Raft on a Mac with a controller
The Raft 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 through CrossOver or the Game Porting Toolkit. Steam lists no controller support for Raft, so the game wants keyboard and mouse.
Yes, you can play Raft with a controller on a Mac, through a wrapper and this layout. Raft is keyboard and mouse only, and it is also a slow, calm game that wants to be played from a sofa, which is the contradiction this page resolves. The hook, the thing you do most, is on the triggers: throw with the right, recall with the left, and the debris drifts in while you look at the horizon.
On this page: 9 sections
The layout, control by control
How the layout thinks
- Move and look. The left stick walks and swims, the right stick looks, and the left stick click is sprint.
- Hook and build. The right trigger uses, places and throws the hook. The left trigger opens the build menu with the hammer out and recalls the hook.
- Hands. Jump is the bottom face button, swim down (Left Ctrl) the right, use station and pick up (E) the left, and rotate (R) the top.
- Hotbar. The left bumper is slot 1, D-pad up slot 2 and down slot 3. D-pad left and right scroll the rest.
- Menus. The bag and crafting (Tab) are the right bumper, and Escape is on Options.
Throw and recall are the two triggers, so the hook works the way your hands expect.
Tune it
- Slot 4 and up. Add them as D-pad chords on a modifier that sends nothing else, such as a back paddle or the touchpad press.
- Look. Raft is slow. Drop the look rows' Speed from 20 and 14 to about 12 and 9.
A slower look suits a game you mostly spend watching the sea.
The short version
- Run it. Start Raft in CrossOver or the Game Porting Toolkit.
- Activate the layout. The game reads no controller of its own, so nothing doubles.
- Slow the look. Then add slot 4 if you use it.
Raft has no controller support to fight with, so this layout is the controller support.
Raft controller support: controller or keyboard
Steam's store page lists no controller support for Raft, 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 Raft
When Raft 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 Raft only some of the time, and the keyboard and mouse get through every time. Using a controller with CrossOver games has the checks.
- Stop looking for a setting. Raft 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 Raft already reads. The layout works without Raft 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 Raft 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.
Raft controls: every button and the key it sends
The Sends column is Raft'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 up | W | Move forward (W) |
| Left stick down | S | Move backward (S) |
| Left stick left | A | Move left (A) |
| Left stick right | D | Move right (D) |
| Right stick right | Mouse motion right (speed 20) | Look right |
| Right stick left | Mouse motion left (speed 20) | Look left |
| Right stick down | Mouse motion down (speed 14) | Look down |
| Right stick up | Mouse motion up (speed 14) | Look up |
| A / Cross | Space | Jump (Space) |
| L3 (left stick click) | Shift (Left) | Sprint (Left Shift / left-stick click) |
| B / Circle | Ctrl (Left) | Swim down while in water (Left Ctrl) |
| Right trigger | Left click | Use / place / throw hook (left click) |
| Left trigger | Right click | Open build menu / recall hook (right click) |
| X / Square | E | Use station / pick up debris (E) |
| Y / Triangle | R | Rotate buildable object (R) |
| RB / R1 | Tab | Open bag & crafting menu (Tab) |
| D-pad right | Scroll down | Next hotbar slot (scroll) |
| D-pad left | Scroll up | Previous hotbar slot (scroll) |
| LB / L1 | 1 | Quick-select hotbar slot 1 |
| D-pad up | 2 | Quick-select hotbar slot 2 |
| D-pad down | 3 | Quick-select hotbar slot 3 |
| Start / Options | Escape | Pause / 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 Raft support controllers?
Steam lists no controller support for Raft. This layout is the controller support: it sends the keyboard and mouse the game expects.
Does Raft run on a Mac?
Raft does not run natively on a Mac. CrossOver and the Game Porting Toolkit run it.
Does Raft have controller support?
Not by itself. Steam lists no controller support for Raft. A controller still works through a layout like this one, which sends the game's keys.
Is Raft better with a controller or a keyboard?
It was made for a keyboard and mouse: Steam lists no controller support for Raft. A controller still works through this layout, which sends the game's own keys and mouse movement.
Why is my controller not working in Raft on a Mac?
Raft 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 Raft layout in InputConfig, which sends the game's keys and mouse movement from the controller.
Can I play Raft on an M1 Mac or a MacBook Air?
Raft 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