Usage: X-Plane [options...]
X-Plane can take a number of command-line flags, in the form of --flag or
--flag=value. OpenGL options are available for all X-Plane-related
applications; the frame-rate test is only for X-Plane itself. Here is a listof current flags:
--help
-h
Prints this message listing all command-line options, then quits.
--no_sound
Runs without initializing sound - can help identify a problem with sound hardware.
--missing_strings
Causes X-Plane to output to the log file any string that it cannot find a localization
to the current language for. Since the sim runs natively in English, this option does
nothing unless you change languages.
--lang=<lang code>
Runs the sim in a specific language (if available) - this only takes effect if there
is no pre-saved preference. This bypasses the regular system-language detection.
--allow_rosetta
Normally X-Plane will not run under Rosetta PPC emulation. Pass this flag to allow
ppc execution on an x86 machine. NOTE: running under Rosetta is storngly discouraged
for performance reasons; this option is only provided so that plugin developers can
test PPC plugins on an x86 Macintohs.
OPTIONS TO AUTO-CONFIGURE X-PLANE
--pref:<key>=<value>
This command line option can be used more than one time, and sets an individual preference
to the overloaded value specified on the command line.
--dref:<ref>=<value>
This command line option sets a dataref to a value at startup. Note: because this command line
runs early in the sim's life-cycle, it is only appropriate for datarefs created by the sim.
OPTIONS TO DISABLE HARDWARE ACCELERATION
Normally X-Plane uses all available hardware capabilities to maximize framerate.
These options force X-Plane not to use some aspects of hardware acceleration.
This hurts framerate, but can sometimes allow you to work around driver bugs.
--no_vbos
This disables the use of vertex buffer objects, as defined by
GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object. VBOs are used to accelerate all aspects of X-Plane
drawing.
--no_fbos
Disable the use of framebuffer obects, even if the hardware supports them.
--no_pbos
Disable the use of pixelbuffer obects, even if the hardware supports them.
--no_sprites
This disables the use of point sprites, as defined by GL_ARB_point_sprite.
Point sprites are used to accelerate runway lights, among other things.
--no_pixel_counters
This disables pixel counters, as defined by GL_ARB_occlusion_query. Pixel
counters are used to calculate sun glare, among other things.
--no_aniso_filtering
This disables anisotropic filtering of textures, as defined by
GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic. Anisotropic filtering is used to make
runways look better.
--no_hw_mipmap
This disables hardware accelerated mipmap-creation, as defined by
GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap. X-Plane will still use mipmapping, but it will
create the mipmap images on the CPU instead of the GPU.
--no_fshaders
Disable the use of fragment shaders, even on hardware that reports having them.
--no_vshaders
Disable the use of vertex shaders, even on hardware that reports having them.
--no_glsl
Disable the use of GLSL, even on hardware theat supports it.
--limited_glsl
Force shaders to act as if the graphics hardware has the most limited GLSL, e.g. R300 or NV25.
--unlimited_glsl
Override the detection of first-gen graphics hw to run advanced shaders on old machines. WARNING: this may cause X-plane to crash if it exceeds the maximum fragment program length.
--no_threaded_ogl
Disable the use of OpenGL via multiple threads.
OPTIONS TO ENABLE INCOMPATIBLE HARDWARE ACCELERATION
X-Plane will in a few cases intentionally disable hardware acceleration
to work around known driver compatibility bugs. You can force X-Plane
to use the feature anyway (if the card supports it) with these options,
but they may cause the sim to crash.
--use_vbos
Forces the use of VBOs, even on drivers where we at one point found
them to be unstable.
--use_sprites
Forces the use of point sprites, even on drivers where they cause bugs.
--use_fshaders
Force the use of fragment shaders, even if they would not normally be used.
--use_vshaders
Force the use of vertex shaders, even if they would not be used.
--use_glsl
Force the use of GLSL even on cards where we would avoid it due to driver compatibility problems.
--use_fbos
Force the use of FBOs even on hardware where it would not be used due to compatibility problems.
--force_run
X-Plane will not run on a machine that does not appear to have some
minimum requirements, like at least two texture units. This will allow
X-Plane to run no matter what the hardware looks like. Please note that
most of the time if X-Plane out-right refuses to run, it will probably
crash later if --force_run is used.
FRAMERATE TEST
--fps_test=n
This runs X-Plane in frame-rate test mode. The number indicates a framerate
test number, which is 3 digits indicating a combination of camera angle,
scenery complexity, and weather settings. X-Plane will run for 90 seconds
and quit, outputting 3 framerates to the Log.txt file for panel view,
no-panel view, and paused no-panel view. This can be used to get repeatable
performance measurements without changing preferences. (The preferences
file is ignored when the framerate test is in effect.)
--require_fps=n
When used after --fps_test this puts X-Plane into a pass-fail mode. The
sim will run only one 30 second test with the flight model paused. The
sim will then exit with 0 if the measured fps is higher than N or 1
if the fps is lower. This can be used to create a shell script that will
automatically detect whether X-Plane performance is as expected.
--qa_script=<file>
This will use the specified text file to run some time-based commands tomonitor X-Plane's performance. See the wiki for more info.