VATSIM · X-Plane 12 · Stop bar simulation

Runway stop bars,
lit when you hold.

XPGuard shows controlled stop bars on the ground in X-Plane 12. When you're held short, the bar glows red. When you're cleared, the lights go off — right on the hold-short markings.

Built onXPLM instancing
CoverageWorldwide
Frame-rate cost~0
Ground · RWY 03C hold Stop bar set
PILOT VIEW
Pilot sees HOLD SHORT
How it works

From the web console to your taxiway.

One stop bar, three steps. An admin sets it on the web, XPGuard syncs, and the lights appear on the ground in front of you.

STEP 01 · WEB CONSOLE

Set from the web

An admin manages a field's stop bars from the XPGuard web console, runway by runway, as the ground works. EuroScope / VATSIM controller integration is planned.

Web console
STEP 02 · XPGUARD

Synced in real time

Every change relays through XPGuard to every pilot connected at that airport, the same moment it happens.

Live network
STEP 03 · X-PLANE

Lit on the ground

The XPGuard plugin draws the bar exactly on the hold-short markings — red to hold, off to roll.

X-Plane 12 plugin
What you get

Built to feel like the real ground.

Instant

No lag, no reload

Set or drop a bar and pilots see it the same moment. The ground stays in sync with the controller.

On the markings

Exactly where it belongs

Stop bars sit on the real hold-short positions, mapped straight onto the runways.

No FPS cost

Drawn the light way

Lights use X-Plane's instancing API, so your frame rate doesn't notice they're there.

Worldwide

Any airport in the sim

A thin client over X-Plane 12's global airport database — stopbars appear wherever the community has published a map.

Red or off

The real language

A lit red bar holds you short. Cleared, the lights go off. The same logic as the stop bars on a real taxiway.

Growing

Community-mapped

Airport stopbar maps are built by the community and expanding, field by field.

Two sides of the bar

For the pilot, and for the ground.

● For pilots

Hold short like the real world

Install the plugin, fly online, and watch stop bars light up wherever the ground is being worked.

  • Drop-in X-Plane 12 plugin
  • Bars appear automatically at your airport
  • A control panel to preview and test any field
Get the X-Plane plugin
● For controllers

Run the ground from the web

Today an admin drives every stop bar from the XPGuard web console — no scenery edits, no coordination needed. Direct EuroScope / VATSIM controller integration is on the roadmap.

  • Set and clear bars from the web console
  • Click a bar to hold; click again to clear
  • Pilots see it instantly across the network
EuroScope plugin — coming soon
Coverage

Where XPGuard works.

XPGuard is a thin client over X-Plane 12's global airport database — every airport in the sim, around 31,000 fields, is indexed. Stopbars light up wherever the community has published a map.

LTAC Ankara Esenboğa  Ankara, Türkiye · current mapped example Mapped
···· Your airport next  Any field in X-Plane 12 can be mapped Worldwide

Know an airport that needs stop bars? Map it in the web editor.

Freeware

Built by the people who fly it.

XPGuard grows when pilots and controllers map their home airports. Here's how to pitch in.

Map a field

Add an airport

Sign in, open the airport by ICAO in the web map editor, draw the stop bars over the runways, and submit — an admin reviews and publishes.

Live preview

See it in the sim

Contribution mode shows your in-progress edits on the ground in X-Plane 12 as you map, so you can check every bar before you submit.

Fly & report

Test on VATSIM

Fly the ground, find what's off, and tell us where a bar sits wrong.

Read the contribution guide
Open beta · in active development

Ready to hold short?

Download XPGuard, connect to VATSIM, and fly the ground like it's real. Free to use.