MISCELLANEOUS VARIABLES

The tables below indicate the requirements for the Simulation Variables that can be used to get and set the different miscellaneous properties. For information on the units listed for each variable, please see here: Simulation Variable Units

NOTE: When Microsoft Flight Simulator is running in multiplayer mode, only a small number of variables are communicated between aircraft. Those variables that are available will say so in the description as being either for "All Aircraft" or for "Shared Cockpit".

You can find a complete index of all available SimVars here: SimVar Index

 

 

General Misc.

Simulation Variable Description Units Settable
ANIMATION DELTA TIME Difference of time between the current frame and the last frame where this SimObject has been animated Seconds
ARTIFICIAL GROUND ELEVATION In case scenery is not loaded for AI planes, this variable can be used to set a default surface elevation. Feet
CATEGORY One of the following:
  1. "Airplane",
  2. "Helicopter",
  3. "Boat",
  4. "GroundVehicle",
  5. "ControlTower",
  6. "SimpleObject",
  7. "Viewer"
 String
CONTROLLABLE      
CRASH FLAG Flag value that indicates the cause of a crash.

Enum:

  1. 0:[index] None
  2. 2:[index] Mountain
  3. 4:[index] General
  4. 6:[index] Building
  5. 8:[index] Splash
  6. 10:[index] Gear up
  7. 12:[index] Overstress
  8. 14:[index] Building
  9. 16:[index] Aircraft
  10. 18:[index] Fuel Truck
CRASH SEQUENCE The state of the crash event sequence.

Enum:

  1. 0:[index] off
  2. 1:[index] complete
  3. 3:[index] reset
  4. 4:[index] pause
  5. 11:[index] start
GROUND ALTITUDE Altitude of surface. Meters
HAND ANIM STATE What frame of the hand is currently used.

Enum:

  1. 0 = Hover
  2. 1 = Index push/Point
  3. 2 = Pinch large
  4. 3 = Pinch medium
  5. 4 = Pinch small
  6. 5 = Pinch lateral
  7. 6 = Press all/Fist
  8. 7 = Toggle lever up/down
  9. 8 = Thumb push
  10. 9 = Holde yoke thin
  11. 10 = Hold throttle
  12. 11 = Hold yokes
  13. 12 = Push/pull lever
IDLE ANIMATION ID The ID of the idle animation for the sim object. String
MAGVAR Magnetic variation. Degrees
MISSION SCORE   Number
PARACHUTE OPEN This will be TRUE if the parachute has opened and FALSE otherwise. Currently this is only applied to the Parachute SimObject used by Winches. Bool
REALISM General realism percent. Number
REALISM CRASH DETECTION True indicates crash detection is turned on. Bool
REALISM CRASH WITH OTHERS True indicates crashing with other aircraft is possible. Bool
SIM DISABLED Is sim disabled. Bool
SIM ON GROUND

On ground flag.

NOTE: This is available in multiplayer to all far aircraft. See here for more information: Note On SimVars In Multiplayer.

 Bool
SIM SHOULD SET ON GROUND   Bool
TRACK IR ENABLE Returns true if Track IR is enabled or not. Bool
TOTAL WORLD VELOCITY Speed relative to the earths center. Feet per second
USER INPUT ENABLED Is input allowed from the user. Bool
VISUAL MODEL RADIUS Model radius. Meters
VELOCITY WORLD X

Speed relative to earth, in East/West direction.

NOTE: This is available in multiplayer to all far aircraft. See here for more information: Note On SimVars In Multiplayer.

 Feet per second
VELOCITY WORLD Y

Speed relative to earth, in vertical direction.

NOTE: This is available in multiplayer to all far aircraft. See here for more information: Note On SimVars In Multiplayer.

 Feet per second
VELOCITY WORLD Z

Speed relative to earth, in North/South direction.

NOTE: This is available in multiplayer to all far aircraft. See here for more information: Note On SimVars In Multiplayer.

 Feet per second

 

 

Ambient / Weather

Simulation Variable Description Units Settable
AMBIENT DENSITY Ambient density. Slugs per cubic feet
AMBIENT PRECIP RATE The current precipitation rate. millimeters of water
AMBIENT PRECIP STATE The current state of precipitation.

Mask:

  1. 2 = None
  2. 4 = Rain
  3. 8 = Snow
AMBIENT PRESSURE Ambient pressure. Inches of mercury, inHg
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE Ambient temperature. Celsius
AMBIENT VISIBILITY Ambient visibility (only measures ambient particle visibility - related to ambient density). Meters
AMBIENT WIND DIRECTION Wind direction, relative to true north. Degrees
AMBIENT WIND VELOCITY Wind velocity. Knots
AMBIENT WIND X Wind component in East/West direction. Meters per second
AMBIENT WIND Y Wind component in vertical direction. Meters per second
AMBIENT WIND Z Wind component in North/South direction. Meters per second
BAROMETER PRESSURE Barometric pressure. Millibars
DENSITY ALTITUDE

The density altitude is the altitude relative to standard atmospheric conditions at which the air density would be equal to the indicated air density at the place of observation. The calculation is as follows:

density_altitude = pressure_altitude + 118.8 * (outside_air_temp - ISA_temp)

 ft
SEA LEVEL PRESSURE Barometric pressure at sea level. Millibars
STRUCT AMBIENT WIND X (latitude), Y (vertical) and Z (longitude) components of the wind. Feet per second

 

 

AI

The following SimVars are still supported by Microsoft Flight Simulator, but are considered legacy and will not be getting any further support or updates. As such, we don't recommend their use in new aircraft.

Simulation Variable Description Units Settable
AI DESIRED SPEED The desired speed of the AI object. Knots
AI WAYPOINT LIST A list of waypoints that an AI controlled object should follow. SIMCONNECT_DATA_WAYPOINT
AI CURRENT WAYPOINT The current waypoint in the list. Number
AI DESIRED HEADING The desired heading of the AI object. Degrees
AI GROUNDTURNTIME The time required by the AI aircraft to make a 90º turn. Seconds
AI GROUNDCRUISESPEED The ground cruising speed for the AI aircraft. Knots
AI GROUNDTURNSPEED The ground turning speed for the AI aircraft. Knots
AI TRAFFIC ISIFR This can be used to request whether the AI aircraft is IFR or VFR. Note that if an aircraft does not have a flight plan, the value returned will be 0 (or false).  Bool
AI TRAFFIC STATE

This will return a string describing an AI aircraft state. If the aircraft is under ATC control the string will be one of the following:

  1. "init"
  2. "sleep"
  3. "flt plan"
  4. "startup"
  5. "preflight support"
  6. "clearance"
  7. "push back 1"
  8. "push back 2"
  9. "pre taxi out"
  10. "taxi out"
  11. "takeoff 1"
  12. "takeoff 2"
  13. "T&G depart"
  14. "enroute"
  15. "pattern"
  16. "landing"
  17. "rollout"
  18. "go around"
  19. "taxi in"
  20. "shutdown"
  21. "postflight support" 

 

If the aircraft is not under ATC control, the string will be one of these:

  1. "Sleep"
  2. "Waypoint"
  3. "Takeoff"
  4. "Landing"
  5. "Taxi"

 

Note that if an aircraft does not have a flight plan, the value returned will be an empty string "".

 String
AI TRAFFIC CURRENT AIRPORT The ICAO code of the current airport. If an aircraft does not have a flight plan, the value returned will be an empty string "". String
AI TRAFFIC ASSIGNED RUNWAY The assigned runway name (for example: "32R"). If an aircraft does not have a flight plan, the value returned will be an empty string "". String
AI TRAFFIC ASSIGNED PARKING

The assigned parking name. The string will take the form:

Name + Number, Type ( radius )

For example:

  • "Ramp 1, RAMP sml (10m)"
  • "Gate G 4, RAMP lrg (18m)"

If an aircraft does not have a flight plan, the value returned will be an empty string "".

 String
AI TRAFFIC FROMAIRPORT

The ICAO code of the departure airport in the current schedule. 

This variable is only valid for aircraft generated by the traffic database that have schedules. If an aircraft does not have a schedule, the value returned will an empty string"".

 String
AI TRAFFIC TOAIRPORT

The ICAO code of the destination airport in the current schedule. 

This variable is only valid for aircraft generated by the traffic database that have schedules. If an aircraft does not have a schedule, the value returned will an empty string"".

 String
AI TRAFFIC ETD

The estimated time of departure for the current schedule entry, given as the number of seconds difference from the current simulation time. This can be negative if ETD is earlier than the current simulation time

This variable is only valid for aircraft generated by the traffic database that have schedules. If an aircraft does not have a schedule, the value returned will be 0.

 Seconds
AI TRAFFIC ETA

Estimated time of arrival for the current schedule entry, given as the number of seconds difference from the current simulated time. This can be negative if ETA is earlier than the current simulated time.

This variable is only valid for aircraft generated by the traffic database that have schedules. If an aircraft does not have a schedule, the value returned will be 0.

 Seconds

 

 

Structures

Simulation Variable Description Units Settable
STRUCT DAMAGEVISIBLE Deprecated, do not use! -
STRUCT PBH32 Returns a pitch, bank and heading value (for what will depend on the SimVar being used).

SIMCONNECT_DATA_XYZ

degrees
STRUCT REALISM VARS Not currently used in the simulation. -
STRUCT SURFACE RELATIVE VELOCITY The relative surface velocity. SIMCONNECT_DATA_XYZ structure, feet per second
STRUCT WORLDVELOCITY The world velocity. SIMCONNECT_DATA_XYZ structure, feet per second
STRUCT WORLD ACCELERATION The world acceleration for each axis. Individual world acceleration values are in the Aircraft Position and Speed section. SIMCONNECT_DATA_XYZ structure, feet per second squared
STRUCT WORLD ROTATION VELOCITY The world rotation velocity. SIMCONNECT_DATA_XYZ structure, radians per second

 

 

CFS Variables

Simulation Variable Description Units Settable
BOMB AMMO The amount of bomb ammunition available. Number
CANNON AMMO The amount of cannon ammunition available. Number
GUN AMMO The amount of gun ammunition available. Number
ROCKET AMMO The amount of rocket ammunition available. Number