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Guide:Controls

From the Star Citizen Wiki, the fidelity™ encyclopedia
(Redirected from Keybinds)

Star Citizen and Squadron 42 are both very complex games and will support a wide variety of input devices. This guide will attempt to list all the controls for standard input devices in an organized fashion, making it easy to find answers to common questions.

Keybind

Walking around on planets, moons, stations, and the interior of ships.
Move Forward W
Move Backward S
Strafe Left A
Strafe Right D
Jump Space
Run Left ⇧ Shift
Lean Left Q
Lean Right E
Crouch Toggle Left Control
Prone Toggle X
Interact F
Equip Sidearm 1
Equip Primary Weapon 2
Equip Secondary Weapon 3
Equip Gadget 4
Equip Melee 5
Unarmed Combat 0
Reload Weapon R
Holster Weapon/Utility Hold R
Equip Grenade G
Equip Medpen C
Wipe Helmet Visor Left ALT + X
Suit Light Toggle T
Controls for in zero gravity.
Fly Forward W
Fly Backward S
Strafe Left A
Strafe Right D
Roll Left Q
Roll Right E
MobiGlas Toggle F1
Starmap Toggle F2
Contacts Toggle F11
Camera Cycle F4
Look Around Toggle Z
Move Right Hold F4 +
Move Left Hold F4 +
Move Forward Hold F4 +
Move Backward Hold F4 +
Move Up Hold F4 + Page up
Move Down Hold F4 + Page down
Save Position Hold F4 + Hold Numpad 1-9
Load Position Hold F4 + Numpad 1-9
Reset Position Hold F4 + Numpad *

Ship Controls

Main controls for flying your ship.
Throttle Up W
Throttle Down S
Boost Left ⇧ Shift
Space Brake X
Strafe Left A
Strafe Right D
Roll Left Q
Roll Right E
Flight Ready R
Cruise Control Toggle C
Toggle Quantum Travel Mode Toggle B
Activate Quantum Travel Hold B
Exit Seat Hold Y
Activate Landing Mode Toggle N
Request landing/take off Left ALT + N
Auto Land Hold Left Control
(De)coupled mode Toggle Left ALT + C
Speed Limiter Mouse Wheel Up/Down
Lock Pitch / Yaw Movement Toggle Right ⇧ Shift
Controls for changing how your ship performs and behaves.
Look Around Toggle Z
Offensive and Defensive combat controls.
Fire weapon group 1 / Launch missile(s) Left Mouse Button
Fire weapon group 2 / Cycle missile type Right Mouse Button
Cycle gimbal assist Cycle G
Missile Operator Mode Toggle Middle Mouse Button
Increase Number of Armed Missiles Cycle G
Reset Number of Armed Missiles Left ALT + G
Controls for defending your ship.
Deploy Noise J
Deploy Decoy Hold H
Raise shield level front Numpad 8
Raise shield level back Numpad 2
Raise shield level left Numpad 4
Raise shield level right Numpad 6
Raise shield level top Numpad 7
Raise shield level bottom Numpad 1
Reset shield level Numpad 5
Change your power distribution.
Power - All Toggle U
Power - Thrusters Toggle I
Power - Shields Toggle O
Power - Weapons Toggle P
Raise power to Weapons F5
Raise power to Thrusters F6
Raise power to Shields F7
Reset power distribution F8
Choose which ship to target.
Lock F8
Unlock F8
Lock Pin Index 1 1
Lock Pin Index 2 2
Lock Pin Index 3 3
Pin Index 1 Left ALT + 1
Pin Index 2 Left ALT + 2
Pin Index 3 Left ALT + 3
Cycle Attackers Cycle 4
Cycle Hostiles Cycle 5
Cycle Friendlies Cycle 6
Controls when using a Mining Ship.
Mining Mode M
Fire Mining Laser Mouse Button 1
Switch Mining Laser Mouse Button 2
Increase Mining Laser Power Left ALT + Mouse Wheel Up
Decrease Mining Laser Power Left ALT + Mouse Wheel Down
Cycle Mining Laser Gimbal G
Activate Mining Consumable (Slot 1) Left ALT + 1
Activate Mining Consumable (Slot 2) Left ALT + 2
Activate Mining Consumable (Slot 3) Left ALT + 3
Jettison Cargo Left ALT + J
Controls when using a Salvage ship.
Salvage Mode M
Salvage Gimbal G
Cycle Salvage Modifiers Right Mouse Button
Relative Beam Spacing Left ALT + Mouse Wheel
Salvage Beam Axis Toggle Left ALT + Right Mouse Button
Increase Beam Spacing No Default Keybind
Controls for using the Scanning capabilities of a ship.
Activate Scanning Mode V
Increase Ping Angle No Default Keybind
Decrease Ping Angle No Default Keybind
Activate Scanning Mouse Button 1
Scanning Ping Hold V
Increase Scanning Angle Mouse Wheel Up
Decrease Scanning Angle Mouse Wheel Down

Ground Vehicles

Basic controls for ground vehicles such as the Ursa Rover.
Drive Forward W
Drive Backward S
Turn Left A
Turn Right D
Brake X
Boost Left ⇧ Shift
Exit Seat Hold Y

Input devices

Mouse & Keyboard

The standard of PC gaming. Star Citizen has a huge amount of actions you can do and the game uses almost every key on your keyboard multiple times. There are 3 different control modes: Flight, On Foot, and EVA, that you will transition between when playing the game. Your movement and look controls will stay mostly the same between modes but the rest of the key layout may be drastically different.

Game Controller

Any modern USB game controller should work with Star Citizen. The FPS and flight controls may feel familiar to gamers who use controllers but the sheer number of controls may make this unweildy for anything other than walking around or basic flight.

Joysticks & Throttles

There are three main joystick setups:

  • Joystick with integrated throttle
  • HOTAS - Joystick with a separate throttle
  • HOSAS - Two joysticks, one used as a throttle.

Which you use will depend on your budget and personal preference.

Gaming Pads

There are a couple of different USB devices that give you half of a keyboard or so to use assign custom keys to. Some even have an integrated thumbstick!

Pedals

Foot pedals for rudder control etc. Popular with serious flight simulators.


Headtracking

Using a webcam or a specialized IR tracker to track your head movement and link it to your in game camera.

Voice Attack

Voice recognition software that activates game commands.

Explanation of terms

IFCS

Intelligent Flight Control System. Your ship has a computer controlled flight system that helps you fly and helps keep you safe while flying. There are several modes that you can cycle through to balance how much you want to fly the ship directly and how much you want the computer to fly the ship for you.

COMSTAB

Command Level Stability.

G-Safe

G-Safe is two different IFCS modes that control how quickly your ship will turn and accelerate. Both modes will try to keep you from passing out by limiting your movement in different ways.

SCM

Space Combat Maneuver. Normal flight mode where your ship can reach decent speeds for traveling, navigating debris fields, and space combat. Ship max speeds are largely determined by the size of the ship, small racing ships and fighters have max SCM speeds in the 250 - 350 range while large freight ships like the Starfarer and Caterpiller have max SCM speeds closer to 75 - 125.

PRE

Preventative mode. Activated by activating landing mode, preventative mode severely limits your ships max speed and turning rate to make it easier to land or dock.

Coupled Mode

Coupled and Decoupled flight are two main IFCS modes. When coupled your ship will fly much more like an airplane while in space. When decoupled your ship will continue moving in any direction you thrust until you thrust in a different direction (Newtonian movement).

ESP

Enhanced Stick Precision. ESP will dampen your inputs when your targeting reticle is above the target. This is designed to keep you from overshooting.

Afterburner

Afterburner uses a separate fuel tank to overpower your main thrusters and achieve higher speeds. The maximum speed you can go with your afterburner is relative to your current throttle setting, if your throttle is set to 50% then your max afterburner speed is 50% your max afterburner speeds. You effectively have 2 top speeds, your normal Space Combat top speed and your Afterburner top speed. Max Afterburner speed is roughly twice a ships max SCM speed.

Boost

Boost mode puts more power into your maneuvering thrusters and instructs the IFCS to put your prograde vector in front of your ship, if it isn't already. While in boost mode you are more maneuverable but G-Safe is also disabled, so be careful.

Gimbal Lock

Also known as Interactive Mode/Relative Mode. Some weapons and weapons attachments are fixed pointing straight ahead, some are on gimbals and will aim at your mouse cursor while you fly.

Target Pips

Your targeting computer will help you hit a moving target by drawing a target icon (pip) in front of your target. There are two ways of displaying this, leading in front of your target or lagging behind your reticle.

MobiGlas

Your mobiGlas is a computer your character wears on their wrist. It displays a holographic screen that you use to manage your character health, missions, and other pieces of information as well.