IRON NEST settings open from the clipboard on the main menu, or by pressing Escape during a mission and choosing Settings.
IRON NEST settings open from the clipboard on the main menu, or by pressing Escape during a mission and choosing Settings. The menu has Game, Graphics, Audio and Controls tabs, and changes take effect when you press Apply. This page lists the options, the default keys and controller buttons, and the in-game answers to the controls questions players ask most. New to the turret? Learn the firing loop in the beginner guide once your settings are done.
DATA-MINED / IN-GAME TEXT · build 25664742. Menu path: REPORTED in tutorial videos.
Some options are marked "do not apply immediately", and the game asks whether you want to apply them now. Every default below is the value the game ships with. Settings you have already saved replace it.
These are the bindings the game ships with. Controller buttons are given by position: A / Cross is the bottom face button, B / Circle the right, X / Square the left and Y / Triangle the top.
| Action | Keyboard and mouse | Controller | Rebind in Settings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move | W A S D (arrow keys also work) | Left stick | Yes (W A S D) |
| Look | Mouse | Right stick | No |
| Jump | Space | Y / Triangle | Yes |
| Sprint | Left Shift | Right bumper | Yes |
| Crouch | Ctrl | Left stick click | Yes |
| Interact with a station | E | A / Cross | Yes |
| Pick up | F | X / Square | Yes |
| Gas mask off, put the cat down, shoo the cat | G | B / Circle | Yes |
| Show or hide the clipboard | Caps Lock | D-pad left | Yes |
| Focus the clipboard | Tab | D-pad right | Yes |
| Menu | Escape | Start | Yes |
| Primary click | Left mouse button (Numpad * as an extra key) | Right trigger | The extra key only |
| Secondary click | Right mouse button | Left trigger | Yes |
| Middle click | Middle mouse button | — | No |
| Continue / skip | Enter | A / Cross | Yes |
| Slow cursor | — | Left bumper | No |
DATA-MINED · build 25664742.
Not every key can be changed. The Controls tab offers a rebinding row for the actions marked "Yes", and RESET CONTROLS undoes your changes. One conflict is worth knowing: the developer has explained that P is a hard-coded free-camera key used for recording trailers, so binding another action to P causes problems (official Discord, August 17, 2026).
IRON NEST audio settings are eight sliders in the Audio tab, each starting at 75:
DATA-MINED · defaults. IN-GAME TEXT · slider names.
Master Volume scales the others rather than replacing them: with Master at 50, a slider set to 50 plays at an effective 25. That is the quickest way to make the whole game quieter without losing your mix. Press Apply before you close the menu.
REPORTED · tutorial video (HardReset.Info, August 17, 2026).
Controller. Steam lists IRON NEST with full controller support, including DualShock and DualSense controllers. Controller sensitivity starts at 2.0, and the buttons are in the default key table. During the Demo the developer said the game should be fully playable on a controller and that any controller problem is a bug to report (Steam Community, June 27, 2026). Steam Deck and other platforms are tracked on the roadmap's platform section.
OFFICIAL · Steam store data. DATA-MINED · default sensitivity.
Mouse. Mouse Sensitivity starts at 1.0. Clamp mouse to valves is off by default; turned on, it keeps the cursor locked to a valve while you turn it, so a fast flick does not slide off the wheel.
DATA-MINED · defaults. REPORTED · Clamp behaviour shown in a tutorial video.
Mouse acceleration. There is no mouse acceleration or smoothing option in the IRON NEST settings. The developer explained during the Demo that in-game mouse movement follows your system cursor, so any pointer acceleration set in your operating system carries into the game. Turning that system option off is the setting to look at; we have not tested how much it changes the feel.
DATA-MINED · no such setting in build 25664742. OFFICIAL · developer, official Discord, June 16, 2026 (Demo period).
To change the language in IRON NEST, open Settings, go to the Game tab, pick a language from the Language drop-down and press Apply.
REPORTED · tutorial video (Global TechWorld Solutions, August 6, 2026).
The game ships with fifteen languages: English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian.
IN-GAME TEXT · build 25664742.
Stopwatch. To move the stopwatch in IRON NEST, open the Game tab and drag Stopwatch Horizontal Offset. It slides the stopwatch toward the centre or the edge of the screen, and far enough to take it off screen entirely, which helps on ultrawide and 16:10 displays. Clipboard Horizontal Offset does the same for the clipboard. The developer said on launch day that the stopwatch offset was planned but not ready yet; it is in the current build.
IN-GAME TEXT · setting names. REPORTED · tutorial video. OFFICIAL · developer reply, Steam Community, August 6, 2026.
Clipboard keys. Caps Lock shows or hides the clipboard and Tab brings it into focus with a free cursor (D-pad left and right on a controller).
Getting a bearing onto the clipboard. The clipboard has two columns, Bearing / Distance and Charge / Gun Elevation, and you do not type into it. Values arrive from the tools:
IN-GAME TEXT · column headings and map prompt. REPORTED · steps 2–3 from a Steam Community player guide and the Iron Nest Wiki.
Which bearing to measure, and from where, is its own skill: start with bearings from spotters and triangulation. The ballistic calculator shows what goes into the charge and elevation values.
The engine startup board in the turret gives three steps:
IN-GAME TEXT · "Engine Startup" board, build 25664742.
If the board's steps seem to do nothing, check whether the engine is already running: one player in Phantom Battery found the start sequence "did nothing" because the engine had never stopped amid the opening explosions. The developer has described the engine room as sitting under the map table and the engines as able to stall, with incoming fire after the counter-battery timer runs out able to shut them down. When that happens, run the three steps again.
REPORTED · Steam Community player report. OFFICIAL · developer, official Discord, July 12, 2026 (before launch).
Missions that ask you to restart the engine add their own timing and pressure; follow The Gorge guide or the Phantom Battery guide for those moments.
Press F to pick something up (X / Square on a controller).
Press G to take off the gas mask (B / Circle). G is one binding with three jobs: the game's prompts use the same key to take the gas mask off, to put the cat down and to shoo the cat away. If you rebind it, all three move together.
DATA-MINED · default keys. IN-GAME TEXT · prompts, build 25664742.
For putting things down, the game's own prompts cover two cases: a held cat ("Press G to put down") and the gas mask ("Drop Gasmask"). We have not found a general put-down key for other carried objects in the game files. Unloading a shell that is already in the gun is a separate question, answered in the shell types FAQ.
The IRON NEST cat is on by default and can be switched off in Settings. The same menu holds the cat's name, its appearance (fur colour, eye colour, a hat and face and body shape sliders) and Pet is allowed upstairs, which decides whether the cat can leave the lower deck. The appearance options sit under "Customize cat".
DATA-MINED · cat enabled by default. IN-GAME TEXT · option names and prompt.
In the turret, press F to pick the cat up and carry it elsewhere, G to put it down, or G to shoo it out of your way. A player guide notes that the cat usually wanders the lower quarters, and that opening and closing the cat customisation brings it next to the hatch if you want it right away.
REPORTED · Steam Community player guide "How to Cat".
IRON NEST coffee comes from the machine in the turret: it has a coffee can slot and a cup slot, and the prompt to drink is E (A / Cross on a controller). During the Demo the developer explained that the "perfect" rating refers to the quality of the beans themselves, and that in theory every slider can reach 100%.
IN-GAME TEXT · prompts and slots. OFFICIAL · developer, official Discord, June 17, 2026 (Demo period).
This guide does not give brewing steps.
Defaults and bindings on this page are the values the game declares in build 25664742. Settings you have saved replace them, and slider ranges are not part of the game data we read. Three questions stay open: the full range of each slider, whether a general put-down key exists for objects other than the cat, and what the gas mask is for in the current campaign. This page will be rechecked when a patch changes the settings menu or the default keys.
Not in the game: there is no mouse acceleration or smoothing setting. The developer has said the in-game cursor follows your system cursor, so turn off pointer acceleration in your operating system instead. See Controller and mouse settings.
You do not type it. Measure on the tactical map with the red pencil, which copies the bearing and range to the clipboard, or click highlighted text in a teleprinter report. See the clipboard steps.
First check that it is not already running. If it has stalled, follow the startup board: both dials to Start, pull the starter chain, both dials to Run. See Start the engine.
Press G, or B / Circle on a controller. The same key puts the cat down and shoos it. See Gas mask, picking up and putting down.
For the cat, press G. The gas mask has its own "Drop Gasmask" prompt. We have not found a general put-down key for other objects. See Gas mask, picking up and putting down.
Yes, for most actions: movement, jump, sprint, crouch, interact, pick up, the gas mask key, the clipboard keys, the menu, continue and secondary click. Look and middle click cannot be changed, and P is reserved for a free camera. See Default keys and controller buttons.
Yes. Steam lists full controller support, including DualShock and DualSense, and controller sensitivity starts at 2.0. See Controller and mouse settings.
Sources and version history for this guide: IRON NEST sources and versions.
Spot an error or a post-patch change? See how we label evidence and handle corrections in the Editorial Policy.