so i took it out for the second time today and when i let go of both sticks it doesnt just stay where it is, like it slowly drifts in one direction. sometimes its toward me sometimes sideways. its not a huge amount but enough that it makes me nervous because i dont know if i should correct it or if its about to just fly off on its own

the wind wasnt that bad today i dont think. maybe a little breeze. is this a sensor thing or did i do something wrong during setup. i feel like it should just stop and hover when i release the sticks

what drone is it? makes a difference. but assuming its something with GPS like a mid range DJI or whatever, that does actually sound like maybe you didnt let it get a proper GPS lock before taking off. if you launch before it has enough satellites locked in the positioning isnt great and youll get that drift. most of them show you the satellite count before you arm it, you want to wait for it to stabilize, usually when the indicator turns green or solid or whatever the app shows for your model.

also could be that you took off before the compass calibration was happy. did it ask you to calibrate anything when you first set up? some people skip that and it causes exactly what youre describing

Yeah a little drift in light wind is actually just kind of normal and not something to freak out about, GPS hold isnt perfect especially if youre close to the ground or near buildings. But if its consistenly drifting the same direction every time on a calm day that does sound like a calibration issue to me. IMU calibration maybe. I had similer thing with mine and redoing the IMU cal on a flat surface indoors fixed it right away.