A great game command layout guide starts with one uncomfortable truth: your device can have hundreds of available actions, but only a handful deserve to be one press away. The difference between a control panel that feels brilliant and one that becomes visual clutter is not how many commands it holds. It is whether the right command appears at the exact moment you need it.
For Stream Deck and Corsair Galleon users, that moment might be lowering landing gear on final approach, acknowledging an urgent crew call in Star Citizen, changing a brake setting during a race, or switching scene and audio controls while live. Your physical keys should reduce friction, not give you another interface to remember.
Start With the Commands You Actually Use
Do not build around a game’s full keybind menu. Build around your own repeatable sessions. A dedicated simulation rig has different priorities from a creator desk, and a casual player may value broad access over competitive speed.
Begin by playing normally for an hour. Notice the actions that interrupt your flow: commands you forget, bindings that require two hands, menus you repeatedly open, and actions that matter under pressure. Those are the first candidates for physical keys.
A useful test is simple: if an action is used frequently, difficult to remember, or time-sensitive, it earns a prominent position. If it is only needed when setting up a session, it can live on a secondary page. If it is rarely used and already easy to reach in-game, it may not need a hardware key at all.
This prevents the classic overbuilt profile. Filling every key may look impressive in a screenshot, but it can make a 15-key deck slower than a thoughtfully organised 6-key section.
Build Your Layout Around Game States
The best command layouts are state-aware, even when the hardware itself is not. In other words, arrange controls around what you are doing now, not simply around the game’s menu categories.
In a space sim, your needs change radically between hangar preparation, flight, combat and landing. In a racing title, garage adjustments, qualifying, race starts and pit strategy are distinct jobs. Train Sim World players often move between safety systems, driving controls, passenger operations and camera tools.
Keep primary actions on the home page
Your home page is for controls that must be immediate. Place the most important inputs where your hand naturally lands, then reserve the corners or outer keys for actions that are useful but less urgent.
For a driving setup, that could mean pit limiter, headlights, wipers, brake bias and traction control. For Star Citizen, it might be power presets, landing gear, doors, comms and countermeasures. A creator’s home page may combine scene changes, microphone mute, recording and key applications.
The exact set depends on the title, but the rule remains: a home page is an active control surface, not a directory.
Use pages for clear modes, not overflow
Secondary pages work best when they represent a clear place or activity. Think Navigation, Systems, Combat, Cameras, Vehicle Setup, Streaming or Productivity. The page label should answer one question: what am I doing here?
Avoid creating pages merely because the first page is full. That forces you to memorise where arbitrary commands went. If a page has no obvious purpose, it is usually a sign that a command can be removed, moved into a better group, or replaced with a multi-action.
A reliable page structure for complex titles usually includes these four areas:
- Core controls for the actions used throughout every session
- Mode-specific controls for a task such as flight, racing or streaming
- Setup controls for lower-frequency adjustments and menus
- Utility controls for profiles, lighting, audio, screenshots or desktop tools
Make Icons Readable at a Glance
An icon is not decoration. It is a split-second decision aid. If you need to read every key label closely before pressing it, the layout is working against you.
Choose icons with a clear visual subject, strong contrast and a restrained colour system. A red shield or flare reads naturally as a defensive action. Blue can suit navigation, power or communications. Yellow and amber work well for caution, lights and utility functions. The colours do not need to follow universal rules, but they do need to mean the same thing everywhere in your profile.
Text has a role, particularly for similar functions such as engine start, engine stop and engine reset. Keep labels short. “Gear”, “Map”, “Pit”, “Doors” and “Mute” are easier to scan than long descriptions. Where a command has a specialised name, pair it with a recognisable symbol so the meaning stays clear after a few sessions.
There is also a trade-off between visual style and speed. Highly detailed artwork can look fantastic on a product page, but simple high-contrast iconography is often quicker to identify from your peripheral vision. Premium profiles should give you both: strong visual polish without sacrificing practical readability.
Put High-Risk Commands Behind Intentional Choices
Not every action should be easy to hit. Eject, self-destruct, quit session, reset vehicle, end stream and delete recording are all commands that benefit from friction.
Move them away from your most-used keys, place them on a dedicated utility page, or use a multi-action that makes accidental activation less likely. For especially disruptive actions, a confirmation step inside the game may be worth keeping enabled.
This is where personal habits matter. Some users want a fully immersive panel with every switch represented. Others want a performance-first layout with only essential commands. Neither approach is wrong, but both need sensible safeguards. A polished layout is not just fast - it is predictable when your attention is elsewhere.
Use Multi-Actions for Repeatable Sequences
Multi-actions are most valuable when they remove a routine, not when they turn a complicated decision into one button. Good examples include launching a game with supporting apps, opening your streaming tools, setting an initial scene and audio state, or moving through a familiar pre-flight workflow.
For simulation players, a sequence can be useful for non-critical preparation tasks. For creators, it can prepare a recording or live-session workspace. Keep manual control available for every important stage, though. A single key should not hide a chain of actions that you may need to interrupt or troubleshoot.
The same restraint applies to folders and nested controls. They are valuable for dense toolsets, but each extra press adds delay. Use them for optional tools, not for the commands that define the session.
Test the Layout Under Real Pressure
A profile that feels logical while you are building it may fail the first time you are trying to recover a slide, enter a pit lane, land in poor visibility or fix an audio issue live. Test it in the conditions that matter.
Run a race stint, a complete freight service, a combat encounter or a short stream. When you hesitate, do not blame yourself. Treat that hesitation as layout feedback. Maybe the icon is unclear, the page is badly named, two commands are too similar, or the action belongs on the home screen after all.
Make changes one category at a time. If you rebuild everything after every session, you will not know what improved the experience. A stable layout gradually becomes muscle memory, which is exactly the point.
Choose a Ready-Made Foundation When Time Matters
Building from scratch is satisfying, especially if your setup is highly individual. It also takes time: icon sourcing, key mapping, page structure, visual consistency, testing and maintenance all add up. For a deep sim or a multi-tool creator desk, that can become a project of its own.
Pre-configured packs offer a faster route when they match the games and hardware you already use. iConCity profiles are designed around device-ready command groups, large icon libraries and the practical realities of Stream Deck and Corsair Galleon control. They give you a strong starting structure, while leaving room to adjust the handful of commands that make your own setup personal.
The goal is not to create the busiest possible panel. It is to build a control system you trust without looking down. Start with the actions that matter, refine them through real sessions, and let every key earn its place.