Navigation keys

Navigation keys is a term used to refer to keys on a keyboard used for cursor or game control in lieu of arrow keys, joystick, or D-pad. Most such key arrangements are set by a specific application program, and often are user-definable.

WASD keys

WASD (also conceptually known by common ESDF and IJKL) is a set of four keys on a QWERTY or QWERTZ computer keyboard which mimics the inverted-T configuration of the arrow keys. These keys are often used to control the player character's movement in computer games. W/S control forward and backward and A/D control strafing left and right. Primarily, WASD is used to account for the fact that the arrow keys are not ergonomic to use in conjunction with a right-handed mouse.

Some gamers prefer the WASD keys to the arrow keys for other various reasons, including the fact that more keys (and therefore, game commands) are easily accessible with the left hand when placed near WASD. Left-handed mouse users may prefer using the numpad or IJKL with their right hands instead for similar reasons.

After being popularized by first-person shooters, WASD became more common in other computer game genres as well. Many of the games that have adopted this layout use a first-person or over-the-shoulder third-person perspective.

IJKL keys

Many browser-based games use IJKL as control keys. These keys are in a similar layout to the arrow keys and players can easily adapt to their use. The most common reason for using IJKL rather than arrow keys is the fact that many browsers will attempt to scroll the main window when arrow keys are used, which can be disruptive to gameplay. This is a problem specific to DHTML/JavaScript games.

The IJKL key combination is very similar to the HJKL keys that were historically used as navigation keys in early computer programs for computers that either did not contain arrow keys, or had them placed in a difficult configuration.

Some older computer games, especially those on 8-bit platforms, often had the combination IJKM hardwired into the software as the standard control key combination.

Games for the 8-bit Apple II platform often used IJKM instead - more logically arranged, if far less ergonomic than an inverted-T. In addition, special support existed in ROM for Escape mode. At the Applesoft BASIC prompt, using the right and left arrow keys to move the cursor would add/remove characters the cursor passed over to/from the input buffer. Pressing the Escape key entered a mode where pressing the I, J, K or M keys would move the cursor without altering the input buffer. After exiting this mode by pressing Escape again, normal behavior would resume. This made it easy to edit lines of BASIC code by listing them, then re-inputting them with edits interspersed.
HJKL keys are a method of navigating a cursor around the screen in a console program without using arrow keys or numpad. Popularized by their use in the vi text editor (originally written by Bill Joy on an ADM-3A terminal where arrows appeared over the h, j, k and l keys), these keys are also used in many roguelike games. Some early Apple II games used this setup prior to Apple's release of systems with arrow keys.

vi
In vi's command mode the HJKL keys do the following actions:
*h moves the cursor left.
*j moves the cursor down.
*k moves the cursor up.
*l moves the cursor right.
These keys are consistent with Ctrl-h for backspace (deleting the previous character, moving the cursor left) and Ctrl-j for line feed (moving the cursor to the next line), and on the ADM-3A terminal, Ctrl-k (vertical tab, meaning moving the cursor up) and Ctrl-l (moving the cursor non-destructively to the right).

Roguelikes
The HJKL keys were famously used in Rogue for moving the character, and many other roguelikes (like NetHack and Linley's Dungeon Crawl) have continued the tradition. Of course moving with arrow keys or numpad is also possible. For diagonal movement the following keys are used:
*y for up-left
*u for up-right
*b for down-left
*n for down-right
Also using these keys with Shift key makes the character run in that direction until something interrupts him/her.

StepMania
The game Dance Dance Revolution draws four columns of arrow marks in the order left, down, up, right. Some players of StepMania, a PC-based clone of Dance Dance Revolution, map their controls to HJKL to correspond directly to the order of the arrows.

Other uses
In the interactive fiction game The Gostak, which is in a made-up language, "kirf", "jirf", "hoff", "loff" correspond to north, south, west, east directions. They could be abbreviated as k,j,h,l. The diagonal directions are called "kiloff", "kihoff", "jiloff" and "jihoff".

The HJKL keys are also used for movement in Robots.

QAOP
Many games for 8-bit home computers, like the ZX Spectrum, used QAOP as directional control keys. Some older computer games on PCs use QAOP.

Left hand was used for vertical movement (Qup, Adown) while the right hand was used for horizontal movement (Oleft, Pright), with the right-hand thumb pressing the space bar or M for 'fire'.

There were also several other sets of keys based on the similar idea. In all cases, the sets were designed to avoid keyboard clash, whereby multiple keys pressed simultaneously would not register if they were within the same input band.

Popular variations
The ESDF variation is sometimes preferred because it provides access to movement independent keys for the little finger (Z, A, SHIFT) which generally allows for more advanced manual binding. Incidentally, it allows the left hand to remain in homerow with the advantage of the F key homerow marker (available on most standard keyboards) to easily return to position with the index finger. "ESDF" is the default configuration for several games such as Tribes 2. The game Blackthorne used a combination of arrow keys for movement and ESDF for actions.

"IJKL" is used by a growing number of browser games. These games cannot use the arrow keys because many browsers' windows will scroll if the arrow keys are used, thus hindering gameplay. "ESDF", "IJKL" etc, like WASD, are arranged in an ergonomic inverted T shape, and, since they are used by the right hand, adjustment is easy for people who commonly use the arrow keys.

Another old-style variation that spawned from games like Quake, was the "SDF-SPACE" layout. In this layout, sturn left, dforward, fturn right, spacebackpedal, estrafe left and rstrafe right. This layout allows for a player to aim with the mouse while strafing(sidestepping), turning and running or backpedalling all at once creating slightly more complex movements. This variation is not favoured any longer for two main reasons. First, because many players deem the turn commands useless because the mouse can act as a turning device, and so they assign "S" and "F" to the sidestep commands and leave the turn commands unassigned. The second, and probably more prominent reason is, in assigning both the turn and strafe commands, performing movements and dodges can be much more confusing, so newcomers tend to not prefer this key setup. Though no longer widely used, many FPS veterans and tournament players still employ this key setup.
All in all, WASD still remains the most popular keyboard setup.

Less common variations
Some gamers shift further across to RDFG, to give the little finger access to more keys.

Another variation is W-A-X-D, used by people who are used to the arrows on the numeric keypad (which has the down arrow a line below the left/right arrows, instead of in between).

Also common is the HJKL (hleft, jdown, kup and lright) layout used in the Unix computer world, a practice spawned by its use in the ubiquitous vi text editor. The editor was written by Bill Joy for use on an Lear-Siegler ADM-3A terminal, which places arrow symbols on these letters. An example of a game that uses HJKL is the text-based "graphic" adventure NetHack.

Vaguely related is the ZXC layout, used in many freeware games, and a common setup for emulation and older 2D gaming using a keyboard. An OPAQ layout was also common for full-keyboard games.

AZERTY users will use the "ZQSD" combination instead, since those are the keys in place of WASD on a QWERTY keyboard. On the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard, "WASD" would be ",AOE".

Another, close, variation is the WQSE combination, which follows the belief that the index and ring fingers' natural and more ergonomic position when the middle finger is on 'W' is Q and E rather than A and D, respectively. This can be attested to by the fact that the arrow keys were partly designed in the inverted T shape in order to avoid having the side buttons possibly directly underneath other keys. It also has the advantage that there is less distance needed to travel to reach the number keys. For similar reasons, some gamers use the WQSD combination (which is WASD with the 'A' key moved up to 'Q', or WQSE with the 'E' moved down to 'D'). For players who prefer to keep the keyboard centered on the body, this allows for less wrist rotation, as it places the index finger naturally over the 'D' key when the left arm rests down to the left of the keyboard.

Left-handed players may use the numeric keypad instead.

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