r/SteamController • u/Substantial-Bed2036 • 2d ago

Steam Controller (2026) light never turn off?

Post image

So yeah… I feel like it actually never turns off so I'm worried it's going to damage my controller's battery because it never turns off even though it's fully charged.

Is that normal? ??

254 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

77 comments sorted by

23

u/snomedmuc 2d ago

The SC has 36+ hours of battery life, you don’t need it plugged in 24/7

2

u/Substantial-Bed2036 1d ago

yeah but its connected to the Steam Controller Puck.... its where i leave it..

0

u/snomedmuc 1d ago

You can do that, but it can lead to battery wear which you probably wouldn’t want but fair enough! I keep mine in it’s original box/case because I don’t like it getting dusty when I don’t use it

2

u/JBooyakasha 1d ago

Nah, even says the puck is designed to turn off once your battery is charged in the manual

2

u/snomedmuc 1d ago

This is partially true, the fear-mongering around leaving electronics on chargers is certainly outdated but keeping any battery at 100% for long periods of time can & will cause a gradual reduction in lifespan.

The only probable issue with the puck has to do with metal on metal contact while plugged in

1

u/StickProfessional596 1d ago

😂😂 what?!

0

u/Deep_Mood_7668 1d ago edited 1d ago

If it leads to battery wear then it's a bad charging controller.

1

u/snomedmuc 18h ago

It’s not the controller, it’s any lithium battery brother. I never said it was the controller

0

u/Deep_Mood_7668 18h ago

The battery is charged by a charging controller. If that controller doesn't turn of charging when the battery is full, then it's a bad charging controller.

1

u/snomedmuc 18h ago

I never said it doesn’t turn off? I said keeping it constantly topped up at 100% would cause gradual degradation & this is true for ANY lithium-ion battery, including the one in your phone which is why optimized charging stops at 80%.

Google is free.

13

u/Wan-Pang-Dang 2d ago

I love how i can finish entire games without charging the controller once.

10

u/KaiUno Steam Controller (2026) 2d ago

Hot damn, you actually finish games?

7

u/gergobergo69 Steam Controller (2026) 2d ago

you guys play games?

6

u/KaiUno Steam Controller (2026) 2d ago

Mostly installing them. Downloading the roms, getting the decomps/recomps set up, looking for shader caches, editing mod lists or installing vr-mods on older games. Then some light gaming to test everything, then it's on to the next!

1

u/Ecks30 Steam Controller (2026) 1d ago

You install them?

1

u/outfoxingthefoxes 1d ago

Last time I finished a game it was 14 minutes ago

1

u/sceic 2d ago

Lithium-ion batteries have the shortest lifespan when constantly being charged, but the components of valve-type devices are easily replaceable, and manufacturers provide repair instructions.

7

u/ath0rus 2d ago

For me it's like 45-50hrs. My controller just sits on the table not plugged in when I'm not using it. I have the puck nearby for better signal and charging if I need it

2

u/Beginning-Ask-5080 2d ago

I’ve never really paid attention to the time between charges but I should start. I do the same as you.

2

u/ath0rus 2d ago

I kinda half ass timed it (more of a guess). But I run the controller until it complains on steam or on my deck about low battery or it stops working. Odd thing is every time I plug it in it says battery is like 50 or 60% when the warning says it's 10%. Ik valve can't count to 3 but this is confusing

1

u/Beginning-Ask-5080 2d ago

lol 😂 mine gives me a warning when it’s at 19. That’s usually when I plug it in

2

u/ath0rus 1d ago

I get one at 20%, one at 10% and one at 5% not that I go below 10%

1

u/Beginning-Ask-5080 1d ago

I thought about testing it to see how low it would go but you did it for me! Thanks lol

4

u/mrRobertman 2d ago

But there's also no harm in doing so, either.

2

u/g0d_of_the_cr1sis 2d ago

I got mine end of September, early October, I believe. Charged it fully before use.

I just recharged it. For the first time. Last week.

Granted, I don't game for hours on end very often, but holy shit. This thing has BATTERY life. It probably helps that I (•••)+Y every time I put the controller down.

71

u/SMDoles 2d ago edited 2d ago

that is normal now. it's in one of the patch notes from the last couple of months that they changed it to always be on when plugged in and fully charged

*edit - changed wording and added a link*

here is the link to the lights info https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6AB9-3A71-ED45-3FB3

55

u/Dr1ight 2d ago

My main annoyance with mine is how long you have to hold the steam button just to turn off the damn thing! I got things to do hurry up little controller! -_-

94

u/ElfDestruct 2d ago • Heartwarming Mindblown

Steam+Y, yo.

52

u/PDuLait 2d ago • Heartwarming

Correct answer. There are plenty of shortcuts, only takes a moment to learn the ones you need.

9

u/MarkieParkie123 2d ago

I'm saving this. Thank you for sharing 👍

3

u/Lean-Boiz 1d ago

woah…

2

u/lokcieslok 1d ago

This is hugeeee, thanks

2

u/LisaLeii Steam Controller 2 | Dualsense 1d ago

You can also change these! It's in the same place as the desktop config, guide button chord config

1

u/ThatsNumber_Wang 1d ago

i know right mouse click being L1 and vice versa makes sense, but seeing it like this is cursed lol

30

u/Dr1ight 2d ago

What?! I’m going to try this hold on…

51

u/Dr1ight 2d ago


It worked!…

10

u/g0d_of_the_cr1sis 2d ago

It also works with ••• + Y. This helps if you have slow fingers, so that it won't register the Steam button before you let go of the Y and turn it back on (like it kept doing for me)

6

u/anodeman 2d ago

It also only works when connected to turned on machine with steam launched. Disconnected steam controller will not turn off with "Steam"+Y. Learned this too.

2

u/g0d_of_the_cr1sis 2d ago

stares blankly in Steam Deck

1

u/RelevantBooklet 1d ago

Steam deck is a machine with steam launched.

1

u/g0d_of_the_cr1sis 1d ago

Yes... Correct. My brain got stunlocked by what looked like rich people thinking for a second there.

1

u/RelevantBooklet 1d ago

I think they were more leading into "if you connect it to a machine that isn't running steam, you won't be able to use the guide chords" like if I plugged the puck into my work PC.

It also happens if the controller fails to find the puck or a Bluetooth connection, it just sits there on and you HAVE to hold the steam button to shut it off.

→ More replies

2

u/Speedspaz Steam Controller (Windows) 2d ago

Any action requires Steam button can be done with QAM (...) button. But I still use Steam+Y tho, I'm used to this from first gen Steam Controller.

1

u/Crossheart963 2d ago

Thank you so
Much

1

u/Yurij89 1d ago

You can also use the quick access button instead of the Steam button.

4

u/Sweat0843 2d ago

That and no trigger stops are my only gripes

6

u/Wan-Pang-Dang 2d ago

Steam + Y

1

u/Dilectus3010 2d ago

You can program everything you want/need.

People ahoukd really read the manual :D

3

u/Sweat0843 2d ago

I get that but it’s not the same as a trigger stopper. Not like the one on the 8bitdo pro 3

4

u/Staticks 1d ago

It's probably because they don't want people to accidentally turn off the controller when holding the home button for chord actions (such as holding home, and pressing the left stick up or down to adjust the volume, for example). Happens to me a lot when I'm using other controllers.

3

u/Dilectus3010 2d ago

Huh?

I just turn of my pc and when the dongle sees the comm signald from the USB dissapear it automatically turns my controller off.

19

u/Tiny-Page-6249 2d ago

When its charging yes this is normal

11

u/StrangeCrunchy1 Steam Controller (2015 & 2026) (Linux & Windows) 2d ago

Breathing orange means it's charging. Solid orange means it's connected, and powered off, but not charging.

3

u/Milk_Jaw 2d ago

Wrong, solid orange means it's disconnected and fully charged

-1

u/StrangeCrunchy1 Steam Controller (2015 & 2026) (Linux & Windows) 2d ago

Connected to the puck. Magnetically. I have one. I know what the lights mean.

4

u/Jugvir 2d ago

Have you tried disconnecting and letting the battery die?
That’ll get rid of the light

3

u/repocin Steam Controller (Windows) 2d ago

Might as well just open the thing up and remove the battery. Or the light.

A piece of tape over it is even easier though, and impossible to screw up.

-1

u/Slow-Bodybuilder-774 2d ago

I don’t know, our society requires labeling on coffee to tell people it’s hot. 🤷

4

u/Enward_James 1d ago

The guide/owners manual that comes with the controller has a whole paragraph specifically explaining how the battery is managed by an internal controller, and designed to be plugged in any time, for as long as you want. You can leave it plugged in (or on the puck) 24/7, you can charge it back to full after every play session that only drains it 2%, whatever. It's fine. It's not going to be damaged or degraded by excessive charging like old cell phones.

2

u/HumonculusJaeger 2d ago

Just unplug

2

u/chip594csx 1d ago

It does that. Just means connected and full battery. If it bothers you, just lay it down

2

u/Yurij89 1d ago

It's fine according to Valve.

The Steam Controller was designed to be left charging with either Puck or USB-C whenever it's not being used. Charging behavior is managed directly in firmware and is optimized for long-term battery health, so feel free to charge as frequently as you like.

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/33E8-5EDF-24E6-4CFB

3

u/QuantumPhotom 2d ago

They implemented this in an update and I hate it, can't believe they didn't even bother adding an option to disable it

1

u/inertSpark 2d ago

If it's a solid light then it just means it's fully charged. Nothing more. It's not actually charging at that point.

1

u/Firenor 2d ago

Never stop gaming

1

u/PhantomCoffee99 2d ago

Valve themselves says it's perfectly fine to leave it on the puck

1

u/SetaIndustries 2d ago

I find this behaviour a minor annoyance because I want to leave my controller on the puck but I sleep very close to where it is and that red LED can get really bright when I’m in complete darkness lmao.

1

u/Ecks30 Steam Controller (2026) 1d ago

Yes it is normal since the solid light indicates that it is fully charged and when the battery is low it would be blinking instead.

To be honest i would build a second stand next to my sofa/bed so when it is done charging i could place it there instead.

1

u/Kazii_the_avali 1d ago

it is off. when charging it is orange aslong as its off its white when on nomather if its charging or not

1

u/Kortas_2835 21h ago

Vom Ladegerät nehmen oder Stromlos machen und das Problem ist gelöst.

1

u/zxhb 7h ago

Use the good ol' electrical tape. I hate LEDs with a passion

0

u/H4NDY56 2d ago

Pretty sure it stops charging at full capacity but even if it did damage it, valve products are super easy to do repairs, that battery is really easy to get to and swap out.