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

Setting up a virtual 3-way on Hubitat 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

Hubitat does not natively expose Z Wave direct association settings in most built in drivers, so configuring association groups requires a custom driver. We have the driver code and instructions on installation in our Knowledge Base. We've linked the dimmer and on/off switch drivers for you: Dimmers: Hubitat Dimmer Custom Driver. On / Off Switches: Hubitat On/Off Switch Custom Driver.
Direct Association can only be used when the switches are included to the hub using the standard Z-Wave mesh protocol. Z-Wave Long Range by nature does not allow for device-to-device associations.

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 (no ZWLR).

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).

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.

Dimmer/Switch Settings/Parameter Instructions

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).

In the control panel, ensure the two devices you are associating are included with the exact same level of security, and that both are included via the mesh network. The highlighted sections shows matching security levels and both are included via the mesh (blue Z-Wave icon under protocol).

1. First, you'll need to get the device ID's for both switches / dimmers. Click Devices > DNI column. Save these numbers, as you will utilize them in the next steps.

2. Go back to the devices screen and select your remote switch / dimmer (ZEN72 Dimmer in this example) > Preferences > scroll down until you see the Device Associations Groups.

If you have an On / Off Switch, you will add the Device ID from the main Switch in Device Associations - Group 2. Since we're working with dimmers in our example, add the Device ID from step 1 into Device Associations - Group 3 > Save and Close.

3. Repeat Step 2 and add the Device ID for your remote switch / dimmer to Device Associations - Group 3 for the main switch / dimmer > Save and Close.

That's it! You can now control both switches from both locations in your virtual 3-way.

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.

This option would be selected if your switches are included to your hub via Z-Wave Long Range.

Important Notes

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.

Example setup:

Scene 001 (upper paddle single press) → triggers a hub automation to turn the ZEN72 on
Scene 002 (lower paddle single press) → triggers a hub automation to turn the ZEN72 off

You can also configure dimming from the remote switch by holding and releasing the paddle and using Start Level Change and Stop Level Change commands.

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.

This method allows full virtual 3-way functionality even when Direct Association isn’t available, such as when the switches are included via Z-Wave Long Range.

Programming Steps

1. Enable scene control on the remote (no load) switch / dimmer. Devices > ZEN72 Dimmer > Preferences > Enable Scene Control Events.

2. Click on Apps in the left side menu.

3. Click on "+ Add App" in the top left corner.

4. Select Simple Automation Rules.

5. Click on the Simple Automation Rules app under Apps now that you've added it.

6. Click on Create New Simple Automation Rule.

8. Which lights do you want to automate?: Select your main switch / dimmer here

How do you want to trigger it? Button pushed / held.

What do you want to do? We've selected Turn On here, but you also have options to turn on and set the dimming level as well.

Which button? This is the trigger device (remote switch).

Which button number? 1 is for the upper paddle and 2 is for the lower paddle.

Turned on when: Pushed

This will have the ZEN77 (main dimmer) turn on anytime the upper paddle on the ZEN72 (remote dimmer) is pushed once.

9. Repeat the process, this time using button 2 to turn off the ZEN77 Dimmer.

10. You'll see two new rules under Simple Automation Rules.

3. Smart Rules

In most interfaces, this is simply called scenes. 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 Hubitat supports Direct Association and Central Scene, these methods are recommended and Smart Rules would be used as a last resort, unless you require the switch LED indicators to be synchronized. If you cannot use Direct Association if your switches are included via ZWLR and you require the LED indicators to be in sync, then you would use Smart Rules. 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.

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

The Rule Machine app works well for smart rules. You can follow steps 2-3 above in the Central Scene instructions to download a new app and install Rule Machine.

You'll set up 4 rules as noted above, and we've done one as an example for you below. Rules use the status of each device as the trigger, so if the ZEN72 is turned on, turn on the ZEN77.

You should have 4 rules when done: