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Battlefield 2042: Best controller settings

With any cross-platform game, players want the ability to remap their controllers in more competitive circles. Thankfully, Battlefield 2042 allows you to do just that. Players can completely remap their controls to their liking, along with their desired sensitivity and FOV. Here are the best controller settings to use in Battlefield 2042. We’ll also go over the best helicopter settings in Battlefield 2042 and how to make them more like the Call of Duty: Warzone helicopters. This article is from the perspective of a PlayStation 5 player. However, the configurations mentioned still work relative to their Xbox counterparts.

Best controller settings for Battlefield 2042

Michael K WIlliams plays Irish in Battlefield 2042.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Battlefield 2042 maintains the default FPS control scheme. Aside from the attachment swap mechanic, the game plays like any other in the series. That means R2 to shoot, L2 to aim, X to jump, and circle to crouch. The game only offers a few pre-programmed configurations like southpaw, legacy, and legacy southpaw. However, those settings mean very little to most gamers. Sadly, there is no bumper-jumper setting. We will, however, go over how to play bumper-jump in Battlefield 2042 later on.

For basic on-foot controller settings:

  • Press Options
  • Tab over to Controller with R1
  • Under Controller, tab over to On Foot with R2
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Set your Soldier Controls to Custom. We’ll go over the best controller remapping configuration later on. You can also leave it on the default setting if that’s what you prefer.

Soldier Aim Sensitivity is your standard un-aimed sensitivity. Set this to whatever feels comfortable. Keep the inverted look off and set your field of view between 80 and 100. Console players appreciate a game that lets them adjust their FOV slider. The more you can see peripherally, the better off you are. However, don’t just set it to 105 (the max) and forget it. Things will appear smaller since your camera is effectively stretched out. Play around with the slider between online games or against bots in solo/co-op mode. The same goes for finding the right sensitivities.

For ADS Field of View, keep this on. This keeps the magnification of weapon sights relative to your FOV. If turned off, you’ll appear to zoom in too much, thus throwing off your accuracy. Set both Aim Assist sliders to the max.

Under the Movement section, set Soldier Sprint to Toggle and keep Double-Tap to Sprint off. Keep Sprint to Vault Over off and turn Always Use Traversal Sprint on.

Under the Other section, keep your parachute auto-deploy options turned off. You have the option to quick-throw grenades by pressing the appropriate button, but we didn’t find it very helpful. It takes some getting used to, but equipping and throwing grenades in two motions is better for aiming purposes. The remaining settings are all sensitivity-related and up to personal preference.

Best controller mapping scheme in Battlefield 2042

Player flying with a wing suit in Battlefield 2042.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The default controls for Battlefield 2042 aren’t bad, but players who prefer bump-jumper or R3 to crouch will have to remap their controls completely. Below, we’ve laid out the best bumper-jumper controller configuration. If you don’t like playing bumper-jumper, just leave the controls as is. To remap your controller:

  • Set Soldier Controls to Custom
  • Use R1 to tab over to Controller Mapping
  • Use R2 to tab over to On Foot

Your walk and look controls will remain the same. The same goes for aiming and shooting. It’s when we start messing with the jump, crouch, melee, and attachment swap controls that things get weird. Remap your buttons in the following way for the best bumper-jumper controller scheme in Battlefield 2042:

  • Jump – L1
  • Vault – L1
  • Crouch (Hold) and Crouch (Toggle) – Don’t assign any buttons to these options.
  • Crouch (Press)/Prone (Hold) – R3
  • Parachute Deploy – L1
  • Melee/Melee Takedown – R1
  • Modify Weapon Attachments – R1
  • Ping/CommoRose (Hold) – X

Two things get a little weird with these controls that you’ll have to keep in mind. For starters, instead of pressing L1 and R1 to use your Call-In tablet, you’ll press R1 and X at the same time (even though your screen is telling you L1). The same is true when you’re down, and you want to skip the revive timer. Press and hold X even though you’re prompted to hold L1. This may change as the game updates to reflect custom controls. As of now, the game defaults its on-screen prompts to the default controller settings.

Modify Weapon Attachments and melee are hot-keyed to the same button, but this doesn’t totally matter. You’ll press and hold R1 to change your attachments and tap R1 to use your melee weapon. You can forgo melee attacks altogether and unbind R1 from the melee option. However, if you want to keep a knife in your back pocket, the option is available. We’ve been playing since day one and haven’t found ourselves in a position to melee-kill someone when shooting them would be just as easy. We recommend unbinding melee all together (for the ability to play bumper-jumper).

The best helicopter/jet settings in Battlefield 2042

Helicopter dropping off teammates in Battlefield 2042.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The default helicopter flight controls in Battlefield 2042 are like using both sides of your brain simultaneously. Call of Duty: Warzone pilots looking to make the switch are in for an ugly surprise when they crash their helicopter into the ground in the first 20 seconds of flight. However, there is a way to configure your helicopter controls to mirror the user-friendly Call of Duty: Warzone controls in Battlefield 2042. As a bonus, these same controls work perfectly for jets, too!

To change your pilot settings:

  • Under Options, tab over to Controller with R1
  • Scroll down to the Aircraft section under the Controller Schemes tab
  • Set Air Pilot Controls and Buttons to Custom
  • Tab over to Vehicles with R2 and scroll down to the Pilot section
  • Toggle Invert Vertical Look to on (press up to go down/down to go up)
  • Set Aircraft Sensitivity to 100
  • Toggle Helicopter Control Assists to off

With Helicopter Control Assists off, you’ll be able to hover in place. Keeping it on keeps your chopper in a constant state of ascension, which makes shooting small targets on the ground harder than it has to be. You just have to be aware when your chopper is falling to the ground, especially if the last input you made was to throttle down.

For the easiest helicopter flight controls, head back to Controller Mapping and tab over to the Pilot menu. Use the following settings:

  • Throttle Up – R2
  • Throttle Down – L2
  • Yaw Right – Press right on the left stick
  • Yaw Left – Press left on the left stick
  • Pitch Up – Press up on the left stick
  • Pitch Down – Pull down on the left stick
  • Roll Right – Press right on the right stick
  • Roll Left – Press left on the right stick
  • Clear out the Freelook options so that no buttons are bound to them
  • View Rear Camera – Down on the D-pad
  • Chase Camera – L3
  • Fire – R1
  • Aim – L1
  • Flight Mode – Up on the D-pad
  • Assisted Flight/Afterburner – R3

To ensure you’ve done everything right, start a solo game with beginner bots and spawn into a helicopter. The bots aren’t smart enough to shoot you down, so you’ll be free to tinker with the controls until you get it right. Remember, you must input the correct directional buttons when mapping the pitch/yaw movements.

With the above settings, you should be able to fly helicopters in Battlefield 2042 as easily as you do in Call of Duty: Warzone.

Mike Colucci
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Michael Colucci is a lifelong video game fan based out of the greater Boston area. He's the one insistent on searching every…
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