Having the best controller settings in MW3 is crucial for adapting to this year’s fast-paced gameplay, with your aim assist, sensitivity, and deadzone options playing a huge role in how successful you can be.
Fine-tuning your settings is an almost never-ending task for Call of Duty players. You’ll alter your sensitivity slightly, play with different aim assist settings, and adjust your deadzones to find the sweet spot, but soon enough you’ll feel the need to change things up again.
While this process may be tedious, it is essential, as not having optimal controller settings will jeopardize your gameplay. The tricky bit is figuring out which settings you should use, with that task getting increasingly difficult as Sledgehammer Games adds more options in every update.
Taking a look at how many of the top pros and streamers set up their controllers and assessing all of the options available, here are the best controller settings to use in Modern Warfare 3. If you’re a battle royale fan, be sure to check out our best Warzone controller settings too.
Best MW3 Controller settings
Input settings
| Button Layout Preset | Default or Tactical |
| Bumper Ping | Off |
| Flip L1/R1 with L2/R2 | Off |
| Stick Layout Preset | Default |
| Controller Vibration | Off |
| Trigger Effect (PS5) | Off |
Deadzone Input settings
Modern Warfare 3 introduced a feature that allows players to test if their controller has stick drift. The Deadzone Input Test shows a diagram of both the left and right sticks plus both triggers. All four can be tweaked to account for stick drift and overly sensitive triggers.
Lowering your Deadzones to be as low as possible results in the most precision. However, you may need to increase the Left and Right Stick Min if you experience stick drift to avoid your aim moving by itself. Your Stick Min settings should match your stick drift percentage seen on the test diagram.
For example, if you have 2% stick drift on either axis, then Left and Right Stick Min should be set to at least 2. However, a slightly higher value is recommended as stick drift will vary slightly as you play. For most players, 5 on both sticks and triggers will work great.
Aiming settings
Aiming
| Horizontal Stick Sensitivity | Between 5 – 10 |
| Vertical Stick Sensitivity | Between 5 – 10 |
| ADS Sensitivity Multiplier | 0.90 |
| Vertical Aim Axis | Standard |
| Tactical Stance Sensitivity Multiplier | 1.00 |
| Aim Response Curve Type | Dynamic |
| Aim Response Curve Scale | 1.00 |
| ADS Sensitivity Multiplier (Focus) | 1.00 |
| ADS Sensitivity Transition Timing | Instant |
| Custom Sensitivity Per Zoom | Off |
Aim Assist
| Target Aim Assist | On |
| Aim Assist Type | Default |
| Third Person ADS Correction Type | Assist |
Motion Sensor Aiming
| Motion Sensor Behavior | Off |
Best Gameplay settings
Movement Behaviors
| Automatic Sprint | Preference |
| Slide Maintains Sprint | Preference |
| Sprint/Tactical Sprint Behavior | Toggle |
| Auto Move Forward | Off |
| Tactical Sprint Behavior | Preference |
| Grounded Mantle | Preference |
| Automatic Airborne Mantle | Partial |
| Automatic Ground Mantle | Preference |
| Slide/Dive Behavior | Tap to Slide |
| Plunging Underwater | Trigger |
| Parachute Automatic Behavior | Off |
| Sprinting Door Bash | On |
| Ledge Climb Behavior | Mantle Only |
Combat Behaviors
| Aim Down Sight Behavior | Hold |
| Change Zoom Activation | Sprint/Tactical Sprint/Focus |
| Equipment Behavior | Hold |
| Weapon Mount Activation | ADS + Melee |
| Weapon Mount Exit Delay | Medium |
| Tactical Stance Activation | ADS + Down Button |
| Tactical Stance Behavior | On Toggle |
| Interact/Reload Behavior | Tap To Reload |
| Armor Plate Behavior | Apply One |
| ADS Stick Swap | Off |
| Backpack Control | Directional Buttons |
| Depleted Ammo Weapon Switch | On |
| Quick C4 Detonation | Preference |
| Manual Fire Behavior | Preference |
| Akimbo Behavior | Paired |
Vehicle Behaviors
| Vehicle Camera Recenter | Short Delay |
| Camera Initial Position | Free Look |
| Lean-Out Activation | Melee |
Overlays Behavior
| Scoreboard/Map/Stats Behavior | Toggle |
| Ping Wheel Delay | Moderate |
| Double Tap Danger Ping Delay | Moderate |
| Wheels Behavior | Hold |
Best Aim Assist settings
While playing on a controller, it is always essential to ensure Target Aim Assist is On. Besides just making sure that Aim Assist is on, players also must consider the different Aim Assist Types.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
We recommend using the Default Aim Assist Type. While Black Ops Aim Assist was particularly popular in MW2 and in the early days of MW3, changes to aim assist now mean that Default is the best aim assist to use.
Here are the aim assist settings available in MW3:
- Default: Traditional aim slowdown near target used in Modern Warfare games.
- Precision: Strong aim slowdown that only kicks in when aiming closer to the target. Recommended for accurate players.
- Focusing: Strong aim slowdown that also kicks in when narrowly missing the target. Recommended for players new to analog aiming.
- Black Ops: Traditional aim slowdown near target used in Black Ops games
Best Aim Response Curve
Modern Warfare 3 offers three types of Aim Response Curves, each coming with its own distinct feeling for your thumbstick movements.
Most MW3 players will lean towards the Standard Aim Response Curve, but we recommend giving Dynamic a go and learning how to use it. The setting allows for much finer control than the other options but requires a bit of a learning curve.
- Standard: Simple power curve map from aim stick to aim rate
- Linear: Aim stick maps directly to aim rate
- Dynamic: Reverse S-curve mapping for fine aim rate control
How to change controller settings
Changing your controller settings in Modern Warfare 3 is an easy enough task. All you need to do to access the appropriate menu is follow these instructions:
- Launch either Modern Warfare 3 or Call of Duty HQ on your platform of choice.
- Once on the main menu, press start.
- Use either RB or R1 to change to the settings tab, represented by a white cog.
- Finally, click ‘Controller’ to access controller settings.
At the end of the day, the best controller settings come down to personal preference, so if one or more of our recommendations don’t work for you, then it’s easy enough to make your own specialized adjustments.
Load up a Private Match with bots and tinker around with the settings until everything feels exactly as it should. Once you’ve done that, you’ll want to optimize other areas of your game by using the best MW3 loadouts and best PC settings for FPS.