Employee Benefit Plans (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Oct. 03, 2020	Sep. 28, 2019	Sep. 29, 2018
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Defined contribution plan, employer matching contribution, percent of match	75.00%	75.00%	75.00%
Employer matching pre-tax and Roth 401(k) contribution, percent	6.00%	6.00%	6.00%
Employer matching contributions	$ 4,921	$ 5,370	$ 5,394
Pretax amount recognized in other comprehensive income	1,226
Portion of accumulated comprehensive income recognized as component of net periodic benefit cost over the next fiscal year	1,093
Actuarial gain (loss)	$ 2,993	$ (8,304)
Discount rate	0.97%	0.72%
Discount rate calculation assumption, description	The discount rate is calculated based on zero-coupon bond yields published by the Deutsche Bundesbank for maturities that match the weighted average duration of the pension liability, adjusted for the average credit spread of corporate bond rates above the government bond yields.
Accumulated benefit obligation of the defined benefit retirement plan	$ 38,876	$ 37,182
Aggregate liabilities associated with other postretirement plans	$ 3,695	$ 3,412
Equity Funds
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Employee benefit plan target allocations	50.00%
Fixed Income Funds
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Employee benefit plan target allocations	50.00%

Other Postretirement Plans Liabilities Current And Noncurrent

No definition available.

Name:	mtsc_OtherPostretirementPlansLiabilitiesCurrentAndNoncurrent
Namespace Prefix:	mtsc_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of actuarial present value of benefits attributed to employee service rendered, excluding assumptions about future compensation level.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118255775&loc=d3e1928-114920

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedBenefitPlanAccumulatedBenefitObligation
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of gain (loss) from change in actuarial assumptions which (increases) decreases benefit obligation of defined benefit plan. Assumptions include, but are not limited to, interest, mortality, employee turnover, salary, and temporary deviation from substantive plan.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)(4)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118255775&loc=d3e1928-114920

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedBenefitPlanActuarialGainLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount, before tax, after reclassification adjustment, of increase (decrease) in accumulated other comprehensive income from gain (loss) of defined benefit plan.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121641772&loc=d3e637-108580

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 10A
-Subparagraph (i)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121641772&loc=SL7669646-108580

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (i)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118255775&loc=d3e1928-114920

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedBenefitPlanAmountsRecognizedInOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossNetGainLossBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Weighted average rate for present value of future retirement benefits cash flows, used to determine benefit obligation of defined benefit plan.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (k)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118255775&loc=d3e1928-114920

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedBenefitPlanAssumptionsUsedCalculatingBenefitObligationDiscountRate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Description of assumption used to determine benefit obligation and net periodic benefit cost of defined benefit plan. Includes, but is not limited to, discount rate, rate of compensation increase, expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and interest crediting rate.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedBenefitPlanAssumptionsUsedInCalculationsNarrativeDescription
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedBenefitPlanDisclosureLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) for gain (loss) of defined benefit plan expected to be recognized in net periodic benefit (cost) credit for fiscal year following most recent annual statement of financial position.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (s)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118255775&loc=d3e1928-114920

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedBenefitPlanExpectedAmortizationOfGainLossNextFiscalYear
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Percentage of target investment allocation to total plan assets. Includes, but is not limited to, percentage on weighted-average basis if more than one plan.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 55
-Paragraph 17
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118257860&loc=d3e4179-114921

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (d)(i)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118255775&loc=d3e1928-114920

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedBenefitPlanPlanAssetsTargetAllocationPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of cost for defined contribution plan.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 70
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=49170846&loc=d3e28014-114942

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanCostRecognized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of employees' gross pay for which the employer contributes a matching contribution to a defined contribution plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanEmployerMatchingContributionPercent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage employer matches of the employee's percentage contribution matched.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanEmployerMatchingContributionPercentOfMatch
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedBenefitPlanByPlanAssetCategoriesAxis=us-gaap_EquityFundsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedBenefitPlanByPlanAssetCategoriesAxis=us-gaap_FixedIncomeFundsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: