Game

DREDGE on a Mac with a controller

The Dredge 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: Native on macOS through Steam, which lists full controller support. Use that first. This layout is for a pad the game does not detect.

Yes, DREDGE plays on a Mac with a controller, and its own support is good: if the game sees your pad, play that way. DREDGE is a boat, a fishing minigame, and a creeping sense that you should have gone home before dark. This layout is the keyboard boat for a controller the game does not see: sail with the left stick, reel with the big button, and keep the map and journal a press away so you can check where you are before the fog comes in.

On this page: 9 sections

1. The layout, control by control
2. How the layout thinks
3. Tune it
4. If DREDGE ignores your pad
5. Dredge controller support: controller or keyboard
6. If your controller is not working in Dredge
7. Get it in two clicks
8. Dredge controls: every button and the key it sends
9. Questions

The layout, control by control

How the layout thinks

• Sail. The left stick sails forward and back (W and S) and turns (A and D). The right stick pans the camera.
• Fish and work. Reel and fish (Space) is the bottom face button, interact (E) the left, undock (R) the top, and cargo (I) the right.
• Abilities. The right trigger casts the equipped ability (left click), and the bumpers page through ability slots (Q and E). Back opens the ability menu (Tab), and Options pauses.
• Map and repairs. D-pad up is the map (M), down the journal (J), left repair mode (F), and right messages (N). The left stick click is repair mode too, and the right stick click repairs the selected part (R).

The map is D-pad up, so checking where you are takes one press before the fog rolls in.

Tune it

• The fishing minigame. It wants a tap at the right moment. Leave the reel row on Fires while held, with no repeat.
• The camera. Night sailing is easier with a slow camera. Lower the Pointer speed slider on the preset's page.

Leave the reel row plain, because the minigame is all timing.

If DREDGE ignores your pad

Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

1. Check the Mac sees it. The pad should be listed under Game Controllers in the System Settings sidebar.
2. Relaunch with it awake. Wake the pad, then start the game.
3. Flip Steam Input. Change the Steam Input override for DREDGE in Properties, Controller, and relaunch.
4. Activate this layout. If the game still ignores the pad, the layout plays the keyboard game from it.

Use the layout instead of the game's pad support, never with it, or every press lands twice.

Dredge controller support: controller or keyboard

Steam's store page lists full controller support for Dredge, so the game was made to be played on a controller, menus included. A keyboard and mouse work as well, and the choice is yours. On a Mac, use the game's own controller support first when it sees your pad; this layout is for a pad it does not see, or for buttons it will not let you move. Full support listed means the controller is a first-class way to play Dredge.

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 Dredge

When Dredge does not react to your controller on a Mac, climb this ladder, smallest step first:

1. 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.
2. Check the Steam Input setting for Dredge. In Steam, open Dredge, Properties, Controller, and change the Steam Input override. A controller that works in Steam but not in the game goes through each choice.
3. Play it from keys. If Dredge still ignores the pad, activate this layout. It sends the keyboard and mouse controls Dredge 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 Dredge ever sees the controller.

Get it in two clicks

1. Get InputConfig free on the Mac App Store, open it, and click Smart Preset Maker on the welcome screen.
2. Search for Dredge and pick it. The layout is created as a preset in your sidebar, named and ready.
3. 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.

Dredge controls: every button and the key it sends

The Sends column is Dredge'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.

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

Related

• Dave the Diver on a Mac with a controller
• Raft on a Mac with a controller
• Subnautica: Below Zero on a Mac with a controller
• Dictation, zoom, and speak selection on any button
• Controller works in Steam but not in the game on a Mac

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 October 16, 2026