Best controller settings for Modern Warfare 3

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 offers a ton of different controller settings to perfect your sensitivity, movement, and aim assist.

All of these settings can be quite daunting, but choosing those that suit your playstyle can give you a huge advantage over your enemies, let you slide cancel with ease, and stop you from accidentally dying by climbing a wall when trying to jump (we’ve all been there).

Here are the best controller settings for MW3 Season 6, whether you play on Xbox, PlayStation, or PC.

Best MW3 controller settings

Inputs

• Button Layout Preset: Tactical
• Bumper Ping: Off
• Flip L1/R1 with L2/R2: If you want faster button press time or play with claw grip, you could turn this on
• Stick Layout Preset: Default
• Controller Vibration: Off
• Trigger Effect: Off

Modern Warfare 3 introduced a new Deadzone Input Test that lets you accurately test your sticks’ deadzone in real-time and precisely configure them.

Reducing your Deadzone settings to their minimum values enhances your reaction time and fine-aim control, resulting in quicker responses and greater accuracy.

Aiming

• Horizontal Stick Sensitivity: 6
• Vertical Stick Sensitivity: 6
• ADS Sensitivity Multiplier: 0.90
• Sensitivity Multiplier:
  • Third Person Sensitivity Multiplier: 1.00
  • Ground Vehicles: 1.00
  • Air Killstreak: 1.00
  • Tablet: 1.00
• Verticle Aim Axis:
  • On Foot: Standard
  • Third Person: Standard
  • Ground Vehicles: Standard
  • Air Vehicles: Standard
• Tac-Stance Sensitivity Multiplier: 0.90
• Aim Response Curve Type: Dynamic
  • Aim Response Curve Slope Scale: 1.00
• ADS Sensitivity Multiplier (Focus): 0.90
• ADS Sensitivity Transition Timing: Instant
• Custom Sensitivity Per Zoom: Off

We recommend starting with a sensitivity setting of 6, though this is a personal preference. As you gain experience, you could consider gradually increasing your sensitivity to a level that feels comfortable.

Higher sensitivity settings enable faster turning, giving you a massive advantage in reacting to enemies approaching from various angles, but could hurt your fine aim control at the same time.

Aim Assist

• Target Aim Assist: On
• Aim Assist Type: Default
• Third Person ADS Correction Type: Precision

Motion Sensor Aiming

• Motion Sensor Behavior: Off

Gameplay

Movement Behaviors

• Automatic Sprint: Off
• Slide Maintains Sprint: (Disabled when Automatic Sprint is off)
• Sprint/Tactical Sprint Behavior: Toggle
• Auto Move Forward: Off
• Tactical Sprint Behavior: Single Tap Run
• Grounded Mantle: Off
• Automatic Airborne Mantle: Off
• Automatic Ground Mantle/Hang: Off
• Slide/Dive Behavior: Slide Only
• Plunging Underwater: Free
• Parachute Auto-Deploy: 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: Short
• Tactical Stance Activation: ADS + Down Button
• Tactical Stance Behavior: On Toggle
• Interact/Reload Behavior: Tap to Reload
• Armor Plate Behavior: Apply All
• ADS Stick Swap: Off
• Backpack Control: Directional Buttons
• Depleted Ammo Weapon Switch: On
• Quick C4 Detonation: Grouped
• Manual Fire Behavior: Press
• Akimbo Behavior: Independent

Vehicle Behaviors

• Vehicle Camera Recenter: Short Delay
• Camera Initial Position: Free Look
• Lean-Out Activation: Melee

Overlays Behavior

• Scoreboard/Maps/Stats Behavior: Toggle
• Ping Wheel Delay: Moderate
• Double Tap Danger Ping Delay: Moderate
• Wheels Behavior: Hold

Best Aim Assist type for MW3

Default is the best Aim Assist Type in Modern Warfare 3, but you won’t have any real disadvantage from using Black Ops.

The Focusing type is ideal if you’re new to shooter games, but once you gain confidence, you should transition away from it as you may feel the aim assist becomes overly powerful.

For the full breakdown, here’s what each type means:

• Default: Traditional aim slowdown near target used in Modern Warfare games. The best in MW3.
• Precision: Strong aim slowdown that only kicks in when aiming closer to the target.
• Focusing: Strong aim slowdown that also kicks in when narrowly missing the target. Recommended if you’re new to analog aiming.
• Black Ops: Traditional aim slowdown near target used in Black Ops games.

Aim Response Curve

The best Aim Response Curve in MW3 is Dynamic which offers the most fine-control. You might favor the Standard option for its natural feel, but I’d recommend avoiding Linear entirely.

Here’s a breakdown of the three types you’ll find in the game:

• 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.

Best FOV settings

The best FOV setting is within the range of 100 to 115. This strikes a balance, allowing you to have a broad view of your surroundings to avoid surprise attacks while ensuring that enemy players remain reasonably visible and easy to track without appearing too small.

How to find & test controller settings

There won’t be a list of settings that work perfectly for everyone, so the most effective approach to finding the best MW3 controller settings is by testing different configurations until you find the one that suits your preferences and play style.

To do this, we recommend you head to the Rust map in a Private Match. Set the bots to Recruit level difficulty and you’ll be free to experiment with different settings and sensitivities to find what works for you.

If you’re looking to take things one step further, you’ll want to use the best audio and PC settings.