Oblivion:Controls

This page documents the controls available while playing Oblivion and their default settings on each platform. On all platforms, these controls can be remapped to other keys to suit individual user preferences, in which case the default settings provided here will no longer apply.

Default Controls

Control	PC	Xbox	PS3	Notes
Movement
Look/Turn	Mouse	Right Stick	Right Stick
Move	W, A, S, D	Left Stick	Left Stick
Jump	E
Dodge	Right Click+E	+	L1+	Only available once you reach journeyman level in Acrobatics.
Sneak Mode	Ctrl	Left Stick	Left Stick (L3)	Toggle crouch/sneak mode On Xbox and PS3, you click down on the left stick
Run	Shift	N/A	N/A	On Xbox and PS3, run/walk is controlled by how far the left thumb-stick is pressed. On PC a joystick has the same effect
Always Run	Caps Lock	N/A	N/A
Auto Move	Q	N/A	N/A
Combat
Attack	Left Click		R1	To attack with your equipped weapon (or hand to hand if no weapon has been equipped). If Telekinesis is active, the targeted item will be pushed further away from you.
Cast	C		R2	To cast your currently selected spell or scroll. Spells are selected in the spell menu (or with hotkey).
Ready Weapon / Sheathe Weapon	F			Toggles weapon between ready and sheathed (and toggles torch if equipped)
Block	Right Click, Alt		L1	Block with weapon or shield. If Telekinesis is active, the targeted item will be pulled closer to you; if the Attack key is simultaneously pressed, the item will be dropped.
Yield	Right Click+ Space	+	L1+	To yield to an opponent, you must Block while activating the character. Not all opponents will accept your yield; others may accept the yield but immediately resume fighting. Creatures never accept a yield.
General Gameplay
Activate / Use	Space			Activate (doors, triggers) or pick up (places object in your inventory)
Grab	Z		L2	Not the same as "Use". This does not put the item in your inventory but instead lets you carry the object in front of you. Grabbed items do not count towards your Encumbrance, but will count as stealing if they belong to someone else.
Change View	R / Middle Click	Right Stick	Right Stick (R3)	Switches camera mode between first- and third-person views On Xbox and PS3, you click down on the right stick
Vanity View	R (hold)	Right Stick (hold)	Right Stick (hold)	Activates a third-person camera view which can be moved to any angle. On Xbox and PS3, you click and hold down on the right stick On Xbox, Left Trigger zooms in; Right Trigger zooms out. On PS3, Right Trigger zooms in and out. On PC, you click and hold down R button; mouse wheel zooms third-person view in and out
Open Journal	Tab			Accesses last viewed page in journal.
Open Journal	F1-F4	N/A	N/A	Direct access to each one of the four pages in journal.
Hotkeys	1-8	D-Pad	D-Pad	Assign Hotkey on PC: Open Inventory, press and hold a Hotkey, then left click on an item.
Wait	T	Back	Select
Pause/Menu	Esc	Start	Start	Pauses game and accesses menus such as save game and options
Quick Save	F5	N/A	N/A
Quick Load	F9	N/A	N/A
Inventory, Sell/Buy Mode
Equip / Unequip	Left Click or Enter Key			When in sell/buy mode, selecting an item sells/buys it. When in storage mode, selecting an item transfers it to/from the container. Selecting a weapon equips it as your active weapon; selecting an equipped weapon unequips it (your active weapon will become hand-to-hand combat). Selecting armor/clothing causes you to wear it; selecting armor/clothing you are already wearing causes you to take the item off. Selecting other items (e.g., repair hammers, soul gems) makes you use them. Note: Enter key will only work after hitting an arrow key to select an item or button.
Drop	Shift+ Left Click			Item is removed from your inventory and dropped on the ground in front of you. The inventory screen remains open. If you drop a stack of items, a dialog box will appear asking "How Many?".
Drop and Grab Item	Left Click and Hold		L2	Remove selected item from your inventory and transfer it to "Grab" mode. The inventory screen is automatically closed. If you drop/grab a stack of items, the entire stack is affected (you do not get a "How Many?" dialogue).
Toggle Inventory	Click icon / Shift + Left or Right Arrow key	/	L1/R1	To switch between viewing your own inventory and viewing what is in a container (if a container has been selected) or what is in a merchant's inventory (when bartering with a merchant): On the PC, click the left-hand sack icon for your own inventory or the right-hand sack icon for the container/merchant. Also Shift + Left Arrow key or Right Arrow Key can be used. On the Xbox, switches to your own inventory and switches to the container/merchant
Adjust Quantity	Left Click and Hold / Left/Right arrow keys			Up Arrow - Accept; Down Arrow - Cancel.
Select One	N/A		L2	When interacting with a stack of multiple items (i.e., when selling 25 arrows, or dropping 10 torches) and asked "how many items", this allows you to move the slider to the far left (one item). It is a mystery why this function was not made available on the PC version, especially since "Select One" was an undocumented feature in Morrowind, where the effect could be achieved with Ctrl+Left Click.
Select Max	N/A		R2	When interacting with a stack of multiple items (i.e., when selling 25 arrows, or dropping 10 torches) and asked "how many items", this allows you to move the slider to the far right (all items). It is a mystery why this function was not made available on the PC version, especially since "Select Max" was an undocumented feature in Morrowind, where the effect could be achieved with Shift+Left Click.
Haggle	Click Button			Haggle to adjust a merchant's buy/sell prices. See Commerce.
Highlight Item or Button	Arrow Keys			On a PC, this allows basic menu navigation via keyboard. In combination with the Enter key, you can scroll through your inventory, buying or selling items or spells rapidly without needing to move the mouse.
Map Mode
Fast Travel	Left Click			Select any discovered map marker shown in map mode to fast travel to that location
Add Marker	Shift+ Left Click			Place your own map marker on the map (a blue marker that appears on map and on compass). Only one custom map marker is possible at a time.
Scroll Map	Left Click		L2	Pressing this control at the same time as a directional control allows you to scroll the map even if your cursor is in the middle of the screen. Otherwise, you need to move your cursor to the edge of the map screen before the map will start to scroll.

Notes

• Xbox: and are the left and right triggers, respectively (on the front of the controller and labeled "LT" and "RT")
• Xbox: and are the left and right bumpers, respectively (on the front of the controller and labeled "LB" and "RB")

Remapping Controls

Controls can be remapped using the "Controls" menu available under "Options":

• On PC, hit Esc, then select "Options"
• On PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, click the Start button, then select "Options"

Xbox 360 Controller for Windows

It is possible to use an Xbox 360 controller to play Oblivion under Windows. However, the controller does not include any software to map the controller buttons and Oblivion does not recognize the left or right trigger buttons. This guide will get you up and running with this controller.

Requirements

IF you're using the original drivers:

• You must set the following in My Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Oblivion.ini
  • bUse Joystick=1
• You must have a version of DirectX 9 that supports XInput, use the latest if unsure.
• It may be useful to disable any previous joystick mappings within Oblivion
  • Start Oblivion and go to Options->Controls->Controls->Joystick
  • Select an action and press Esc to clear the mapping

IF you're using the XBCD or other unofficial drivers:

• You must set the following in My Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Oblivion.ini
  • bUse Joystick=0

Setup

Download and install Xpadder (download available at BetaNews).

• Make a new folder: C:\Program Files\Xpadder
• Unzip Xpadder.exe to that folder.
• Cut and paste the following into a file named Xbox360.xpaddercontroller and save it in your Xpadder folder.

;------------------------
; Xpadder Controller File
;------------------------

Version=5.6

[Button Locations]
Button1Location=347,91
Button2Location=378,61
Button3Location=315,62
Button4Location=346,31
Button5Location=106,1
Button6Location=346,1
Button7Location=185,64
Button8Location=272,63
Button9Location=106,61
Button10Location=285,135
DPadUpLocation=167,103
DPadRightLocation=199,135
DPadDownLocation=167,167
DPadLeftLocation=135,135
Stick1UpLocation=106,29
Stick1RightLocation=138,61
Stick1DownLocation=106,93
Stick1LeftLocation=74,61
Stick2UpLocation=285,103
Stick2RightLocation=317,135
Stick2DownLocation=285,167
Stick2LeftLocation=253,135
TriggerLeftLocation=4,4
TriggerRightLocation=478,4

[Access]
DPadUpAccess=POV
DPadRightAccess=POV
DPadDownAccess=POV
DPadLeftAccess=POV
Stick1XAccess=Axis X
Stick1YAccess=Axis Y
Stick2XAccess=Axis RX
Stick2YAccess=Axis RY
TriggerLeftAccess=Axis Z
TriggerRightAccess=Axis Z -

[Names]
Button1Name=A
Button2Name=B
Button3Name=X
Button4Name=Y
Button5Name=Left Bumper
Button6Name=Right Bumper
Button7Name=Back
Button8Name=Start
Button9Name=LS Button
Button10Name=RS Button
DPadName=DPad
DPadUpName=Up
DPadRightName=Right
DPadDownName=Down
DPadLeftName=Left
Stick1Name=Stick 1
Stick2Name=Stick 2
StickUpName=Up
StickRightName=Right
StickDownName=Down
StickLeftName=Left
TriggerLeftName=Left Trigger
TriggerRightName=Right Trigger

(Tested with official drivers)

If you're using the XBCD or other unofficial drivers,copy the code,then delete the triggers and set them as buttons.

• Make sure your controller is ON and then start the Xpadder program
• Click on the game-pad icon and select Open
  • Navigate to your Xpadder folder (\Program Files\Xpadder) and select Xbox360.xpaddercontroller
• Click on the gamepad icon again and select Settings
  • Click on the Image Tab and select Open
  • Navigate to your Xpadder folder (\Program Files\Xpadder) and select Microsoft_Xbox_360.bmp
  • Click on the Finish Tab and click Close
• Before you configure the controls, run Oblivion, go to the Mouse Controls, click on Attack, and hit ESC to un-map it.
  • Use the image and table below to further map your controller. The controls listed are the in-game controls that are what the game starts you out with. If you have changed your controls, simply make the necessary switches in Xpadder.

Xpadder	Oblivion
Back	T (Wait)
Start	ESC (Menu)
Left Trigger	Alt (Block)
Right Trigger	M (Attack) Change attack to M under Keyboard. M does not have to be used as attack, it can be whatever key you want it to be.
Left Bumper	Z (Grab)
Right Bumper	C (Cast)
Left Thumb-stick	Follow the image. To set 2 different keys to one direction, click Advanced and insert a 2nd box. Set the middle button to Left Ctrl for Crouching. Arrow keys were also added to the directions for easy navigation of menus, and conversations. Setting the control style of this stick to 8-way, and making the corner buttons W&A, W&D, etc, does not work properly, as hitting Caps Lock to constantly run makes the corner directions slow, and the main directions fast
Right Thumb-stick	Follow the image. Set the middle button to R for Change View If you prefer a non-inverted look, simply set the Up button as Mouse Up, and the Down button as Mouse Down, instead of the other way around.
A	Space (Activate), Enter (For menus), Left Click (For clicking on menus)
B	Tab (Open Menu)
X	F (Sheath weapon) Cannot be used to create markers, as you cannot set a Shift + Left Click on a button
Y	E (Jump)
D-pad	Set each button just like in the picture (Hotkeys)

Notes

• If you find you are walking while the Left Stick is all the way in a direction, press CAPSLOCK and you will run. The left stick is analog, so if you press it a little bit, you will walk and all the way you will run.
• Your Xbox controller will in addition also act as a mouse.
  • The Right Stick will move your pointer
• To turn off rumble, in Xpadder
  • Click on the Right Trigger
  • Click the rumble checkbox off (third checkbox in on the bottom left of the Xpadder window)
• You can adjust your camera turn speed with the Mouse Sensitivity slider within Oblivion Options->Controls
• Mouse and Keyboard will still function, handy for inventory work, and for other features that could not be implemented in the above control setup
• You may find it useful to half the up/down responsiveness for the Right Stick (look/aim) to get a much better feel. Click the wrench by the Right Stick in Xpadder and select Mouse Settings and adjust the up/down slider to half of the other, or double the left/right slider.
• If you remap the default keyboard/mouse controls, you will also have to remap the buttons in Xpadder.
• The above setup is a very realistic setup for playing Oblivion with a controller, however, some features, such as grabbing and dropping items from the Inventory, and placing map markers could not be implemented, due to some restrictions with Xpadder.
• Assigning Enter to Activate inside Oblivion will allow it to be used for menu selections, item selections from containers, and activation without conflict, thus requiring only Enter to be assigned to the A Button, along with Left Click for speech skipping.
• You may find it more usable to assign the left and right arrows to the bumper buttons (rather than assigning all 4 to the left joystick) because the bumpers are not otherwise used during menus, and will be less likely to leave you accidentally changing back and forth between pages while trying to scroll a list in your inventory.
• If you don't mind walking for the fraction of a second you're putting your weapon away, the X button can also be mapped to Shift to enable placing map markers or removing items from your inventory (X+A). With the above arrow key binding suggestion, mapping Shift to the X button would also enable you to quickly toggle inventory when looking in a container or change tabs in your journal (X+left/right bumper).