Oxygen Not Included on a Mac with a controller
The Oxygen Not Included 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, mouse and keyboard only. This layout is the mouse game from a pad.
Yes, Oxygen Not Included plays on a Mac with a controller through this layout, though the game itself is mouse and keyboard only. ONI is the colony game where you are always one pipe away from disaster, and all of it is dragging rectangles with a mouse. From a pad, that is the pointer on a stick and a held trigger, and it works better than you would guess, because ONI is played at pause more than at speed.
On this page: 8 sections
The layout, control by control
How the layout thinks
- Pointer and camera. The left stick is the pointer, the right stick pans.
- Select and drag. The right trigger selects and assigns, and held, it drags a dig or build area. The left trigger cancels.
- Time. Pause on the bottom face button, speeds on the other three.
- Zoom and menu. Zoom on the bumpers, Escape on Options.
Pause and the three speeds are most of the game, and they are the four face buttons.
Tune it to your colony
- Tools. Dig (G), cancel (C), deconstruct (X), priority (P) and the build categories have keys. Put the four you use most on a chord on the D-pad and face buttons.
- Overlays. Put F1 to F12 on a second chord layer.
- Rotate. O rotates a building. Put it on the touchpad press.
- Slow pointer. Tiles are small. Half speed behind a bumper is the difference between a pipe and a mess.
The slow pointer is the setting this game needs most.
Oxygen Not Included controller support: controller or keyboard
Steam's store page lists no controller support for Oxygen Not Included, so it was made for a keyboard and mouse, and that is how it expects to be played. A controller still works: this layout sends the game's keys and mouse movement from the pad, so to the game you are simply typing and pointing. No controller support listed means the layout does the work, not the game.
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 Oxygen Not Included
When Oxygen Not Included 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.
- Check the Steam Input setting for Oxygen Not Included. In Steam, open Oxygen Not Included, Properties, Controller, and change the Steam Input override. A controller that works in Steam but not in the game goes through each choice.
- Stop looking for a setting. Oxygen Not Included reads the keyboard and mouse here, so no option makes it see a pad. Activate this layout, and the controller sends the keys and mouse movement Oxygen Not Included already reads. The layout works without Oxygen Not Included ever seeing 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 Oxygen Not Included 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.
Oxygen Not Included controls: every button and the key it sends
The Sends column is Oxygen Not Included'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 | Mouse motion left (speed 16) | Cursor left |
| Left stick right | Mouse motion right (speed 16) | Cursor right |
| Left stick up | Mouse motion up (speed 16) | Cursor up |
| Left stick down | Mouse motion down (speed 16) | Cursor down |
| Right stick left | A | Pan left (A) |
| Right stick right | D | Pan right (D) |
| Right stick up | W | Pan up (W) |
| Right stick down | S | Pan down (S) |
| Right trigger | Left click | Select / assign (left click) |
| Left trigger | Right click | Cancel (right click) |
| A / Cross | Space | Pause (Space) |
| B / Circle | 1 | Speed 1 |
| X / Square | 2 | Speed 2 |
| Y / Triangle | 3 | Speed 3 |
| LB / L1 | Scroll down | Zoom out |
| RB / R1 | Scroll up | Zoom in |
| Start / Options | Escape | Menu (Esc) |
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 Oxygen Not Included support controllers?
No. This layout gives it a pad through the mouse and keyboard.
Does Oxygen Not Included have controller support?
Not by itself. Steam lists no controller support for Oxygen Not Included. A controller still works through a layout like this one, which sends the game's keys.
Is Oxygen Not Included better with a controller or a keyboard?
It was made for a keyboard and mouse: Steam lists no controller support for Oxygen Not Included. A controller still works through this layout, which sends the game's own keys and mouse movement.
Why is my controller not working in Oxygen Not Included on a Mac?
Oxygen Not Included reads the keyboard and mouse on this route, so no setting makes it see a controller. Check the Mac sees the pad with the gamepad tester, then activate the Oxygen Not Included layout in InputConfig, which sends the game's keys and mouse movement from the controller.
Can I play Oxygen Not Included on an M1 Mac or a MacBook Air?
Oxygen Not Included has a native Mac version, and its minimum requirements are listed on its Steam store page, so check your Mac against that list. I have not tested it on each Mac. The controller layout itself works the same on any Mac that runs InputConfig.
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.
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