How to Set Up Steering In BeamNG.drive With Rotary Mouse

Want to play BeamNG.drive without buying an expensive steering wheel? With the Rotary Mouse, you can use the rotary wheel for smooth analog steering while using your keyboard for throttle, brake and shifting. This guide walks you through the complete setup.

BeamNG.drive doesn’t natively support using the Rotary Mouse as a steering wheel. However, with vJoy and a short AutoHotkey script, you can use the Rotary Mouse wheel for steering while using the W and S keyboard keys as throttle and brake. This guide walks you through the complete setup.

This guide assumes you’re driving with the Rotary Mouse in one hand and using the keyboard with the other. If you have another preferred input device for throttle and brake, you can modify the AutoHotkey script below accordingly.

This guide has been tested with BeamNG.drive 0.38.6.

What You’ll Need

  • Rotary Mouse
  • BeamNG.drive
  • Windows 10/11
  • AutoHotkey
  • vJoy

Step 1 – Install AutoHotkey

Download and install the latest AutoHotkey.

After installation, double-clicking an .ahk file will run the script.

Step 2 – Install vJoy

If you’re using Windows 11, we recommend installing vJoy version 2.1.9.1 instead of the newer releases, as it has proven to be much more reliable.

Download it from:

https://github.com/jshafer817/vJoy/releases

Install it using the default settings.

During installation, allow Windows to install the driver.

After installation, open Configure vJoy.

Use these settings:

Device: 1

Buttons: 8 (or more)

POV: Disabled

Axes Enabled

✔ X

✔ Y

✔ Z

Click Apply.

Step 3 – Verify vJoy

Open

joy.cpl

Select vJoy Device.

Click Properties.

Leave this window open for testing later.

Step 4 – Download the Rotary Mouse AutoHotkey Script for BeamNG.drive

Download the rotary-profile-beamng-with-keyboard-v1.0.zip containing the AutoHotkey script (.ahk). Unzip it.

The script:

  • Uses the Rotary Mouse wheel as steering.
  • Maps W to throttle.
  • Maps S to brake.
  • Press F11 to enable/disable Driving Mode.
  • Press Esc to exit the script.

Step 5 – Start the Script

Double-click the script.

A green “H” icon should appear in the Windows system tray.

The script is now running.

Press

F11

You should see

Driving ON

Step 6 – Test vJoy

Open Game Controllers by pressing Win + R and entering

joy.cpl

When you:

rotate the Rotary Mouse wheel

the X Axis should move.

Hold

W

The Y Axis should move.

Hold

S

The Z Axis should move.

If all three work, your virtual steering wheel is ready.

Step 7 – Configure BeamNG.drive

Launch BeamNG.drive.

Open

Options → Controls → Bindings

Expand

Vehicle

Locate

Steering (axis/mouse)

Click the + button beside it.

When prompted, rotate the Rotary Mouse wheel.

BeamNG.drive should automatically detect the vJoy X Axis.

Below is where you’ll assign the steering axis.

Next, assign the remaining controls.

Function Input
Throttle W
Brake S
Shift Up Space (recommended)
Shift Down Left Ctrl (recommended)

Click Apply to save your bindings.

Controls Summary

Function Input
Steering Rotary Mouse wheel
Throttle W
Brake S
Gear Up Space
Gear Down Left Ctrl
Enable Driving Mode F11
Exit Script Esc

Troubleshooting

Steering sensitivity

Increase or decrease the following value inside the AutoHotkey script to make steering faster or slower.

step := 120

Higher values make the steering more responsive.

Steering doesn’t return to center

The provided script behaves like a steering wheel that stays where you leave it.

Simply rotate the Rotary Mouse in the opposite direction to straighten the wheels.

Vehicle keeps steering by itself

Open

Options → Controls

Recalibrate the steering axis or remove any additional steering devices that may also be assigned.

Only vJoy X Axis should control steering.

Throttle or brake stays on

Verify that only the keyboard bindings generated by the AutoHotkey script are being used.

If you’ve also assigned throttle or brake to a joystick axis, remove those bindings to avoid conflicts.

BeamNG.drive won’t detect steering

Verify that:

  • vJoy X, Y and Z axes are enabled.
  • The X axis moves in joy.cpl while rotating the Rotary Mouse wheel.
  • The AutoHotkey script is running.
  • Driving Mode is enabled.
  • You’re assigning Steering (axis/mouse) rather than Steering (left key) or Steering (right key).

vJoy Device does not appear

Reinstall vJoy 2.1.9.1

Restart Windows.

Open

Configure vJoy

Verify that Device 1 and the X Axis are enabled.

Steering axis does not move in joy.cpl

Make sure Driving Mode is enabled by pressing

F11

before testing.

Mouse won’t scroll normally

Driving Mode is still enabled.

Press

F11

to return to normal mouse scrolling.

F11 conflicts with another application

Simply edit

rotary-profile-beamng-with-keyboard-v1.0.ahk

and assign a different toggle key. You may paste the script into ChatGPT for assistance editing it.

I want to customize the AutoHotkey script. How do I do that?

You can easily edit our existing AutoHotkey script using an AI platform like ChatGPT. Simply paste or upload our script and describe the changes you’d like to make. It can help modify specific behaviors or even generate a completely new script tailored to your preferred controls. Have fun customizing!