A method for controlling a hydraulic system of a machine having a machine control system is disclosed. The hydraulic system includes at least one hydraulic output having an output element which can be controlled by way of activation variables and whose state can be described by state variables. The method includes registering the at least one hydraulic output, wherein registration data of the at least one hydraulic output is captured, wherein the registration data includes data concerning the activation variables and the state variables, and wherein the state variables include output state variables which describes the state of the output element of the at least one hydraulic output. The method further includes transmitting one or more data concerning the output state variables of the at least one hydraulic output to the machine control system. In addition, the method includes receiving from the machine control system a target preset for at least one of the output state variables of the at least one hydraulic output. The method also includes determining activation values for the activation variables of the at least one hydraulic output based on the target preset and activating the at least one hydraulic output with the activation values.