
- Search for BeamNG.drive and pick it. The layout is created as a preset in your sidebar, named and ready.
- Press Activate. Every row can be changed afterwards: the editor's Scan button rebinds any control the moment you touch it.
To check the controller itself first, the gamepad tester shows every button and stick live in your browser.
BeamNG.drive controls: every button and the key it sends
The Sends column is BeamNG.drive's default keyboard and mouse controls, as this layout expects them. If you changed a key in the game's settings, change the same row in InputConfig.
| Controller | Sends | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Left stick left | Left | Left stick left steers left (Left arrow) |
| Left stick right | Right | Left stick right steers right (Right arrow) |
| Right trigger | Up | Right trigger is the throttle (Up arrow) |
| Left trigger | Down | Left trigger brakes and reverses (Down arrow) |
| A / Cross | Space | A pulls the handbrake (Space) |
| RB / R1 | X | RB shifts up a gear (X) |
| LB / L1 | Z | LB shifts down a gear (Z) |
| B / Circle | N | B toggles the headlights (N) |
| X / Square | Insert | X recovers the vehicle in place (Insert) |
| Y / Triangle | R | Y resets the vehicle (R) |
| Back / Share / Select | Escape | Back opens the radial or pause menu (Esc) |
| Start / Options | Tab | Start opens the vehicle selector (Tab) |
| L3 (left stick click) | C | L3 cycles the camera view (C) |
| R3 (right stick click) | Shift (Left), C | R3 toggles the free camera (Shift + C) |
| D-pad up | F2 | D-pad up switches to external camera (F2) |
| D-pad down | F3 | D-pad down switches to chase camera (F3) |
| D-pad left | F4 | D-pad left switches to bumper camera (F4) |
| D-pad right | F5 | D-pad right switches to free observer camera (F5) |
| Right stick left | Mouse motion left (speed 18) | Right stick orbits the camera left |
| Right stick right | Mouse motion right (speed 18) | Right stick orbits the camera right |
| Right stick up | Mouse motion up (speed 18) | Right stick orbits the camera up |
| Right stick down | Mouse motion down (speed 18) | Right stick orbits the camera down |
Button names follow the Xbox / PlayStation pair shown in the editor, so A / Cross is the bottom face button on either pad. On a Switch Pro Controller the bottom button is labeled B; the mapping still fires on position.
Questions
Does BeamNG.drive run on a Mac?
BeamNG.drive does not run natively on a Mac. CrossOver and the Game Porting Toolkit run it. This layout is for wrappers that do not pass the controller.
Does BeamNG.drive have controller support?
Partly. Steam lists partial controller support for BeamNG.drive: it plays on a controller, but some screens still expect a keyboard or mouse.
Is BeamNG.drive better with a controller or a keyboard?
A controller works for most of it. Steam lists partial controller support for BeamNG.drive, so some screens still expect a keyboard or a mouse, and a layout like this one can put those on the pad.
Why is my controller not working in BeamNG.drive on a Mac?
First check the Mac itself sees the controller, with the gamepad tester. If it does and BeamNG.drive still ignores it, activate the BeamNG.drive layout in InputConfig, which sends the game's keyboard and mouse controls from the controller.
Can I play BeamNG.drive on an M1 Mac or a MacBook Air?
BeamNG.drive has no Mac version, so it runs through a wrapper such as CrossOver or the Game Porting Toolkit, and how well depends on the Mac's chip and memory. I have not tested it on each Mac.
Related
Completely free. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon. Open source on GitHub.
Updated