Terraria on a Mac with a controller
The Terraria 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 with the game's own gamepad mode. This layout is for pads it does not see, and for people who want the mouse game, a free cursor on the right stick, instead of the game's snap-to-block aiming.
Yes, Terraria plays on a Mac with a controller, either through the game's own gamepad mode or through this layout, which gives you the mouse game on a pad. The gamepad mode is decent: a cursor that snaps between blocks, a radial hotbar, and a smart cursor that guesses what you want to dig. If you learned Terraria with a mouse, the snapping is slightly maddening, because the mouse game is about pointing exactly where you mean.
Here the right stick is a free cursor and the right trigger is left click, down to placing a torch three blocks away without walking there. It is also the way to play when the game does not see your controller, which on a Mac is more Bluetooth pads than you would expect.
On this page: 9 sections
The layout, control by control
How the layout thinks
- Walk. The left stick walks left and right. Up and down are not bound, because in Terraria up is jump and down is drop through a platform, and those are buttons here.
- Aim and use. The right stick moves the cursor. The right trigger uses what is in your hand (dig, swing, fire, place), and the left trigger is right click: doors, mana potions from the hotbar, and the second function of many tools.
- Face buttons. Jump on the bottom. S on the right, which drops through a platform and does nothing harmful elsewhere. E, the grappling hook, on the left, one of the best buttons in the game. H, quick heal, on the top.
- Hotbar and menu. The D-pad is slots 1 to 4 clockwise from up. Options is Escape, which is also the inventory.
The grappling hook sits under your thumb, because it is the button a fast thumb wins fights with.
Tune it to how you play
- Ten hotbar slots. The D-pad has four. Bind the bumpers to Scroll up and Scroll down to step through all ten, or add D-pad rows with While holding set to L1 for 5 to 8 and put 9 and 0 on the stick clicks.
- Cursor speed. 16 is a building speed. For boss fights, raise it, or use the Aggressive curve, which keeps the cursor slow for small pushes and fast when you push hard.
- Auto-dig. Set the right trigger row to Toggles on and off for long tunnels: pull once and the pickaxe keeps swinging where the cursor is until you pull again. Repeats while held on the same row is the closest thing to auto-swing for weapons that lack it.
- Mana and buffs. Quick mana is J and quick buff is B. The touchpad press and the right stick click are free.
- Smart cursor. If you liked one thing about the gamepad mode, it was probably this. It is Ctrl on the keyboard. Bind it to the left stick click as Toggles on and off and you have it in the mouse game too.
Smart cursor on a toggle gives you the best part of the gamepad mode inside the mouse game.
If Terraria does not see your controller
The gamepad mode only takes over once the game sees the pad, and when it does not, the cause is usually outside the game. Climb this ladder, smallest step first:
- Check the Mac. Game Controllers in the System Settings sidebar should list the pad.
- Relaunch with the pad awake. Quit, press a button on the pad, and open the game again.
- Change Steam Input. Change Terraria's override under Properties, Controller. tModLoader is a separate app in Steam with its own Properties, so change it there too.
- Send keys. This layout never needs the game to see a controller, only a keyboard and a mouse. Pick Terraria in the Smart Preset Maker and press Activate.
Nothing is changed inside Terraria, so you can switch: deactivate the preset and the gamepad mode is back. With both the gamepad mode and the layout working, every press does two things, so leave one of them off.
Terraria controller support: controller or keyboard
Steam's store page lists full controller support for Terraria, 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 Terraria.
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 Terraria
When Terraria 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.
- Play it from keys. If Terraria still ignores the pad, activate this layout. It sends the keyboard and mouse controls Terraria 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 Terraria 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 Terraria 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.
Terraria controls: every button and the key it sends
The Sends column is Terraria'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 | Move left |
| Left stick right | D | Move right |
| Right stick right | Mouse motion right (speed 18) | Aim cursor right |
| Right stick left | Mouse motion left (speed 18) | Aim cursor left |
| Right stick down | Mouse motion down (speed 18) | Aim cursor down |
| Right stick up | Mouse motion up (speed 18) | Aim cursor up |
| Right trigger | Left click | Use / attack / dig |
| Left trigger | Right click | Secondary use |
| A / Cross | Space | Jump |
| B / Circle | S | Down / drop through (S) |
| X / Square | E | Grapple / hook (E) |
| Y / Triangle | H | Quick heal (H) |
| D-pad up | 1 | Hotbar slot 1 |
| D-pad right | 2 | Hotbar slot 2 |
| D-pad down | 3 | Hotbar slot 3 |
| D-pad left | 4 | Hotbar slot 4 |
| 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 Terraria on Mac support controllers?
Yes, natively, with snap-to-block aiming and a radial hotbar. This layout instead gives you the mouse and keyboard game from a pad, with a free cursor on the right stick, and works with pads the game does not see.
How do I reach all ten hotbar slots on a controller?
Bind the bumpers to the scroll wheel outputs, or chord the D-pad with L1 for slots 5 to 8 and put 9 and 0 on the stick clicks.
Does Terraria have controller support?
Yes. Steam lists full controller support for Terraria, so every part of the game can be played on a controller.
Is Terraria better with a controller or a keyboard?
Both work. Steam lists full controller support for Terraria, so it was made to be played on a controller, and a keyboard and mouse work as well.
Why is my controller not working in Terraria on a Mac?
First check the Mac itself sees the controller, with the gamepad tester. If it does and Terraria still ignores it, activate the Terraria layout in InputConfig, which sends the game's keyboard and mouse controls from the controller.
Can I play Terraria on an M1 Mac or a MacBook Air?
Terraria 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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