How to Program a Virtual 3-Way on SmartThings with Regular Bulbs

Setting up a virtual 3-way on SmartThings lets you pair two Zooz switches or dimmers to control the same light—without needing a wired connection between the switches. In this setup, the main switch or dimmer is rewired as a single pole, while the remote unit connects to power, neutral, and ground only.

There are three ways to program this configuration: Direct Association (recommended), Central Scene, or Rules (scenes). Direct Association allows the switches to communicate directly outside of the hub—ideal when both are added via the standard Z-Wave mesh network (this will not work for switches that are included using Z-Wave Long Range). Meanwhile, Central Scene relies on hub communication and scene commands, a perfect choice when using Z-Wave Long Range. Rules/scenes are the last option, and only recommended if you're using a hub that does not support Direct Association or Central Scene. This guide walks you through all methods, so you can choose the best fit for your setup.

Please ensure you have followed the correct wiring diagram for the virtual 3-way. There cannot be a wired connection between the smart switches.

1. Direct Association (Recommended)

IMPORTANT NOTES

Our unique programming design allows our switches to be directly associated while still maintaining the correct status on each switch. Direct Association allows the switches to be linked together and communicate outside of the hub. Your Z-Wave system needs to support this feature and both switches need to be added to your hub with the same level of security via the mesh.

Security Level: The switches must be on the exact same security level in order for any association to be programmed.
Recommended Models: We recommend that you use the ZEN71 On/Off switch, ZEN72 Dimmer, ZEN75 Heavy Duty Switch, ZEN30 Double Switch, ZEN32 Scene Controller, or ZEN35 Scene Dimmer models with the latest firmware for this scenario and program them according to the instructions below for the best experience. The ZEN77 (as well as the ZEN73, ZEN74, and ZEN76 can be used in the virtual set-up, but we would recommend these units be wired in the main box with the direct connection to the load).
Firmware: To start, we recommend checking the firmware version on your dimmer/switch. The instructions are simpler if you are using firmware higher than 3.30; if your unit is a hardware VER 3.0, please update your unit to the latest available firmware for your hardware version before programming the association. SmartThings does not support OTA firmware updates for Z-Wave devices at this time, so you would need to utilize a Z-Wave stick and PC Controller software as outlined here.
Custom Driver: You also need to have the custom driver installed for your switches. If you haven't installed it, you can find the instructions here.

Dimmer/Switch Settings/Parameter Instructions

Parameters are also called Settings in SmartThings. You can access the settings by clicking on the device you need to change settings for in your app and tap the 3 dots in the top right corner of the app. Then tap Settings. The full list of parameters with included descriptions are in our Knowledge Base as well. Simply search your switch model number + SmartThings + settings.

Main dimmer or on/off switch (connected to load): No changes in settings
Remote dimmer or on/off switch (not directly wired to the load): no changes in settings (as long as you are on firmware higher than 3.30).
- If you have an earlier firmware, you will need to set Parameter 7 to value 11 (ONLY if your firmware is earlier than 3.30; this will break the direct association if used on firmware 3.30 or later.

Set the Association

On/Off Switches:

Set the association for Group 2 (Basic Set On/Off) only, adding the device ID's for the other switch in the group. So, if switch A is your main switch and switch B is your remote switch, add switch B to Group 2 on switch A and add switch A to Group 2 on switch B.

IMPORTANT: The remote switch can then only be used from the paddles (you need to hide it in your interface not to trigger it via Z-Wave) while any Z-Wave or wireless control of the light needs to happen from the main switch A. This will ensure both devices stay in sync at all times.

Dimmers:

Set the association for Group 3 (Multilevel Set) only, adding the device ID's for other dimmers in the group. So if dimmer A is your main dimmer and dimmer B is your remote dimmer, add dimmer B to Group 3 on dimmer A and add dimmer A to Group 3 on dimmer B.

IMPORTANT: The remote dimmer can then only be used from the paddles (you need to hide it in the UI not to trigger it via Z-Wave) as any Z-Wave or wireless control of the light needs to happen from the main dimmer A. This will ensure both devices stay in sync at all times.

In our below example, we're using the ZEN77 Dimmer as the main dimmer (directly wired to the load) with the ZEN72 Dimmer in the remote box (connected to power line, neutral, and ground only).

1. Access your remote dimmer (ZEN72 in our example) and note the Device Network ID (3D). This will be utilized in the next steps so be sure you write it down or remember it.

2. Access your main dimmer (ZEN77 in our example; click the 3 dots in the upper right hand corner.

3. Click Settings.

4. Since our example is using dimmers, we'll be selecting Multilevel Set Association. If you're working with on/off switches, you will utilize Basic Set Association instead.

5. Enter the device ID for the remote dimmer you saved from step 1 (3D). Click Save.

6. Return to the main ZEN77 screen. You'll now see 3D in the Multilevel Association Group, confirming it saved successfully. Now note the ZEN77 Device Network ID of 3E; you will use this in the next steps so store that number.

7. Access your remote dimmer (ZEN72). Click the 3 small dots in the upper right hand corner.

8. Click Settings.

9. Click Multilevel Set Association. (If you're working with on/off switches, select Basic Set Association)

10. Input the Device Network ID for the main dimmer (ZEN77 > 3E).

11. Return to the main Controls screen for the ZEN72 and ensure the Association saved.

12. Test your association! You can now turn the light on and off and dim from either switch in the virtual installation.

2. Central Scene

This option uses Z-Wave’s built-in command structure. When you tap, double-tap, or hold a switch button, the switch sends a Central Scene notification directly to the hub. The hub interprets these commands and executes the linked automations, such as turning another switch on or dimming a light. Central Scene programming happens at the protocol level—it’s part of the Z-Wave standard—and doesn’t require you to manually build multiple automations for each possible action. However, in a virtual 3-way the switches themselves don’t stay perfectly synchronized because the LED indicators rely on local device states, not hub commands. Central scene uses the status reported by each switch.

Important Notes

If you are looking to dim via scene control, please note that virtual/wireless dimming where you press the paddles and it sends a signal to the other dimmer to start changing brightness can usually be accomplished by "held" and "released" button triggers and "start level change" / "stop level change" on the action side on most hubs. Unfortunately, SmartThings doesn't currently support the action part of this rule so this method cannot be used if you need dimming functionality.
This type of communication between the devices requires that your hub is active and operational.
The paddle on your switch will now be treated like a button on a remote control that's pressed or held - it will send only this information to the hub and should not be treated as an additional on/off device with its own status.
After you add the switch to the hub, you need to go to the advanced settings to enable scene control on your device (it's disabled by default). If you don't change the setting first, your programming won't work.

When creating a virtual 3-way setup using Central Scene programming, only one of the two switches needs to have Scene Control enabled—the one that isn’t directly connected to the load.

The load switch (in the below example, a ZEN77 wired to the light) already controls the light locally. When you press its paddle, it turns the connected load on or off directly through wiring, so there’s no need for it to send scene commands. This switch will simply receive on/off or dim commands from the hub when the remote switch is used.

The remote switch (in the below example, a ZEN72 that’s powered but not wired to the light) is the one that must have scene control enabled. Because it doesn’t have a load connection, it relies on Central Scene notifications to tell the hub what action should occur. The hub then runs an automation to control the load switch accordingly.

In short:

The remote (no load) switch → Scene Control enabled.
The load-connected switch → Scene Control disabled. You can have this enabled if you prefer to use this for other multi-tap options, it simply isn't required in the below virtual 3-way example.
The hub manages the logic, translating scene events into load actions.

Programming Steps

Start by enabling scene control on the remote switch/dimmer (no direct load connection). This is neccessary for the scene control to work.

1. Access your remote switch and click the 3 dots in the upper right hand corner > click Settings.

2. Click Scene Control > select Enabled > Click OK.

3. Click Routines.

4. Click the + at the top right.

5. Under If, click + Add condition.

6. Click Device Status.

7. Select the remote switch (ZEN72 Dimmer).

8. Select the action. We're using the single toggle up here to mimic natural behavior.

9. Under Then, click + Add action.

10. Select Control devices.

11. Select the main switch/dimmer (ZEN77 Dimmer).

12. Select Turn on. You can also select the brightness level, etc. in the options as well. Click Done.

13. Once you've finalized your routine, click Save.

14. Select a name for your routine and click Save.

Run through the above steps again to create a second routine, this time using the toggled down as the trigger to turn off the ZEN77.

When done, you should have two scenes, one to turn on the main switch, and one to turn off the main switch.

3. Smart Rules

In most interfaces, this is simply called scenes or routines. This is a higher-level automation feature managed entirely by the hub. Instead of using Central Scene commands, you manually define a set of actions for each event—turn this device on, set that one to 50%, etc. To make two switches behave like a 3-way, you’d typically need four separate scenes: one for turning on from switch A, one for turning off from A, one for turning on from B, and one for turning off from B. While this keeps both switches synchronized, it generates more Z-Wave traffic and adds complexity, since every state change must be processed by the hub and distributed to all devices involved.

Since SmartThings supports Direct Association and Central Scene, Smart Rules would be used as a last resort, unless you require the switch LED indicators to be synchronized. With Central Scene, the LED indicators will not be in sync because the LED indicators rely on local device states, not hub commands. Smart Rules would keep the LED indicators in sync, but cause more Z-Wave traffic. You would need the following 4 routines.

If switch A is turned on, then turn switch B on.
If switch A is turned off, then turn switch B off.
If switch B is turned on, then turn switch A on.
If switch B is turned off, then turn switch A off.

Programming Steps

You would follow the steps above in the Central Scene programming section above, but now you would select the status of each switch. For example, below we have "when the ZEN72 dimmer is turned on, then turn on the ZEN77 dimmer." When done, you'll have four routines: