Learn how to fly at night in Microsoft Flight Simulator: set the time, use aircraft lights, dim the cockpit and make safer night landings.
To fly at night in Microsoft Flight Simulator, set the local departure time after sunset, choose a lighted airport, power the aircraft’s electrical system, then switch on navigation, beacon, taxi and landing lights as appropriate. Dim cockpit lighting enough to preserve outside vision, and use instruments and approach lighting rather than visual guesswork.
How do I set Microsoft Flight Simulator to night?
Set a custom departure time after sunset at your chosen airport rather than relying on live time. These steps apply to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024, although the position of individual controls differs between versions.
- Choose the route first: Select the departure and destination before setting the time, because sunset depends on location, season and date. A clock time such as 21:00 is not guaranteed to be dark at high latitudes in summer.
- Set a custom time: Move the pre-flight time control until the airport preview is after sunset. Disable the live time option if you do not want the simulator to follow real-world time at that location.
- Use forgiving weather: For a first night flight, choose clear conditions, good visibility and light wind. Low cloud, rain and fog reflect landing and strobe lights back into the cockpit.
- Pick a suitable airport: Start with a large paved airport that has runway-edge, threshold and approach lighting. Small airfields and private strips may be deliberately unlit.
Time and weather can often be adjusted after loading through the simulator toolbar, provided the flight mode has not locked those controls. Our explanation of how the in-flight toolbar controls work covers opening and managing its panels.
Which aircraft lights should I use at night?
Use each exterior light for its intended phase of flight, following the aircraft’s own checklist where one is provided. Microsoft Flight Simulator does not require a realistic lighting sequence, but using one prevents missed switches and builds sound habits.
| Light | When to use it | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Navigation or position | Whenever the aircraft is operating at night | Expecting these lights to illuminate the ground |
| Beacon | Before engine start until after shutdown, subject to the aircraft checklist | Switching it on only for take-off |
| Taxi | While moving on taxiways and aprons | Leaving it on after take-off |
| Landing | For take-off, approach and landing, plus any phase specified by the checklist | Using it in cloud or fog when reflected glare makes visibility worse |
| Strobe | Normally from runway entry until runway exit | Using it on the apron or leaving it flashing in cloud when it becomes distracting |
| Panel and instrument | At the lowest comfortable readable level | Turning everything to maximum and destroying outside visibility |
Landing lights have a limited beam and will not reveal terrain from cruising altitude. Navigation lights make the aircraft visible to others; they are not searchlights.
Generic keyboard or controller commands do not operate every add-on aircraft correctly. If a light binding appears ineffective, use the switch in the virtual cockpit and check for duplicate assignments or a hardware switch that is continually overriding it.
Cockpit lighting and glass displays
Keep instrument lighting readable but dim, with dome and flood lights low or off once you are moving. Excessive cockpit light reflects from the windscreen and can hide a runway that is plainly visible from an external view.
Locate the dimmers before departure. Depending on the aircraft, separate controls may govern the main panel, pedestal, overhead panel, flood lights and individual PFD or MFD screens. A fully black glass display usually indicates missing electrical power, an unpowered avionics bus or a brightness control at minimum; use our focused checks for blank avionics screens rather than assuming night mode is responsible.
If a powered display is simply too small to read, supported panels can be enlarged or moved using the simulator’s instrument pop-out feature. This improves legibility but does not fix an unpowered or fully dimmed screen.
How do you land safely at night in MSFS?
Fly a night approach using the same planned lateral and vertical references you would use in poor visibility, even when the runway is visible. An isolated runway surrounded by darkness creates a black-hole illusion that can tempt a pilot into descending too early.
- Brief the arrival: Check runway length, elevation, lighting, terrain, available approach guidance and missed-approach direction before descending.
- Prepare the aircraft: Set the altimeter, tune or load the intended approach where appropriate, set cockpit brightness and complete the landing checklist before the workload rises.
- Follow reliable guidance: Use the flight instruments and any valid ILS, RNAV, PAPI or VASI guidance. On a standard four-light PAPI, two white and two red lights indicate the designed approach slope.
- Confirm the runway: Do not mistake a road, parallel taxiway or another airport for the assigned runway. Check its orientation against the heading indicator or navigation display.
- Hold a stable approach: Runway width, slope and surrounding darkness can distort perceived height. Maintain the planned speed, descent path and configuration rather than chasing the visual picture.
- Flare normally: Look towards the far end of the runway instead of staring into the landing-light hotspot immediately ahead. After clearing the runway, turn off the landing and strobe lights and use the taxi light.
Night VFR is possible in the simulator, but it leaves less margin for terrain, weather and navigation errors. Real-world night-VFR rules also vary by country. For practice, remain over familiar, well-lit terrain and maintain deliberate terrain clearance rather than treating illuminated roads as navigation guarantees.
Why are my aircraft or runway lights not working?
Dark lights usually result from missing aircraft power, a dimmer at minimum, an incorrect control binding or an airport that has no modelled lighting. Check the simple causes before changing graphics or display settings.
- No aircraft lights: Confirm the battery, generator or alternator and the relevant electrical buses are powered. A battery-only start can eventually leave lights and avionics dark.
- A switch immediately changes back: Look for duplicate controller assignments, maintained hardware switches or assistance features overriding the cockpit control.
- Only the displays are dark: Check both electrical power and each display’s own brightness control. Panel flood lighting does not necessarily control glass-screen brightness.
- The runway remains black: Verify that the real or simulated airfield has lighting, then test at a large default airport. Pilot-controlled lighting is not represented consistently across every airport and scenery package.
- One add-on airport is affected: On PC, conflicting airport scenery in the Community folder can replace or obscure default lighting. Temporarily remove overlapping packages and test the airport again.
- Everything outside looks black: That may be realistic away from towns or moonlight. Practise closer to twilight or with clearer, brighter conditions instead of increasing cockpit illumination to maximum.
A sensible first night practice flight
We recommend beginning with traffic circuits at a familiar, well-lit airport in an aircraft whose switches and normal approach speeds you already know. Start around twilight, identify the lighting controls while there is still some natural light, then repeat the circuit in full darkness before attempting an unfamiliar route or instrument approach.