How do I disable AI traffic in a flight simulator?

To disable AI traffic in a flight simulator, set the aircraft traffic type to Off or reduce both airline and general-aviation density to zero. Then stop any external traffic injector. Do not delete AI aircraft models: injected traffic, multiplayer aircraft, generated parked aircraft and static scenery can be controlled separately.

How do I turn off AI aircraft safely?

Use the simulator’s traffic controls before touching its aircraft or scenery folders. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, FSX, Prepar3D, FS2004 and X-Plane, removing model files is neither necessary nor a reliable way to stop traffic.

1. Identify the traffic source. Determine whether the aircraft are built-in offline traffic, live traffic, multiplayer users, an external injector or static airport models. Our explanation of scheduled, live, injected and multiplayer traffic shows why each source needs a different control.
2. Disable built-in airborne traffic. Select Off for the aircraft traffic source where that option exists. In older simulators, set both airline and general-aviation traffic density to zero.
3. Deal with aircraft on the ground. Set ground or parked aircraft density to zero if the simulator provides a separate control. This normally affects generated parked aircraft, not models built into an airport’s scenery.
4. Stop independent traffic sources. Close an external injector or disable its simulator plugin. Turn off multiplayer separately if online pilots must also disappear; multiplayer aircraft are not AI traffic even though they can look similar.
5. Reload the session. Return to the main menu and reload the flight. Restarting the simulator is the safest test because aircraft already spawned into a session may not vanish immediately.

Which AI traffic setting should I use?

The correct setting depends on the simulator and the source producing the aircraft.

Why are aircraft still visible after disabling AI traffic?

Aircraft that remain after traffic is switched off usually come from another system rather than the built-in AI engine.

• Live or multiplayer traffic: these online sources may have controls separate from offline AI.
• External injectors: a background application or simulator plugin can continue supplying traffic.
• Generated parked aircraft: airport ground-aircraft density often has its own slider.
• Static scenery: some parked aeroplanes are ordinary airport models and cannot taxi, depart or respond to ATC. Disable or configure the airport scenery package to remove them.
• Mission or scenario aircraft: traffic saved as part of a mission must be edited in that mission rather than through global traffic settings.
• Existing session traffic: reload the flight or restart the simulator so its traffic state is rebuilt.

If the same aircraft remain in exactly the same parking positions after a restart, they are probably static scenery. If they taxi or appear on ATC and traffic displays, an injector, multiplayer session or another active traffic source is still supplying them.

How do I remove an AI traffic add-on completely?

Remove a traffic add-on through the installer, package manager or companion application that installed it. Manual removal should target the complete package or its known schedule file, not individual AI aircraft models.

• Microsoft Flight Simulator: remove a manually installed package from the Community folder while the simulator is closed. Use the simulator’s content management system for managed content and the supplied uninstaller for an external traffic program.
• FSX, FS2004 and Prepar3D: use the add-on’s uninstaller or disable its scenery entry. A manually installed airline schedule is often a traffic .bgl file, sometimes under Scenery\World\scenery. Rename only the confirmed schedule from traffic-name.bgl to traffic-name.bgl.off so it can be restored. Our guide to safe FS2004 traffic-BGL handling explains this reversible method.
• X-Plane: disable the traffic plugin first, close the simulator and then use the plugin’s supplied removal method. Remove aircraft from X-Plane’s native AI list separately.

Keep a backup before changing legacy traffic files. Deleting only an aircraft model can leave broken schedule references, missing models or unwanted substitutions while the traffic source itself remains active.

Does disabling AI traffic improve performance?

Disabling traffic can improve performance at busy airports by reducing AI flight calculations, ATC activity, model drawing and airport movement. The benefit depends on whether the processor, graphics system or traffic model complexity is the limiting factor.

If a completely empty airport is unnecessary, reduce traffic density first and test at the location where performance is poorest. FSX users can also use our utility for reducing AI schedules rather than removing every flight. Static scenery aircraft may still affect rendering performance even when the AI traffic sliders are at zero.