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# Control PlayAbility with Settings Actions

Settings actions control PlayAbility itself instead of directly sending a button, key, or mouse event to a game. They are useful for voice shortcuts, adaptive switches, overlay controls, and recovery actions that must remain easy to reach.

## Add a Settings action

1. Open **Mapping** and confirm the intended profile is active.
2. Select **Add actions**.
3. Select **Settings**.
4. Select the action you want.
5. Select the **Add** button showing the number of selected actions.
6. On the new row, select **Select a trigger**.
7. Choose an existing compatible trigger, or select **Create a new trigger +** and configure one.
8. Select **Save**.
9. Activate and release the trigger once to test the action.

Settings actions run once when a trigger becomes active. The trigger must return to its inactive state before it can activate the action again.

## Control outputs and detection

Use these actions to enable or disable part of PlayAbility:

- **Main Output** is the master control for remapped output.
- **Gamepad Out** controls virtual-gamepad output.
- **Keyboard Out** controls simulated keyboard output.
- **Mouse Out** controls mouse-button, scroll, movement, and position output.
- **Head Mouse Output** controls head-driven pointer output.
- **Face Detection Output** starts or stops face detection.
- **Voice Detection Output** starts or stops voice detection.

Turning off one output type does not turn off the others. Turning off **Main Output** pauses all remapped output governed by the master control.

**Mute input** is a separate Windows-only safety-sensitive control. It requires the feature to be unlocked under **Settings → Advanced**, uses a low-level input hook, and may be flagged by anti-cheat software.

## Add calibration and recovery actions

- **Calibrate Head Stick** makes the current comfortable head position the neutral center.
- **Calibrate Face** starts face-gesture calibration. This feature is Alpha.
- **Center Mouse** moves the pointer to the center of the screen. With absolute head mouse, the current head pose also becomes the new center.
- **Release All** releases active gamepad, keyboard, mouse, pointer-position, dwell, and overlay-button state.

To make recovery reliable:

1. Map **Release All** to an input that is easy to reach and does not depend on the control most likely to become stuck.
2. Map **Calibrate Head Stick** or **Center Mouse** to a separate one-shot trigger.
3. Sit in the intended neutral position before activating a calibration action.
4. Test each action before opening a game.

**Release All** clears current state. It does not turn off **Main Output** or remove the mapping that caused the state.

## Control the overlay

- **Toggle Overlay** opens or closes the overlay window.
- **Block mouse event in overlay** makes the overlay click-through so pointer events pass to the application behind it.
- **Lock Overlay Joystick Left**, **Lock Overlay Joystick Right**, and **Lock Overlay D-Pad** lock or unlock the corresponding virtual joystick.

Click-through prevents mouse interaction with the overlay. Activate **Block mouse event in overlay** again through its mapped trigger to restore mouse interaction.

## Control physical-gamepad forwarding

**Gamepad In** enables or disables forwarding from connected physical gamepads to the PlayAbility virtual gamepad. Only buttons and axes that are not already bound in the active profile are forwarded.

This action controls incoming physical-controller forwarding. It is different from **Gamepad Out**, which controls the virtual gamepad output route.

You can also manage forwarding per connected controller on the **Gamepads** page.

## Switch profiles from a trigger

- **Switch to Profile** changes to a specific profile selected in the mapping editor.
- **Next Profile** moves to the next regular profile and wraps at the end.
- **Previous Profile** moves to the previous regular profile and wraps at the beginning.

To create a direct profile shortcut:

1. Add **Switch to Profile** from **Settings**.
2. Open its mapping and choose the target profile.
3. Assign the trigger and select **Save**.
4. Activate the trigger and confirm that the profile name changes.

The **Global** profile is skipped by **Next Profile** and **Previous Profile**. A profile-switching mapping placed in **Global** can remain available alongside regular profiles. Profile-switching actions cannot be added as an output combo.

## Verify Settings actions

1. Test one action at a time outside the target game.
2. For an output action, confirm that the corresponding control changes state.
3. For calibration, move away from center and confirm that calibration restores the expected neutral position.
4. Hold a harmless test action, run **Release All**, and confirm that it releases.
5. Open the overlay and verify toggle, click-through, or joystick-lock behavior.
6. For profile switching, confirm that the intended profile becomes active and its mappings load.

## Troubleshooting and limitations

### A Settings action fires only once

Release the trigger fully before trying again. Settings actions activate on the transition from inactive to active.

### An output still does not reach the game

- Confirm **Main Output** is on in addition to the relevant output-type control.
- Check the active profile and foreground-app rules.
- For gamepad output, resolve any virtual-controller driver alert.
- Remember that **Gamepad In** does not enable **Gamepad Out**.

### Calibration has no visible effect

- Confirm the profile contains the corresponding head or face input.
- Start face detection when the calibration depends on camera tracking.
- Hold a comfortable neutral pose while activating the action.

### Release All works, but an action becomes active again

The trigger may still be active or a **Toggle** mapping may be reasserting state. Release the trigger, change the mapping mode, or turn off the relevant output while editing.

### Switch to Profile does nothing

- Edit the mapping and select an existing target profile.
- Recreate the mapping if the target profile was renamed or deleted.
- Confirm the source profile is editable before changing the mapping.

### Only one profile is editable

Free accounts include one editable custom profile. Upgrade to Pro Edition to edit multiple profiles. If another profile is marked **Read-Only**, load the editable profile.

## Related articles

- [Action Modes and Advanced Trigger Logic](https://help.playability.gg/en/article/action-modes-and-advanced-trigger-logic-oiuj2g/)
- [Build and Edit a Mapping](https://help.playability.gg/en/article/build-and-edit-a-mapping-u0q0bs/)
- [Configure PlayAbility Settings](https://help.playability.gg/en/article/configure-playability-settings-1waq08b/)