A Simple Guide to the Ducky One

Posted on February 15, 2018 · 1 minute read

It’s that time of the year again. That time when I remember that I have a blog and maybe should write something now and then. Well here goes.

Recently I purchased a Ducky One Mechanical Keyboard. There are some nice features to it, like backlight and macro programming and such. However, the documentation I found online wasn’t very helpful. Luckily, the manual that came with the keyboard was much more useful, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to do anything much.

I’ll try to compile the most useful information here.

Backlighting

The Ducky One comes with several backlighting modes. You may light your whole keyboard (using different modes) or select which keys you want to light.

Full Keyboard Backlight

Use the following commands to customize the backlight for the whole keyboard.

Key	Description
`Fn + F10`	Toggle between the following modes: Full Backlight, Breathing Mode, Raindrop Mode, Reactive Mode, Ripple Mode, Backlight Off.
`Fn + ↑`	Increase brightness.
`Fn + ↓`	Decrease brightness.
`Fn + ←`	Increase speed.
`Fn + →`	Decrease speed.
`Fn + F10`, for 3 seconds	Turn off all backlighting, including custom zones.

Custom Backlight Zones

You may set up custom backlighting zones. This means individual keys that have their own independent backlight. There are two zones that can be controlled separately. They may be turned on and off independently of each other and in addition to the full backlight.

I personally like the full backlight decreased brightness and the currently used macro keys (more on that later) with full Brightness. Breathing mode for the full keyboard also works nicely.

Key	Description
`Fn + F11`	Toggle Zone 1 between On, Breathing Mode, and Off*.
`Fn + F12`	Toggle Zone 2 between On, Breathing Mode, and Off*.
`Fn + PrtScr`	Record Zone 1.
`Fn + Pause`	Record Zone 2.
`Caps Lock + ↑/↓`	Increase or decrease custom backlight brightness.
`Caps Lock + Scroll Lock`	End recording.

Here is a quick walk through on how to program a custom backlight zone. Here we will set WASD to have a custom backlight using Zone 1.

Press Fn + PrtScr to start recording for Zone 1.
Caps Lock will display the brightness to be used for the selected keys. Use Caps Lock + ↑/↓ or to increase or decrease the brightness.
Select the keys you want to select. In this case press W, A, S and D.
If you selected a key you don’t want simply press it again to unselect it.
Press Caps Lock + Scroll Lock to stop the recording.

Press Fn + F11 to toggle the first layer.

Macros

The Ducky One uses Ducky Macro V2.0. If you are reading this post chances are you are what Macros are: Set up a key to replay another key or combination of keys.

Profiles

The keyboard supports six layers. Layers 2-6 can be configured to use custom macros.

Key	Description
`Fn + 1`	Switch to profile 1, the default layer.
`Fn + 2`	Switch to profile 2.
`Fn + 3`	Switch to profile 3.
`Fn + 4`	Switch to profile 4.
`Fn + 5`	Switch to profile 5.
`Fn + 6`	Switch to profile 6.
`Left Windows + Spacebar`, for 3 seconds	Clear macros for current layer.

Macro Recording

Macros may be replayed once or multiple times. The speed with which they are recorded may also be configured.

Key	Description
`Fn + Ctrl`, for 3 seconds	Start recording the macro. `Caps Lock` will start flashing slowly.
`Fn + Ctrl`	Stop recording the macro.
`Fn + Alt`	Continue recording another macro.
`Fn + Q`	When the selected key is pressed insert the macro.
`Fn + W`	When the selected key is pressed insert the macro until the key is pressed again.
`Fn + E`	Repeat the macro for as long as the key is pressed.

Key	Description
`Fn + 1`	Configure interval to 0.02s
`Fn + 2`	Configure replay interval to 0.1s
`Fn + 3`	Configure replay interval to 0.2s
`Fn + 4`	Configure replay interval to 0.4s
`Fn + 5`	Configure replay interval to 0.8s
`Fn + 6`	Configure replay interval to 1

Per default Macros will be replayed using the speed with which you typed them. Use Fn + 1 to make replay faster, especially if you replay key combinations. Note that you will have to press Fn + 1 before each key you want to replay. If you think this is stupid: I agree.

Here is a quick walk through on how to make the h key replay hello world on layer 2.

Change to layer 2 using Fn + 2. Then press Fn + Ctrl for three seconds. The keys that already have macro functions will light up. Caps Lock will start flashing slowly.
If you want to deactivate macro keys you may press any of the keys with macro functions at this point.
Press the key that you want to assign to a macro. In this case the h key. Caps Lock will start flashing quickly
Optionally configure the speed with which the following key should be replayed using Fn + 1 - 6
Press the key to replay. In this case simply type h.
Optionally configure the speed with which the next key should be replayed using Fn + 1 - 6. Then press the next key. Repeat this step for all the following keys.
Once you are done with entering keys, optionally configure the macro replay function using Fn + Q/W/E.
If you want to assign another macro function press Fn + Alt. To finish press Fn + Ctrl.

Special Macro Keys

The following key combinations serve special functions. Assign them to Macro keys to use them.

Key	Description
`Fn + Windows + A`	Mute
`Fn + Windows + B`	Volume Up
`Fn + Windows + C`	Volume Down
`Fn + Windows + D`	Play/Pause
`Fn + Windows + E`	Stop
`Fn + Windows + F`	Next Track
`Fn + Windows + G`	Previous Track
`Fn + Windows + H`	Calculator
`Fn + Windows + I`	My Computer
`Fn + Windows + J`	Browser
`Fn + Windows + K`	Mail
`Fn + Windows + L`	Multimedia
`Fn + Windows + M`	Search
`Fn + Windows + N`	Previous Page
`Fn + Windows + O`	Next Page
`Fn + Windows + P`	Mouse Left Click
`Fn + Windows + Q`	Mouse Right Click
`Fn + Windows + R`	Mouse Middle Click
`Fn + Windows + S`	Mouse Cursor Up
`Fn + Windows + T`	Mouse Cursor Down
`Fn + Windows + U`	Mouse Cursor Left
`Fn + Windows + V`	Mouse Cursor Right
`Fn + Windows + W`	Mouse Scroll Up
`Fn + Windows + X`	Mute