Star Citizen Keybind Builder
A free Star Citizen keybind editor. Set your controls up here instead of in the game menu, load a ready made HOSAS profile if you fly two sticks, then load the result with one console command. Keyboard, mouse, HOTAS and dual stick are all supported, and every default is read from Star Citizen Alpha 4.10 itself, so what you see is what the game currently ships. Pairs with the Star Citizen keybinds list if you only need to look one up.
How it works
- Find a control below. Groups start closed, so use the search box or open a group to browse it.
- Click the key next to it, then press the key, mouse button or stick button you want. Press Esc to cancel, or Delete to clear a bind.
- Anything you change is highlighted, and clashes show in red as you go. The Changed and Conflicts buttons filter down to just those.
- Press Export layout, then follow the four steps at the bottom of this page to load it in game.
Using a joystick, HOTAS or HOSAS? Plug everything in and press a button on each device before you start, because a browser cannot see a controller until that controller sends it something. Then either bind from scratch or pick one of the ready-made two stick layouts under Load profile. Open Devices to choose which stick is js1 and which is js2.
- Press Export layout above. It asks you to name the layout, suggesting
mybinds. Whatever you type there is the name used everywhere below. Your browser saveslayout_mybinds_exported.xml. - Move it to
StarCitizen\LIVE\USER\Client\0\Controls\Mappings\.Not sure where the game is installed? Open the RSI Launcher, choose your game environment from the menu at the top, LIVE or PTU, then click the gear icon to the right of that selection and pick Show in Explorer from the drop down. That opens your install directory, and the rest of the path follows from there. - Launch the game and open the console with the
~key. - Type
pp_rebindkeys mybindsand press Enter. That is the name on its own, without thelayout_at the front or the_exported.xmlat the end.
pp_rebindkeys with no name.Why not just use the in-game menu
You can, and for a handful of changes you should. The problem starts when you are setting up a joystick, because Star Citizen has over seven hundred bindable controls and the options screen shows them a few at a time, with no search, no conflict list, and no way to see what you have already used. Rebinding a HOTAS through it is an evening.
This keybind editor loads the same control list, lets you search it, shows conflicts as they happen, and writes the layout file the game reads. If you only want to look a single bind up, the Star Citizen keybinds list is faster.
Ready made HOSAS and HOTAS profiles
Building a two stick layout from nothing is the reason most people give up on a HOSAS. So the builder ships with five complete profiles you can load in one click and then adjust, rather than starting from an empty grid.
Each one is a real working layout, not a demo. The dual SOL-R profile came from a genuine in game setup and was repaired for the Master Modes renames in 4.10. The others are that layout re mapped onto each stick, with the controls you reach for most placed on the grip and the rest on the base:
- Dual Thrustmaster SOL-R, 80 binds, the original layout
- Dual VIRPIL Alpha Prime, 77 binds
- Dual VIRPIL Constellation ALPHA, 76 binds
- Dual VKB Gladiator NXT, 73 binds
- Dual Thrustmaster T.16000M, 53 binds, and it tells you which 27 did not fit
Pick one under Load profile in the toolbar. You do not need the stick plugged in to load a profile, look through it or export it, so you can plan a setup before the hardware arrives.
Setting up a joystick, HOTAS or HOSAS
Plug your sticks in and press a button on each one before you start. Browsers cannot see a controller until it sends them something, which is the single most common reason a stick appears to be missing here.
Once detected, each device is assigned an instance: js1, js2 and so on. Star Citizen identifies sticks by that number rather than by name, which matters if you fly two of the same model, because they report identical names. Open Devices, move one stick, and the row that lights up is the one you are about to assign.
Two stick setups are the reason this tool exists. Star Citizen wants constant strafing on all three axes, which a single throttle cannot give you, so most pilots who stay with a stick end up on two. The ready-made layouts under Load profile are complete dual stick setups you can load and adjust rather than building from nothing.
Loading your layout into the game
Export writes layout_yourname_exported.xml. Put it in your Controls\Mappings folder, open the console in game with ~, and run pp_rebindkeys yourname. Only the binds you changed are written, so everything you left alone keeps its default, and pp_rebindkeys with no name puts it all back.
If you do not know where Star Citizen is installed, the launcher will show you. Open the RSI Launcher, select your game environment from the menu, LIVE or PTU, click the gear icon to the right of that selection, and choose Show in Explorer. Your install directory opens in a window, and you can walk down to USER\Client\0\Controls\Mappings from there. This trips more people up than the console command does, because the launcher never tells you the path.
You can also import key bindings you already have: drop in a layout you exported before, or the actionmaps.xml the game keeps in USER\Client\0\Profiles\default, which holds your current in-game binds. Star Citizen writes that file when you close the settings menu, so close it first if you have just made changes.
Printable keybinds cheat sheet
Open the groups you want and print the page. The toolbar, filters and gear links are hidden automatically, so what comes out is a clean Star Citizen controls cheat sheet with just the actions and their keys. Print to PDF if you would rather keep a keybinds map on a second monitor than on paper.
Because the list is generated from the game files rather than typed by hand, a printed sheet matches the build it was made from. Print it again after a patch and it is current.
Gear that makes this easier
Nothing here is required. These are the things that solve the specific problems this tool exposes, and the links support the site.
★ CMDR'S CHOICE
GameGlassRan out of buttons
The most common outcome of a full setup is more binds than the stick has room for. A touchscreen deck adds the rest without another stick, and puts labels on them.
★ CMDR'S CHOICE
Eye TrackingLook around without binding it
Freelook, padlock and the camera controls all cost buttons, or a hat you would rather spend on something else. Eye and head tracking replaces the lot with simply looking: turn your head and the view goes with you, no key, no hat, no holding anything down. Those binds go back in the pool for flight and weapons.
Starting a dual stick setup
The cheapest way into HOSAS is two of the same budget stick. Sixteen buttons a side is tight, which the T.16000M profile here will show you honestly what you can expect with this stick setup.
★ CMDR'S CHOICE
The premium upgrade
When the budget pair starts to feel cramped, this is the step up. Far more buttons on the grip, better sensors, and enough room that you stop designing your layout around what will fit. The SOL-R profile on this page came from a real dual SOL-R setup and loads with buttons to spare.
Full comparisons, prices and the rest of the setup live on the Star Citizen gear guide. Some links above are affiliate or referral links, which cost you nothing and help keep these tools free.
Questions
Where does Star Citizen keep its keybind files?
In your install folder under USER\Client\0\Controls\Mappings. Exported layouts go there. Your current in-game binds are one level up in Profiles\default\actionmaps.xml. To find the install folder itself, open the RSI Launcher, select your game environment, click the gear icon beside it and choose Show in Explorer.
Can I import my existing keybinds?
Yes. Press Import and choose either an exported layout or that actionmaps.xml. Anything set to a joystick, keyboard or mouse is read back in. Gamepad binds are skipped.
Does this work with a HOTAS or two joysticks?
Yes, including two identical sticks. Press a button on each device so the browser can see it, then assign which is js1 and which is js2 under Devices.
My stick has more than 32 buttons and I cannot press the high ones
Browsers only expose the first thirty two buttons of a controller, so a stick with more than that looks smaller than it is. Two ways round it. Type the number instead, using the box that appears while you are setting a bind. Or, in Chrome and Edge, press Detect all buttons in the Devices panel: that asks permission to read the stick directly, after which every button binds by pressing it. Star Citizen itself has no such limit and handles far more than 32.
Are these the current keybinds?
They are read from the game files for Star Citizen Alpha 4.10, including the controls that ship with no key assigned at all, which the in-game screen makes hard to find.
Is there a Star Citizen controls cheat sheet or PDF?
Yes. Open the groups you want and print the page, or print to PDF. The controls and filters are stripped out, leaving a plain keybinds map of actions and keys.
Do I need a joystick to use this?
No. It works as a plain keyboard and mouse keybind editor, and you can load, edit and export a joystick profile with nothing plugged in.
Can I print a copy?
Yes. Expand the groups you want and print the page. The controls and filters are hidden automatically, so you get the list on its own.
