Install XPGuard for X-Plane 12

XPGuard is a small X-Plane 12 plugin. It draws VATSIM-controlled lights in your sim:

• Stop bars
• IHP Lights
• Lead-on lights
• Takeoff Hold Lights (THL)
• Runway Entrance Lights (REL)
• Follow the Greens taxi guidance

You never switch the lights yourself - controllers do. You read them. Everything runs from one in-sim panel.

Before the lights can appear

Lights only appear when both are true:

• You are connected to VATSIM with your pilot client (xPilot, swift or XSquawkBox).
• You are below 1,000 ft AGL.

Above that, the plugin idles and shows nothing.

Install with the launcher

The XPGuard Launcher installs the plugin for you, keeps it up to date, and starts X-Plane. It is the recommended way to install XPGuard.

1. Download XPGuard Launcher for your system (Windows, macOS or Linux) from xpguard.net. No account is needed.

On macOS or Linux, make the download runnable first:

macOS: the download will not open on its own

The macOS build arrives as XPGuardLauncher-mac.bin, a plain program with no execute permission, so double-clicking it does nothing. Open Terminal, cd to your Downloads folder and run these three lines once (the first two only ever need doing once per download):

chmod +x XPGuardLauncher-mac.bin
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine XPGuardLauncher-mac.bin
./XPGuardLauncher-mac.bin

The launcher updates itself after that, so this is a first-install step, not something you repeat at every release.

Linux: make it executable

On Linux, grant execute permission and run the launcher:

chmod +x XPGuardLauncher-lin.bin && ./XPGuardLauncher-lin.bin

2. Open the launcher. It finds X-Plane 12 by itself and shows the folder on the X-Plane row. If the row says not found, click Browse… and pick your X-Plane 12 folder.
3. On the Plugin row, click Install. The launcher puts the plugin into X-Plane 12/Resources/plugins/XPGuard. The row then shows XPGuard <version>.
4. Using xPilot? On the Bridge row, click Install bridge, then restart xPilot. Without xPilot, skip this step.
5. Click Launch X-Plane. With Suppress scenery lights on (the default), the launcher first removes the scenery’s own lights under XPGuard’s, then starts X-Plane and closes itself.
6. In X-Plane, open Plugins → XPGuard → Show control panel to confirm it loaded (figure below).

Every row and button of the launcher is explained on the XPGuard Launcher page.

Start X-Plane from the launcher

Suppress scenery lights is on by default (recommended). The pass runs before the sim starts - X-Plane started outside the launcher loads the scenery’s own lights, and they light beside XPGuard’s until the next launcher start.

Manual install (no launcher)

The plugin also ships as a plain zip on the same page. Without the launcher there is no scenery-light pass (the scenery’s own lights stay on beside XPGuard’s) and updates are by hand.

1. Download the zip.

2. Unzip it into your plugins folder so the layout looks like this:

   <X-Plane 12>/Resources/plugins/XPGuard/
       win_x64/XPGuard.xpl
       mac_x64/XPGuard.xpl
       lin_x64/XPGuard.xpl
       resources/
           ....
       xpilot-bridge/XPGuardXPilotBridge.dll
       version.txt

macOS: the plugin can be blocked

After unzipping, run this once:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/X-Plane 12/Resources/plugins/XPGuard"

3. Start X-Plane 12.

Related guides

• Lights reference - stop bars, lead-on, THL, REL and FTG in full.
• EuroScope controls - how controllers operate the lights.
• Contributing - map an airport.
• FAQ.

Next: Get to know the XPGuard Launcher.