Xbox Controller Guide - Age of Empires IV

Age of Empires IV is fully playable on an Xbox controller, but nearly every action sits behind a trigger, a radial menu or an LT combination. This guide covers each part of the layout with its own diagram: selection, unit commands, production, control groups, camera, minimap, villager priorities and the LT modifier. If you are brand new to the game itself, start with our Xbox beginner's guide, which covers economy and match basics alongside the controls.

How to Read the Diagrams

• Lit buttons are the ones that matter for that topic. Dimmed buttons do nothing special there.
• "Hold" means press and keep the button down. "Twice" or "double-tap" means two quick presses.
• "LT + …" means hold LT, then press the other button. LT is the game's command modifier, so think of it as Shift.
• All bindings are the defaults from the official Age of Empires IV controller layout. If you remap anything, the in-game layout screens update to match.

The Full Layout

Everything else in this guide builds on this one picture. A does the obvious thing for whatever is under the cursor, RT opens a radial menu, LT changes what the other buttons do, and the sticks drive the cursor and camera.

Before You Play: Settings Worth Knowing

• Play the tutorial first. It introduces the button combos one at a time and can be replayed whenever you need a refresher.
• Bindings are remappable. If a combination does not suit your hands, change it in the Controls options.
• Keyboard and mouse work on Xbox too. Switching the input preset under Options → Controls replaces the radial menus with PC-style command bars.
• The same layout now exists on PC. Since patch 16.2.10604 (June 2026), the PC version has an optional controller UI with the Site Menu and Villager Priority systems, aimed at handhelds like Steam Deck and ROG Ally. Switching UI mode needs a restart.

Cursor and Selection

On a controller you cannot flick a mouse across the screen, so the trick is to select lots at once and trim, rather than build a selection one unit at a time.

• Double-tap A on a unit to grab every visible unit of that type. It's the fastest way to pull all your archers out of a mixed army.
• Hold Y to select every unit on screen, then hold B and drag to cut out the ones you don't want.
• LT + A adds single units or a dragged box to what you already have selected.
• The D-pad holds quick-select shortcuts, including a jump to your nearest idle villager. Use it whenever you have a spare second.

Commanding Units

• A is contextual. Point at ground to move, at a resource to gather, at an enemy to attack, or at a damaged building to repair.
• X is attack-move. Units head for the spot but fight anything they meet. Use X to advance and A to retreat. Our beginner's guide has a full breakdown of move vs. attack-move.
• Y is a quick command for the selection, so common actions skip the radial entirely. Holding X triggers another quick command.
• Hold RT for the full command radial: patrol, formations and unit abilities.
• LT + A queues an order after the current one instead of replacing it. Chain a villager through three buildings, or set waypoints around an enemy army.
• LB + RB stops the selection. Holding both deletes it, so don't rest your fingers on the bumpers.

How the Radial Menus Work

The radial menu replaces the PC version's command card and hotkey grid. Hold RT, push the left stick toward a segment, and press A. Some selections have more options than fit on one wheel, so the menu is split into pages that you flip through with the D-pad. B closes it.

• What you get depends on your selection. Villagers get building wheels, soldiers get unit commands, and buildings get their units and technologies.
• With nothing selected, RT opens the Site Menu. That's a wheel built from whatever is under the cursor: nearby buildings and units to jump to, or build options for that spot. It's the quickest way to queue troops at a barracks while your camera is on a fight.
• Tap B before opening a new radial. Clearing your selection first makes switching between wheels much smoother, and it's how you reach the Site Menu.
• Learn the segment positions, not the icons. Items are assigned to set slots and pages on their wheels, so after a few games with the same civilization your thumb will flick to "barracks" or "house" without you reading anything.

Buildings and Production

• Hold LT while confirming to queue a stack of five units at once. That's the easiest way to keep a Town Center busy.
• Y removes the highlighted item from the build queue if you over-queued or need the resources back.
• X upgrades a unit when an upgrade is available for the highlighted unit type.
• Select several buildings of one type (double-tap A on one) before opening the wheel, and the queue spreads across all of them.

Control Groups

Control groups are the single biggest speed-up on controller, because they replace hunting around the map for the same units. Hold LT and press RT to open the group radial, highlight a slot with the left stick, then:

• A creates a group from your selection, or selects that group if it already exists. Hold A to select it and fly the camera there.
• X adds your current selection to the group. Y resets the slot.
• LT + RB cycles through your groups without opening the wheel.

A setup that works for most players: one slot for the main army, one for ranged units or siege, one for all Town Centers, and one each for barracks, archery ranges and stables. Keep the slots in the same positions every game so the stick direction becomes muscle memory.

Camera Controls

• RB is the fast camera. Use it when you need to cross the map, and go back to the plain stick for fine cursor work.
• Camera waypoints are the hidden gem. Click both sticks together to drop a waypoint, then use LT + right stick to hop between them. Put one on your base, one on your forward position and one on a contested resource.
• View snaps to the latest alert. When the game warns you about an attack, press it before you do anything else.
• Click the left stick to re-center on your selection after you've looked away.
• Sit closer than you think. The camera only zooms out so far, and console reviewers' biggest complaint was reading the battlefield from the couch. Zoom out fully with the right stick and use the minimap for the big picture.

The Minimap

On a controller the minimap is a full command surface, not just a map. Open it with RB and the left stick moves a reticle. X attack-moves your selection to the reticle and A gives a contextual order there, so you can send an army across the map without scrolling. Y jumps the main camera to the reticle. The D-pad drops pings for teammates (attack, look here, defend here) and clears minimap waypoints. Hold it down to remove all of them.

Villager Priorities

The Villager Priority System is a console-first feature that automates your economy. In its menu, browse tasks with the left stick, raise a priority with A, lower it with Y, switch pages with the D-pad, and toggle automation with X. With automation on, villagers go to the highest-priority work by themselves, idle ones included. Before you age up, raise the resources the next age needs. When you switch to building an army, raise food and gold.

Every LT Combo

LT is the button that turns a 16-button controller into a full RTS keyboard. The combos worth learning first are LT + A (add to selection, queue orders, train five), LT + RT (control groups) and LT + D-pad (Military Quick Find, which jumps straight to your army). LT + LS click opens your civilization's own menu for civ-specific mechanics, and LT + Menu opens Diplomacy for tributes and team settings. The official layout lists both "Cycle control groups" and "Chat log / player scores" on LT + RB.

Five Drills to Build Muscle Memory

Run these in a skirmish against an Easy AI. You're practicing the controller, not trying to win.

1. Villager loop. Queue villagers with LT held on the Town Center radial, then send each new villager to work using only the idle-villager shortcut and A. Repeat until you never see the idle counter climb.
2. Build without looking. Select a villager, hold RT and place a house, a lumber camp and a mill from the same wheel positions every time.
3. Group setup in the first five minutes. Put your Town Center, scout and first production building on control groups, then select each one only through the LT + RT radial.
4. Waypoint hopping. Drop camera waypoints on your base and two resource sites, then cycle them with LT + right stick while your economy runs.
5. Minimap army moves. Build a small army, open the minimap with RB and attack-move it to three points on the map with X, without touching the main camera.

Where to Go Next

Once the bindings click, our Xbox beginner's guide covers economy, ages and how matches are won. 10 tips for every beginner is a quick refresher, and Nomad Megarandom 101 is a good next step once you're comfortable.

Further reading: Age of Empires IV stats lookup and the Age of Empires IV unit database.

Sources

Bindings come from the official Age of Empires IV Default Controller Layouts page. The controller diagrams are our own illustrations of that layout. Radial menu design details are from Craig Richardson's write-up on building the Xbox UI. The PC controller UI details are from GamingOnLinux. Console impressions are from Can I Play That?, Game Rant and Checkpoint Gaming.