Learn to add, enable, disable, reorder and remove scenery in the FSX Scenery Library, with folder, priority and Steam Edition fixes.
Use the FSX Scenery Library to add each scenery package’s parent folder, tick or untick it to enable or disable it, and move it up or down to set priority. In both boxed FSX and FSX: Steam Edition, higher entries normally override lower entries where scenery overlaps.
How do I add scenery to the FSX Scenery Library?
Add the folder containing the package’s scenery directory, rather than the scenery directory itself.
- Extract the download: unpack a manual scenery package completely before opening FSX. Do not register a ZIP or temporary extraction folder. Our step-by-step FSX scenery installation walkthrough covers conventional package placement in more detail.
- Inspect its folders: find the level containing
sceneryand, where supplied,texture. If an installer has already created and enabled a library entry, do not add a second copy. - Open the library: choose Settings and then Scenery Library from the FSX start screen. The library can also be opened through the simulator’s menu while a flight is loaded.
- Select Add Area: browse to the package’s parent folder and give the area a recognisable title. With the parent selected, confirm the choice. If the old FSX folder picker opens the folder instead of accepting it, right-click once in the blank white area; this commonly makes the picker return the selected folder to the library.
- Enable and position it: make sure its checkbox is ticked, then use Move Up or Move Down if it overlaps another package.
- Apply the change: close the library with OK and allow FSX to rebuild its scenery indexes. Restart FSX if the package instructions require it or the change is not visible.
The scenery can live outside the main FSX installation, but its folder must remain on a stable, accessible drive. Adding an area registers its path; FSX does not copy the files into the simulator.
Which scenery folder should I select?
A valid scenery area normally has a structure such as My Airport\scenery\*.bgl, with textures under My Airport\texture when required. Select My Airport.
A mistake we see constantly is registering the inner scenery folder. Another is selecting an outer download folder that contains a second folder of the same name. If the package supplies separate airport, terrain or mesh components, follow its documentation and add each specified parent folder separately.
Photographic packages can have less obvious layouts, so use our guidance on registering and prioritising FSX photoreal scenery when the download contains several nested layers.
What do the Scenery Library controls do?
The Scenery Library controls registration, activation and priority; they do not provide a complete file uninstaller.
| Control | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Enabled checkbox | Loads or suppresses the area without deleting its entry | Testing conflicts or temporarily removing scenery |
| Move Up | Gives the entry higher priority | When a detailed airport must override broader scenery |
| Move Down | Gives the entry lower priority | For regional, landclass or mesh layers beneath local scenery |
| Edit Area | Changes the registered title or location where supported | Correcting an entry after relocating its folder |
| Delete Area | Removes the library registration | Unregistering scenery before deleting or uninstalling it |
FSX records these choices in scenery.cfg. Routine changes should be made through the library, not by editing that file. Boxed FSX and Steam Edition installed side by side may use separate configuration locations.
How should FSX scenery priority be arranged?
Put the most specific scenery near the top and broad coverage near the bottom, while preserving any order required by the package author.
- Airport patches and exclusions go above the airport or scenery they modify.
- Detailed airports and local city scenery normally sit above regional packages.
- Photoreal and landclass coverage generally sits below detailed airports.
- Terrain mesh usually belongs below local scenery and above the default base layers; mesh resolution also affects which data FSX selects. See our mesh registration and layer-placement guidance for that special case.
- Leave Microsoft’s default scenery areas enabled and near the bottom. Do not remove them merely to solve an add-on conflict.
Priority matters only where packages affect the same location or scenery type. Moving an unrelated object library to the top will not usually repair missing buildings. For packages with several entries, keep their internal order intact and move the group together.
How do I disable or remove an FSX scenery add-on?
Untick the area first and test the affected location; this is safer than immediately deleting anything.
To remove manual scenery permanently, select the entry, choose Delete Area, apply the change, and then delete its folder outside FSX. Deleting the library entry alone does not erase the files. If the package used an installer, use its uninstaller because it may also have installed effects, shared objects or other files elsewhere.
Do not rename or move an enabled scenery folder without updating its library path. FSX will otherwise retain an entry that points to a location that no longer exists.
Why is an enabled scenery area not working?
Most FSX Scenery Library failures come from selecting the wrong parent folder, a conflicting higher-priority package or a library entry that was not saved.
- The entry appears but the scenery does not: check for an extra nested folder, confirm that the package contains BGL files, verify the location in the simulator, and temporarily disable other scenery covering the same airport.
- Buildings or objects are missing: confirm that any required shared object library is enabled and raise the FSX Scenery Complexity setting if the package filters objects by complexity.
- Add Area will not accept the folder: use the blank-area right-click workaround in the old folder picker, or place the package in a simpler local path and try again.
- The entry disappears after restarting: FSX may be unable to write the active configuration file, or boxed and Steam installations may be using different configuration branches. Follow our fixes for scenery entries that vanish after restart.
- The airport shows duplicate runways or buildings: two active packages are modifying the same location. Untick suspected entries one at a time, identify the conflict, and keep only the preferred airport active.