Learn what X-Plane global scenery covers, what is installed, why airports appear in water, and how it differs from photoreal imagery.
Yes. Desktop X-Plane includes default Global Scenery for almost all of the inhabited world without a separate scenery purchase. The installer may place only the regions you select on disk, though, and the coverage is not worldwide satellite photography. Missing regional tiles can leave airports surrounded by water or featureless terrain.
What is included in X-Plane Global Scenery?
X-Plane Global Scenery provides the base terrain on which airports, buildings and other scenery are displayed.
| Component | What the default scenery provides |
|---|---|
| Terrain mesh | Ground elevation, coastlines and the division between land and water. |
| Surface textures | Generic textures selected from land-use data rather than aerial photographs. |
| Transport and objects | Roads, railways, buildings, vegetation and other generated features where source data is available. |
| Airports | A large worldwide airport collection. Airport scenery is separate from the surrounding terrain tile, so an airport can exist even when its regional terrain is missing. |
Coverage and detail are not identical everywhere. Extreme polar areas are outside the normal detailed coverage, while remote regions may contain much less source data than major cities. X-Plane 11 and X-Plane 12 also have different base-scenery packages; their Global Scenery folders should not be mixed.
Is all X-Plane world scenery installed automatically?
No. Global scenery is included with desktop X-Plane, but the initial installation may contain only the geographical regions selected in the installer or storefront package manager.
The installed data normally sits under <X-Plane>/Global Scenery/. Seeing that folder does not prove every region is present. You can add another region later without reinstalling the complete simulator; follow our steps for adding or repairing included Global Scenery if terrain is absent or damaged.
A mistake we see constantly is moving the base package into Custom Scenery or attempting to repair it by reordering ordinary add-ons. Leave Global Scenery in its original folder and use the installer or platform package controls to verify it.
Why are X-Plane airports surrounded by water?
An airport surrounded by water usually means its regional base-terrain tile is not installed or could not be loaded.
- If a broad rectangular area has no land, install or verify that geographical region.
- If default terrain appears but a downloaded airport is absent, troubleshoot the airport package rather than Global Scenery.
- If land appears with incorrect elevation or textures, check for a conflicting custom mesh package and its scenery priority. Our explanation of mesh scenery and load order covers how replacement terrain interacts with the default world.
- After loading the affected location, inspect
Log.txtfor references to missing or unreadable scenery files.
Is X-Plane global scenery photoreal?
No. Default X-Plane world scenery uses terrain mesh, land-use information and reusable textures and objects; it does not provide continuous satellite or aerial imagery for the planet.
Orthophoto packages add photographic ground textures, normally for selected countries or regions, but require substantially more storage and may include replacement mesh. If that is the appearance you want, use our X-Plane 12 orthophoto installation instructions rather than replacing or deleting the included Global Scenery.
Does this apply to X-Plane Mobile?
No. X-Plane Mobile manages scenery through its own regional download system. Desktop Global Scenery folders, packages and repair procedures do not apply to the mobile edition.