I tried to use the plasma for Mach and noticed that it uses a z. For my laser I just need X,Y and turn on turn off of the laser and the ability to set the strength of the laser. Any thoughts?

under "config" "ports and pins" checkout the spindle setup tab. It has a box labeled "special settings",,, with a laser mode frequency by feedrate percentage. Also you can inhibit the Z axis under mill options, and on the settings page

Assuming you're using Mach3