---
title: "On-screen touch controls: API"
package: "@phaser-ae/controls-touch"
tier: Free
version: 3.0.0-4
released: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-20
description: "On-screen buttons and a thumb stick for phones that press key codes, so touch drives the very same bindings as the keyboard."
url: https://phaser.io/packs/controls-touch/api
site: Phaser - https://phaser.io
---

# On-screen touch controls: API

`@phaser-ae/controls-touch` — Buttons and a thumb stick that press key CODES, so a phone drives the same bindings as a keyboard.

## The pack

### `controlsTouch`

```ts
function controlsTouch(opts: ControlsTouchOptions = {}): Pack<{ touch: ControlsTouchApi }>
```

The touch-controls pack: on-screen buttons and a thumb stick that press key codes, so a phone drives the
same bindings as a keyboard. Requires `world:screen` for the layer it draws on and `typography` for button
labels. Headless it presses nothing and draws nothing.

## Types

### `ControlsTouchApi`

```ts
interface ControlsTouchApi
```

`game.touch`.

- `visible: boolean` — Are the controls up. Set it to force them on a desktop (a demo, a screenshot) or off during a cutscene.
- `readonly stick: { x: number; y: number }` — The stick's thumb offset, each axis −1..1, already past the deadzone. `{ x: 0, y: 0 }` with no stick.
- `readonly held: ReadonlyArray<string>` — Which codes are held by the controls right now.
- `button(spec: TouchButtonSpec): void` — Add a button after attach — a level that adds a second action.
- `readonly touchDevice: boolean` — True when the device reports touch, whatever `visible` says.

### `ControlsTouchOptions`

```ts
interface ControlsTouchOptions
```

Manifest options.

- `buttons?: ReadonlyArray<TouchButtonSpec>` — The buttons.
- `stick?: TouchStickSpec` — The thumb stick, if there is one.
- `touchOnly?: boolean` — Show the controls only on a touch device. Default true. A desktop player does not want a d-pad over their game, and a phone player cannot play without one, so the default is to ask the device.
- `alpha?: number` — Opacity of the controls. Default 0.35 — visible enough to aim at, faint enough to see the game through.
- `layer?: LayerName` — The layer they draw on. Default 'hud', or the last layer when there is no hud.

### `TouchAnchor`

```ts
type TouchAnchor = 'bottom-left' | 'bottom-right' | 'top-left' | 'top-right'
```

Where a control sits. The offset is measured from that corner, always inward.

### `TouchButtonSpec`

```ts
interface TouchButtonSpec
```

A round on-screen button.

- `code: string` — The key code it presses while held. Use one no keyboard has — `'Touch:jump'` — and bind it alongside the real keys.
- `label?: string` — A short label drawn on it (rendered with Typography).
- `anchor?: TouchAnchor` — Which corner it is measured from. Default 'bottom-right'.
- `x?: number` — Inward offset from the corner to the button's CENTRE, in screen pixels. Default 70, 70.
- `y?: number` — Inward offset down (or up) from the corner.
- `r?: number` — Radius in screen pixels. Default 34.
- `tint?: string` — Fill colour. Default white.

### `TouchStickSpec`

```ts
interface TouchStickSpec
```

A thumb stick: four codes, pressed by direction.

- `codes: { left?: string; right?: string; up?: string; down?: string }` — The codes pressed while the thumb is that way.
- `anchor?: TouchAnchor` — Which corner it is measured from. Default 'bottom-left'.
- `x?: number` — Inward offset to the stick's centre. Default 70, 70.
- `y?: number` — Inward offset.
- `r?: number` — Radius of the ring, in screen pixels. Default 50.
- `deadzone?: number` — Fraction of the radius the thumb must leave before a direction presses. Default 0.35 — below that a resting thumb jitters between left and right, which reads as the game fighting the player.
- `tint?: string` — Fill colour. Default white.

---

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