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
You can find a complete index of all available SimVars here: SimVar Index
General Misc.
| Simulation Variable | Index | Description | Units | Settable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ANIMATION DELTA TIME | N/A | Difference of time between the current frame and the last frame where this SimObject has been animated | Seconds | |
ARTIFICIAL GROUND ELEVATION | N/A | In case scenery is not loaded for AI planes, this variable can be used to set a default surface elevation. | Feet | |
CATEGORY | N/A | Returns the SimObject category as defined in either the aircraft.cfg or the sim.cfg files. | String (aircraft.cfg):“Airplane”“Airship”“Helicopter”“HotAirBalloon”String (sim.cfg only):“AircraftPilot”“Animal”“Boat”“CharacterSim”“Container”“ControlTower”“FlyingAnimal”“GroundVehicle”“GroundVehiclePilot”“Human”“Liquid”“Parachute”“ProceduralCharacter”“PylonSim”“SimpleObject”“SimpleObjectSim”“StaticObject”“Train”“VDGS”“Viewer”“VR”“Winch” | |
CONTROLLABLE | N/A | Not used by the simulation. | Bool | |
CRASH FLAG | N/A | Flag value that indicates the cause of a crash. | Enum:0:[index] None2:[index] Mountain4:[index] General6:[index] Building8:[index] Splash10:[index] Gear up12:[index] Overstress14:[index] Building16:[index] Aircraft18:[index] Fuel Truck | |
CRASH SEQUENCE | N/A | The state of the crash event sequence. | Enum:0:[index] off1:[index] complete3:[index] reset4:[index] pause11:[index] start | |
GROUND ALTITUDE | N/A | Altitude of surface.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Meters | |
HAND ANIM STATE | N/A | What frame of the hand is currently used. | Enum:0 = Hover1 = Index push/Point2 = Pinch large3 = Pinch medium4 = Pinch small5 = Pinch lateral6 = Press all/Fist7 = Toggle lever up/down8 = Thumb push9 = Holde yoke thin10 = Hold throttle11 = Hold yokes12 = Push/pull lever | |
HIDE AVATAR IN AIRCRAFT | N/A | Return the status of the hide_avatar variable from the aircraft.cfg file. | Boolean | |
IDLE ANIMATION ID | N/A | The ID of the idle animation for the sim object.Not used by the simulation. | String | |
MAGVAR | N/A | Magnetic variation.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Degrees | |
MISSION SCORE | N/A | Number | ||
MOTION SIMULATION | N/A | This will be TRUE when the motion simulation for the user aircraft is active and FALSE when it is inactive. The motion simulation for the user aircraft is paused when:The user is in the menu screensDuring the RTC phase when starting a flight in the air (when on the ground the motion simulation is not active).The aircraft is in free flight and the flight is paused or the aircraft is on Active Pause. | Bool | |
PARACHUTE OPEN | N/A | 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 | N/A | General realism percent. | Number | |
REALISM CRASH DETECTION | N/A | TRUE indicates crash detection is turned on. | Bool | |
REALISM CRASH WITH OTHERS | N/A | TRUE indicates crashing with other aircraft is possible. | Bool | |
SIM DISABLED | N/A | Is sim disabled. | Bool | |
SIM ON GROUND | N/A | 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 | N/A | This is a “read only” flag that is only ever used internally and has no use to third parties. If you need to know if the user aircraft is on the ground then use IS ON GROUND, and if you need to set the aircraft on the ground then use SIMCONNECT_DATA_INITPOSITION. | Bool | |
TRACK IR ENABLE | N/A | Returns TRUE if Track IR(opens in a new tab) is enabled or not. | Bool | |
TOTAL WORLD VELOCITY | N/A | Speed relative to the earths center. | Feet per second | |
USER INPUT ENABLED | N/A | Is input allowed from the user. | Bool | |
VISUAL MODEL RADIUS | N/A | Model radius. | Meters | |
VELOCITY WORLD X | N/A | 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 | N/A | 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 | N/A | 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 | |
VR GROUP INTERACTION ON | N/A | This will return 1 (TRUE) if VR is on and group interaction is on. Otherwise it will return 0 (FALSE). | Bool |
Race Pylons
| Simulation Variable | Index | Description | Units | Settable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
PYLON HEIGHT | N/A | The height of the pylon. | Meters | |
PYLON COLLISION POSITION | N/A | Distance to the collision object relative to the pylon. | Meters |
Fauna
| Simulation Variable | Index | Description | Units | Settable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
FAUNA BEHAVIOUR STATE | N/A | Name of the Fauna Behaviour State associated with an animation transition (only for animals) | String | |
FAUNA FORCE MAGNITUDE | N/A | Force applied to animal while moving on a 0.0 - 1.0 scale (only for living world animals) | Number | |
FAUNA HEADING ROTATION ANGLE | N/A | Angle between where the animal is facing and where it intends to face (only for living world animals) | Degrees | |
FAUNA TURN RATE | N/A | Direction and rate of turning for animals when moving (only for living world animals) | Number |
Humans
| Simulation Variable | Index | Description | Units | Settable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
GENDER | N/A | The gender of the corresponding SimObject (mainly used for human SimObjects). | Number:0 = Male1 = Female | |
HEIGHT | N/A | The height of the corresponding SimObject (mainly used for human SimObjects). | Number | |
IS CROUCH | N/A | This will return 1 (TRUE) if the object is in the crouched state, or 0 (FALSE) otherwise (only used for human SimObjects, specifically only the user avatar). | Bool | |
IS TALKING | N/A | This will return 1 (TRUE) if the object is in the crouched state, or 0 (FALSE) otherwise (only used for human SimObjects, specifically only the user avatar). | Bool |
Ambient / Weather
| Simulation Variable | Index | Description | Units | Settable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
AMBIENT DENSITY | N/A | Ambient density.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Slugs per cubic feet | |
AMBIENT IN CLOUD | N/A | TRUE if the aircraft is in a cloud. | Bool | |
AMBIENT IN SMOKE | N/A | TRUE if the camera position is flying through smoke. Note that if this is TRUE, then the aircraft will be taking increased Wear and Tear damage.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the camera position, regardless of where the user aircraft is, or what aircraft is selected. | Bool | |
AMBIENT PRECIP RATE | N/A | The current precipitation rate.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | millimeters of water | |
AMBIENT PRECIP STATE | N/A | The current state of precipitation.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Mask:2 = None4 = Rain8 = Snow | |
AMBIENT PRESSURE | N/A | Ambient pressure.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Inches of mercury, inHg | |
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE | N/A | Ambient temperature.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Celsius | |
AMBIENT VISIBILITY | N/A | Ambient visibility (only measures ambient particle visibility - related to ambient density). | Meters | |
AMBIENT WIND DIRECTION | N/A | Wind direction, relative to true north.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Degrees | |
AMBIENT WIND VELOCITY | N/A | Wind velocity.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Knots | |
AMBIENT WIND X | N/A | Wind component in East/West direction.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Meters per second | |
AMBIENT WIND Y | N/A | Wind component in vertical direction.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Meters per second | |
AMBIENT WIND Z | N/A | Wind component in North/South direction.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Meters per second | |
BAROMETER PRESSURE | N/A | Barometric pressure.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Millibars | |
DENSITY ALTITUDE | N/A | 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 | |
ENV CLOUD DENSITY | N/A | This SimVar returns the current density of the clouds at the position of the user aircraft. Density is expressed as a value between 0 and 1, where 0 is no clouds, and 1 is very dense cloud.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Percent Over 100 | |
ENV SMOKE DENSITY | N/A | This SimVar returns the current density of any smoke at the position of the camera. Density is expressed as a value between 0 and 1, where 0 is no smoke, and 1 is very dense smoke. Note that if this value is greater than 0 then the user aircraft will be taking Wear and Tear damage, and the higher the value the more damage will be taken.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the camera position, regardless of where the user aircraft is, or what aircraft is selected. | Percent Over 100 | |
SEA LEVEL AMBIENT TEMPERATURE | N/A | The ambient temperature of the air at sea level.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Celsius | |
SEA LEVEL PRESSURE | N/A | Barometric pressure at sea level.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Millibars | |
STRUCT AMBIENT WIND | N/A | X (latitude), Y (vertical) and Z (longitude) components of the wind.NOTE: This SimVar will always be calculated from the user aircraft position, regardless of where the camera is, or what aircraft is selected. | Feet per second |
AI
The following SimVars are still supported by Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, 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 | Index | Description | Units | Settable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
AI DESIRED SPEED | N/A | The desired speed of the AI object. | Knots | |
AI WAYPOINT LIST | N/A | A list of waypoints that an AI controlled object should follow. | SIMCONNECT_DATA_WAYPOINT | |
AI CURRENT WAYPOINT | N/A | The current waypoint in the list. | Number | |
AI DESIRED HEADING | N/A | The desired heading of the AI object. | Degrees | |
AI GROUNDTURNTIME | N/A | The time required by the AI aircraft to make a 90º turn. | Seconds | |
AI GROUNDCRUISESPEED | N/A | The ground cruising speed for the AI aircraft. | Knots | |
AI GROUNDTURNSPEED | N/A | The ground turning speed for the AI aircraft. | Knots | |
AI TRAFFIC ISIFR | N/A | 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 | N/A | 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:“init”“sleep”“flt plan”“startup”“preflight support”“clearance”“push back 1”“push back 2”“pre taxi out”“taxi out”“takeoff 1”“takeoff 2”“T&G depart”“enroute”“pattern”“landing”“rollout”“go around”“taxi in”“shutdown”“postflight support”If the aircraft is not under ATC control, the string will be one of these:“Sleep”“Waypoint”“Takeoff”“Landing”“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 | N/A | 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 | N/A | 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 | N/A | 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 | N/A | 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 | N/A | 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 | N/A | 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 timeThis 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 | N/A | 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 | Index | Description | Units | Settable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
STRUCT DAMAGEVISIBLE | N/A | No longer used by the simulation. | - | |
STRUC AIRSPEED HOLD PID CONSTS | N/A | Returns the various airspeed PID constants. This is generally only used for AI controlled aircraft and boats, although it may be useful when working with RTCs and the user aircraft.Not used in the simulation. | PID_STRUCT | |
STRUC HEADING HOLD PID CONSTS | N/A | Returns the various airspeed PID constants. This is generally only used for AI controlled aircraft and boats, although it may be useful when working with RTCs and the user aircraft.Not used in the simulation. | PID_STRUCT | |
STRUCT BODY ROTATION ACCELERATION | N/A | The body rotation acceleration.Not used in the simulation. | Struct XYZradians per second | |
STRUCT PBH32 | N/A | Returns a pitch, bank and heading value (for what will depend on the SimVar being used).No longer used by the simulation. | Struct PBHdegrees | |
STRUCT REALISM VARS | N/A | No longer used by the simulation. | - | |
STRUCT SURFACE RELATIVE VELOCITY | N/A | The relative surface velocity. | Struct XYZ structure, feet per second | |
STRUCT WORLDVELOCITY | N/A | The world velocity. | Struct XYZ structure, feet per second | |
STRUCT WORLD ACCELERATION | N/A | The world acceleration for each axis. Individual world acceleration values are in the Aircraft Position and Speed section. | Struct XYZ structure, feet per second squared | |
STRUCT WORLD ROTATION VELOCITY | N/A | The world rotation velocity. | Struct XYZ structure, radians per second |
CFS Variables
| Simulation Variable | Index | Description | Units | Settable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
BOMB AMMO | N/A | The amount of bomb ammunition available. | Number | |
CANNON AMMO | N/A | The amount of cannon ammunition available. | Number | |
GUN AMMO | N/A | The amount of gun ammunition available. | Number | |
ROCKET AMMO | N/A | The amount of rocket ammunition available. | Number |