Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 : Simulator Settings Checklist
| Back to CHECKLIST INDEX | |
| Signing in and out of Microsoft Flight Sim 2020 can cause some settings to change, so I made this checklist to keep track of them and quickly get the sim back to where I was before. | "This sim can run on a potato if you know which settings do what. LOD and traffic affect CPU (“main thread”), and basically everything else, especially resolution scaling, affect the GPU." |
| ChangeLog | updated 1st Oct 2023 |
| User login | |
|---|---|
| (top right) | Logged in |
| Status | Online |
| Servers | Automatic |
| Add Friend | |
| Check if friends are online | |
| Welcome > Options > General Options > | |
| Graphics | |
| Display Mode | Full Screen |
| Full Screen Resolution | 3840x2160 |
| Anti-Aliasing | TAA FXAA, DLAA - produce shimmering at my resolution. TAA is smooth |
| Render Scaling | 75 |
| AMD FidelityFX Sharpening | set to 10. 0 may cause flashing |
| V-Sync | ON |
| Frame Rate Limit | 50% monitor refresh rate (30 FPS) |
| LOCK to 30FPS. Aug 2022: Running at unlimited framerate produced framerates around 48-50FPS BUT introduced stuttering effect when panning the view. Probably monitor related. Locking to 30FPS enable smooth panning. | Sep 2023. Unlimited framerate allows 40-60 fps BUT introduces microstuttering. Limiting to 30 fps eliminates microstuttering. | |
| HDR10 | (Greyed out) |
| Direct X version | DX11 - Jun 22, DX12 has problems apparently. Oct 2023 still has problems, stay with DX 11 |
| Global rendering quality | Custom |
| ADVANCED SETTINGS | |
| Terrain Level of Detail | 200 Actually adjusts Terrain DISTANCE. This is halfway, they upped the scale from 200 to 400. Determines the DISTANCE at which terrain (textures?) are loaded. NOT the detail level. | SU 13 tried 300 and 400, no discernable difference. |
| Off screen terrain pre-caching | ULTRA | Loads terrain in all view directions. CPU will bottleneck when changing views if this is set to low as it has to render all the new objects. Ultra will render the objects in all directions for distance as defined in Object LOD setting. |
| Terrain Vector Data | Ultra |
| Buildings | Ultra |
| Trees | Ultra |
| Grass and Bushes - recent change from Medium | |
| Grass and Bushes | Ultra |
| Objects level of detail | 100 | Adjusts the DISTANCE at which objects are rendered. Not the level of detail in the object. Objects with multiple levels of detail should have less impact on frame rates. IRL I found increasing the setting to max at 200 makes zero difference to the fade-in of autogen buildings. Confirmed again after SU13 |
| Volumetric clouds | High |
| Texture resolution | Medium |
| 2 x = runway blurring about 1/3 the way along. | Performance hit? not measured | "Anisotropic filtering's performance impact is directly proportional to the texture bandwidth you are using. In 99% of games, it's nothing." | |
| Texture Supersampling | ? OFF |
| Texture Synthesis | Low |
| Water Waves | High |
| Shadow Maps | 768 |
| Terrain Shadows | 128 |
| Contact Shadows | OFF |
| Windshield Effects | Low |
| Ambient Occlusion | OFF |
| Cubemap Reflections | 96 | Seems to make no difference. Leave on 96 |
| Raymarched reflections |Recent change from Medium | |
| Raymarched reflections | Ultra | Seems to have no performance hit. Reflections look great. |
| Light Shafts | ULTRA | Sep 2023: I couldn't see any difference |
| Bloom | On |
| Depth of field | LOW |
| Motion Blur | Off | I couldn't see any difference |
| Lens Correction | ON |
| Lens Flare | ON |
| Glass Cockpit Refresh Rate | MED | Affects HUD display too: LOW = jerky, MED = smooth, HIGH = stutters, maybe too high for 30 fps? |
| Welcome > Options > General Options > | |
| Camera | |
| GLOBAL SETTINGS | |
| Camera Selection | Cockpit |
| Quick View Function | Hold |
| Smart Camera | Hold |
| Zoom Function | Manual |
| Focus Mode | Toggle |
| COCKPIT CAMERA | |
| Cockpit Camera Selection | Wide Angle |
| Free Look Mode | Toggle |
| Free Look Reset | Manual |
| Head Up Mode | Toggle |
| Height | 50 | Apparently these 3 settings affect custom views too |
| Horizontal Position | 50 |
| Zoom | 50 |
| Zoom Speed | 10 |
| Freelook Speed | only affects right mouse click/view panning. Not Track IR | 50 |
| Freelook Momentum | Set to 0 for precise viewing | 0 |
| Camera Shake | On |
| Flashlight Mode | Manual |
| Home Cockpit Mode | | Could be good for when I don't want to see a cockpit at all, but it has never worked | Off |
| INSTRUMENTS | |
| Instrument View Mode | Toggle |
| Instrument View Selection | Manual |
| CHASE CAMERA | "EXTERNAL" on the CAMERA menu in flight | |
| POV Reset | Manual |
| Zoom Speed | 50 |
| External Freelook Speed | 50 |
| External Freelook Momentum | 50 |
| Welcome > Options > General Options > | |
| Sound | |
| Main device output selection | Speaker/Headphone Realtek etc| x System's Default Device |
| Communication device output selection | Speaker/Headphone Realtek etc| x System's Default Device | Can use this to send comms to headphones, but n/a for the way I use the sim |
| Headphone simulation | OFF |
| Warning Sounds in External View | ON |
| VHF Signal Degradation | ON |
| Active Spatial Sound | OFF |
| ATC Text-to-Speech Settings | Azure |
| Music Selection | Legacy |
| Mute Audio in Background | OFF |
| VOLUME LEVELS | |
| Master | 100 |
| Voices | 100 |
| Aircraft Engines | 100 (MB-339: flaps, spdbrk and switches seem to be on the same channel as the engine) |
| Aircraft Miscellaneous | 100 |
| Cockpit | 100 |
| Warnings | 100 |
| Other Aircraft | 100 |
| Environment | 100 |
| User Interface | 100 |
| Music | 0 |
| Welcome > Options > General Options > | |
| Traffic | |
| AVIATION TRAFFIC | This is reputed to have a big effect on frame rate. Probably moreso at big airports | |
| Aircraft Traffic Type | AI Offline |
| AI Aircraft Traffic Density | 40 |
| Show Traffic Nameplates | OFF |
| AIRPORT LIFE | This is reputed to have a big effect on frame rate | |
| Airport Vehicle Density | 30 |
| Ground Aircraft Density | 40 |
| Worker Density | 30 |
| LAND AND SEA TRAFFIC | This is reputed to have a big effect on frame rate | |
| Leisure Boats | 30 |
| Road Vehicles | 30 |
| Ships and Ferries | 10 | GAIST advises a setting of 10 |
| Fauna Density | 100 | Not that I've ever seen any! |
| AI AND MULTIPLAYER TRAFFIC DETAIL | |
| Use generic plane models (AI traffic) | OFF |
| Use generic plane models (multiplayer) | OFF |
| Show multiplayer a/c in close proximity | ON | ON for formation flights |
| Traffic variety | Medium |
| Welcome > Options > General Options > | |
| Data | |
| DATA CONNECTION | |
| Online Functionality | ON |
| BING world graphics | ON |
| Photogrammetry | ON |
| Live real-world air traffic | OFF |
| Live weather | ON |
| Multiplayer | OFF | ON when using it, obviously |
| DATA CONSUMPTION | |
| Current data consumption | (Varies) |
| Limit | (Varies) |
| Data tracking reset day | 1 |
| Data limitation | OFF |
| Data limit (gB) | (Varies) |
| Data warning (gB) | (Varies) |
| DATA BANDWIDTH USAGE LIMIT | |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited |
| ROLLING CACHE SETTINGS | |
| Rolling cache | OFF | I found it makes zero difference. Tried low level fast etc, no difference |
| Rolling cache limit (gB) | 8 | enter 8.0 then press ENTER |
| Rolling cache path | c:\users\(my name)\appdata\roaming\... |
| Delete rolling cache file | (delete) |
| Manual cache | (view) |
| Welcome > Options > General Options > | |
| Flight model | |
| MODERN | |
| Global preset | (greyed out) |
| Generals | (greyed out) |
| Crash Realism | (greyed out) |
| Gyro | (greyed out) |
| P-factor | (greyed out) |
| Torque | (greyed out) |
| Welcome > Options > General Options > | |
| Misc | |
| INTERNATIONAL SETTINGS | |
| Language | EN-US |
| Units of measurement | U.S. System |
| PILOT AVATAR SETTINGS | |
| Pilot avatar | Pilot1 ... or Defauly |
| Co-pilot avatar | Default |
| Civilian Instructor | Default |
| Military Instructor | Default |
| ABOUT FLIGHT SIMULATOR | |
| Legal | (View) |
| Credits | (View) |
| Credits - XBox version | (View) |
| Welcome > Options > General Options > | |
| Accessibility | |
| SCREEN NARRATION SETTINGS | |
| Enable screen narrator | OFF |
| Screen narrator volume | (greyed out) |
| Screen narrator pitch | (greyed out) |
| Screen narrator speed | (greyed out) |
| USER INTERFACE | |
| Minimum text size | 18 |
| Interface scale | 100 |
| Cockpit interaction system | Legacy |
| Menu tool tips | ON |
| Instrument name tooltips | Instant |
| Instrument description tooltips | Greyed out |
| Background opacity | 20 |
| Main colour | Default |
| Menu animations | ON |
| Subtitles | OFF |
| Skip pre-flight cinematics | OFF | cinematics at start of each flight. Perversely, leave this OFF, so don't skip! |
| Controller vibration | 0 |
| D-Pad menu navigation | OFF |
| Cursor Settings | |
| Cursor Acceleration | |
| Cursor Max Speed | |
| Show the White Dot Cursor in Freelook | |
| Allow 2D Cursor on all Peripherals | |
| Subtitle Settings | |
| Subtitles | OFF |
| Subtitle Text Size | na |
| Subtitle Text Colour | na |
| Subtitle Background Colour | na |
| Subtitle Background Opacity | na |
| Welcome > Options > General Options > | |
| Developers | |
| Developer mode | OFF |
| Welcome > Options > General Options > | |
| VR mode | |
| VR mode | (Switch to VR) |
| BINDINGS FOR VR MODE | |
| VR - activate/deactivate VR mode | |
| VR - toolbar toggle | |
| VR - camera reset | |
| VR - cockpit focus | |
| BINDINGS FOR USER CAMERA TRANSLATION | |
| Horizontal | |
| Vertical | |
| Depth | |
| VR MODE | Ignore this menu |
| Experimental | |
| Replay Tool | |
| Low Power Mode | |
| Use NanoVG for XML Gauges | ON |
| Package Reorder Tool | |
| MSFS State Report | |
| Create a Report | |
| Open Containing Folder | |
| Multi Window | |
| Add a New Render Window | |
| Welcome > Options > Assistance Options > | |
| Aircraft Systems | |
| Automixture | OFF |
| Unlimited Fuel | OFF |
| Aircraft lights | OFF |
| Gyro drift | ON |
| PILOTING | |
| Auto-rudder | OFF |
| Assisted yoke | OFF |
| Assisted checklist | OFF |
| Assisted landing | OFF |
| Assisted takeoff | OFF |
| AI radion communications (ATC) | OFF |
| AI anti stall protection | OFF |
| AI auto trim | OFF |
| Assisted controller sensitivity | OFF |
| Welcome > Options > Assistance Options > | |
| Failure and Damage | |
| Crash damage | Enabled |
| Aircraft stress damage | Enabled |
| Engine stress damage | Disabled |
| Icing effect | ON |
| Welcome > Options > Assistance Options > | |
| Navigation Aids | |
| Route and waypoints | OFF |
| Taxi ribbon | OFF |
| Landing path | OFF |
| Smartcam mode | Manual |
| Welcome > Options > Assistance Options > | |
| Notification | |
| Piloting and controls notifications | OFF |
| Aircraft System | OFF |
| Flying tips | OFF |
| Objectives | OFF |
| Software tips | OFF |
| Welcome > Options > Assistance Options > | |
| Landmark markers | OFF |
| City markers | OFF |
| Airport markers | OFF |
| Fauna markers | OFF |
| Display direction to chosen POI | OFF |
| Display all labels | OFF |
| Welcome > Options > Assistance Options > | |
| User experience | |
| ATC panel open at start | OFF |
| Show message log in ATC menu | ON |
| ATC voices | ON |
| Checklist UI panel open at start | OFF |
| VFR map UI panel open at start | OFF |
| Nav log UI panel open at start | OFF |
| AI piloting in cursor mode | OFF |
| Instrument HUD - chase cam | OFF |
| Instrument HUD - cockpit cam | OFF |
| G-effect | Civil aviation pilot |
| G-suit | ON |
| End flight when ac shuts down | OFF |
| Controls Options | |
| Keyboard | KBD MB339 |
| Mouse | Default | if switched away from this the mouse won't work on World Map |
| Joystick - HOTAS Warthog, Throttle - HOTAS Warthog, TPR T.Pendular rudder | these should not show up |
| Thrustmaster Combined | TM MB-339 |
| WINWING F18 Combat Ready Panel | COMBAT PAN MB339 |
| WINWING F18 Takeoff Panel | TOFF PAN MB339 |