An accent light system for a gaming machine includes an accent light arrangement having a number of LED panels assembled in one of a number of possible configurations. An electronic controller is coupled through a data communication interface to the accent light arrangement. The electronic controller is configured to transmit a signal to LED drivers of the number of LED panels, receive a loop-back signal transmitted from a final one of the LED panels, and, based on timing of the received loop-back signal, identify the configuration of the number of LED panels from the number of possible configurations.