Sea of Thieves on a Mac with a controller
The Sea of Thieves 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 streams through Xbox Cloud Gaming, which normally hands a controller to the game's excellent native scheme. This layout is for browsers that do not see the pad.
You can play Sea of Thieves on a Mac with a controller through Xbox Cloud Gaming, which normally passes the pad straight to the game's excellent native scheme. There is no Mac version. If your controller shows up in the stream, play that way.
When it does not, which happens with some Bluetooth pads in Safari, this layout is the keyboard game from the controller. Sea of Thieves is mostly walking, steering and holding a button to do a thing, so it works better than most keyboard layouts do.
On this page: 8 sections
The layout, control by control
How the layout thinks
- Move and look. The sticks. Sprint is the left stick click.
- Use and aim. The right trigger uses the held item, whether that is a cutlass, a shovel or a banana. The left trigger aims.
- Face buttons. Jump, crouch, reload, and F to interact.
- Equipment and menus. The D-pad is equipment 1 to 4, the map is on the Home button, Escape on Options.
Steering, sails and the anchor are all F held, so the ship needs nothing extra.
Tune it to your crew
- The equipment wheel. Q held opens it and the mouse picks. Bind Q to the touchpad press as a hold and select with the right stick.
- Instruments. The hurdy-gurdy is on the equipment wheel. Put your favorite on D-pad down behind a chord.
- Voice. Push-to-talk on a paddle if you have one, or the right stick click.
If the stream sees your pad, turn this preset off, so a press does not arrive twice. Use the native scheme first, and keep this layout for the day Safari loses the pad.
Sea of Thieves controller support: controller or keyboard
Steam's store page lists partial controller support for Sea of Thieves: 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 Sea of Thieves
When Sea of Thieves 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.
- Press a button after the stream has started. A stream only picks up a controller that is paired with the Mac, and a browser shows a controller to a page only after a button press. Start Sea of Thieves, then press any button.
- Play it from keys. If Sea of Thieves still ignores the pad, activate this layout. It sends the keyboard and mouse controls Sea of Thieves 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 Sea of Thieves 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 Sea of Thieves 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.
Sea of Thieves controls: every button and the key it sends
The Sends column is Sea of Thieves'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 | A | Strafe left (A) |
| Left stick right | D | Strafe right (D) |
| Left stick up | W | Move forward (W) |
| Left stick down | S | Move back (S) |
| 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 |
| Right trigger | Left click | Use / fire |
| Left trigger | Right click | Aim |
| A / Cross | Space | Jump |
| B / Circle | Ctrl (Left) | Crouch (Ctrl) |
| X / Square | R | Reload |
| Y / Triangle | F | Interact (F) |
| L3 (left stick click) | Shift (Left) | Sprint (Shift) |
| D-pad up | 1 | Equipment 1 |
| D-pad left | 2 | Equipment 2 |
| D-pad right | 3 | Equipment 3 |
| D-pad down | 4 | Equipment 4 |
| Home / PS / Guide | M | Map (M) |
| 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
Can I play Sea of Thieves on a Mac?
Through Xbox Cloud Gaming, yes. The stream usually passes a controller straight through. This layout is for when it does not.
Does Sea of Thieves have controller support?
Partly. Steam lists partial controller support for Sea of Thieves: it plays on a controller, but some screens still expect a keyboard or mouse.
Is Sea of Thieves better with a controller or a keyboard?
A controller works for most of it. Steam lists partial controller support for Sea of Thieves, 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 Sea of Thieves on a Mac?
First check the Mac itself sees the controller, with the gamepad tester. If it does and Sea of Thieves still ignores it, activate the Sea of Thieves layout in InputConfig, which sends the game's keyboard and mouse controls from the controller.
Can I play Sea of Thieves on an M1 Mac or a MacBook Air?
Yes, through a stream. Sea of Thieves runs on the other end, on a cloud service or your own PC, so the Mac only plays the video and sends your input. An M1 MacBook Air streams it like any other Mac.
Does Sea of Thieves run in CrossOver on a Mac?
I have not tested Sea of Thieves in CrossOver. CodeWeavers keeps a compatibility list where players report how each Windows game runs. If it runs and the controller is not seen, this layout plays it from the keys and mouse.
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