Install and connect vatSys

Claim a runway, then switch its bars. The XPGuard vatSys plugin lets you drive an airport’s stop bars and arm its Takeoff Hold Lights (THL) live over VATSIM, straight from vatSys.

• Pilots running XPGuard in MSFS or X-Plane see the lights you switch.
• You never touch a light in your own sim.

What the vatSys plugin does - and doesn’t

The vatSys plugin does stop bars and THL only.

Follow the Greens, Runway Entrance Lights (REL) and lead-on lights are EuroScope-only. Use the EuroScope plugin for those.

Everything happens in one window:

• A left-hand tree of your claimed airports.
• A self-drawn ground map of the selected one.

vatSys gives plugins no radar canvas, so XPGuard renders its own map inside the window.

Installation

1. Download the vatSys plugin from xpguard.net - no account needed. (You will need one later, for your token.)
2. Unblock it first. Right-click the .zip → Properties → tick Unblock → OK. Then extract.
3. Copy XPGuardVatsys.dll into the vatSys Plugins folder. This is usually C:\Program Files (x86)\vatSys\bin\Plugins.
4. Launch vatSys. An XPGuard entry appears in the Windows menu (figure below).
5. Click that entry to open the window.

The XPGuard entry in the vatSys menu

Don’t skip the unblock step

Windows marks files downloaded from the internet. If you skip Unblock, vatSys silently refuses to load the plugin.

One profile only

Want XPGuard for a single vatSys profile instead of globally? Drop the DLL in Documents\vatSys Files\Profiles\<profile>\Plugins instead of the bin\Plugins folder.

Set your token once

The token proves it is really you switching the lights. It is the same token the EuroScope plugin uses.

1. On your dashboard, open Controller token → Generate token → Copy.
2. Paste it into the Token box in the XPGuard window.
3. Click Save.

It is remembered - a one-time step. Keep it private.

Update check

Shortly after loading, XPGuard checks for a newer version. If one exists, an amber Update available banner appears at the top of the window. Click it to open your dashboard and download the new build.