SeedyL

Folks, for clarification about what this release note from the SU7.2 beta means, it is not undoing SU7. In SU7, there was a change to drag calculations that inadvertently reduced drag values slightly. In SU7.1, the issue with too little drag was fixed, but unfortunately an unintended by-product of that fix was that some third-party add-on aircraft (particularly supersonic fighter jets) were now experiencing more drag which prevented them from reaching their top speeds. In SU7.2, all drag calculations have been reverted to what they were in SU6.1; nothing else in SU7/SU7.1 is being rolled back or undone. Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

@MarcG, I'm not incorrect about this. With Sim Update 16 for MSFS (2020), the maximum terrain tile texture resolution was inadvertently reduced to 256x256 from the previous value of 512x512 (see Seb's comments about this in the November 2025 Developer Livestream). The ground scenery texture tiles in MSFS 2024, on the other hand, have always been 256x256. This hasn't changed since the initial MSFS 2024 release in November 2024. This is clearly documented in the SDK here: https://docs.flightsimulator.com/msfs2024/retail/devmode/editors/project-editor/file-formats/cgl-files/ "All image files for aerial images should be authored as 16bit PNG with a fixed size of 256x256px, and the build process will automatically generate the images for the lower levels of detail as part of the generated CGL file. Note that the alpha channel of the provided aerial image PNG is used to blend between the image and the in-game aerial, where a pixel with alpha 0 means the in-game aerial pixel is used, and 1 means the provided aerial pixel is used. Any value in-between will create a linear interpolation between the in-game aerial and the provided aerial." (Emphasis added) The Map Enhancement mod alters the sim to use unlicensed data from a third-party provider. Its use is unsupported in both MSFS (2020) and MSFS 2024.

@MarcG, This only affects MSFS (2020) as of Sim Update 16. It is not applicable to MSFS 2024.

Hello @xender, To my knowledge, there have not been any server-side changes to graphical quality since MSFS 2024 launched, with the exception of World and City Updates releases which improve the scenery quality of the affected areas. That isn't to say that players never experience low resolution textures. We obviously see your reports and screenshots. There are a few possible explanations for this that don't involve Microsoft/Asobo deliberately reducing texture quality on PC "for the sake of consoles", though. First, players can sometimes see low res textures if they are temporarily experiencing low bandwidth somewhere between their home internet and the MSFS servers. This can be caused by any number of reasons, and rebooting your PC or console and modem/router is often a good troubleshooting step to try first (but obviously not a guaranteed solution). Other times, this could be caused by something completely outside both your and Microsoft's control, such as a temporary network congestion issue somewhere in the spiderweb of routers between your ISP and the Azure data center which hosts the MSFS servers. We have also seen a small number of reports that a few ISPs are using traffic shaping to limit their customers' bandwidth to the MSFS servers. Players impacted by this have shared that either changing their DNS servers and/or using a VPN has resolved this issue for them. Also, this is a friendly reminder that the in-sim "Dynamic Settings -> Frame Rate Target" option by design automatically lowers your graphical quality and texture resolution to improve sim performance. We frequently see players configure their Frame Rate Target option with too high of a value. For example, someone might say, "I want to run the sim at 80 fps," so they set the Frame Rate Target to 80. Instead, what everyone should be doing is configuring this value to their minimum acceptable fps. In my case, I have this set to 30. For the vast majority of the time, my sim runs at a much higher frame rate and Dynamic Settings never kicks in, so I see the sim in full graphical quality. During rare instances where my frame rate temporarily drops below 30 fps (for example when flying near a bespoke airport in a high density photogrammetry area like London with lots of nearby traffic), then the sim will temporarily reduce the graphical quality so it keeps running above a bare minimum acceptable level of performance as defined by my Frame Rate Target setting. I know that might sound obvious to most people reading this, but an improperly configured Dynamic Settings value is a very common source of complaints about poor image quality. We once had a player submit a Zendesk support ticket asking why their sim looked terrible despite having high-end PC hardware and setting all the graphical options to maximum. After some back-and-forth discussion with the player, our support agent determined that they had set the Frame Rate Target to 165 fps (to match the refresh rate of their monitor) and Dynamic Settings was doing exactly what it was designed to do: lowering the graphical quality to keep performance at or above 165 fps. Adjusting the Frame Rate Target value to a much lower number immediately fixed their issue. There are also a few popular unsupported mods (such as AutoFPS) which have similar functionality to the Dynamic Settings option and deliberately lower graphical quality to increase performance. If anyone is experiencing poor texture quality and are using one of these mods, try testing the sim either without it enabled or adjust the settings to be less aggressive to see if you still experience the same issue. Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

Hello @Noel, As I mentioned in my previous post, there are different builds for PC, XBOX, and PS5. The LOD is not the same across each version; on PC, the Terrain and Object LOD settings are user adjustable, and on the console builds these setting are pre-configured and cannot be modified by players. The PC build has sliders with a range of possible values to accommodate all different PC hardware configurations, with users being able to configure their sim with LOD settings that are either lower or greater than the values used on the XBOX and PS5 builds. In short, if you're playing MSFS on PC, you already can set your LOD to be greater than what is possible on consoles, assuming you have the hardware capable of running at those settings. Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

Folks, There is no reduction of graphical quality on PC for the sake of console users. I'm not sure how that rumor got started, but it is entirely without merit. There are four separately compiled builds of MSFS (PC-MS Store, PC-Steam, XBOX Series X|S, and PS5). The two PC builds are largely identical except for the update delivery system and Marketplace purchase backend (i.e. Valve handles payment processing for Steam users), but the PC vs. XBOX vs. PS5 builds are each coded with different platform-specific graphical settings and optimizations. This is the same development methodology used for virtually all multiplatform titles, not just MSFS. The PC build of MSFS includes graphical quality sliders and settings that are unavailable on consoles so PC users can tailor their quality/performance settings to best match the capabilities of your individual hardware whether you have budget "Minimum System Requirements" spec computer (which, incidentally, has less compute power than an XBOX or PS5) or a blazing fast ultra high-end box or anything in between those two extremes. Someone with an expensive high end PC can configure their sim in such a way that it both has superior graphical quality and runs at higher frame rates than the console builds are capable of. Of course, the tradeoff for this is that you need to purchase PC hardware that costs 4-5x (or more) than a console. Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

This is literally stated verbatim in AVSIM's Terms of Service (which, I presume, most people never actually read): "Freedom Of Speech: AVSIM is not a democracy, and there is no such thing as "Freedom of Speech" in our forums. If you believe that you are entitled to that freedom without restriction and that you should be able to do and say as you please, then reconsider... Please do NOT register."

Hello @Warlocc, We have a sticked post on the official forums that explains in detail how one can share negative feedback about the sim in a constructive and helpful manner that is actually useful to the developers when making improvements. This stickied post also gives some examples of non-constructive posts that aren't helpful. You can read the post here: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/how-to-improve-the-discussion/587536 Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

Hi folks, Sim Updates do not deploy simultaneously for all users on all platforms in all regions. You will automatically receive the update, but it might not be at the same time as some other players. No action is required on your part to force the install. I myself have not received the update yet (XBOX app for Windows 11 / Western Canada region). Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

Hello @ElsassAviation, Since you mentioned my colleague Chewwy94 in this thread, I thought I would respond. First, I want to clear up a common misconception both to you and to anyone else reading this thread in response to the quoted text above: the Community Managers and volunteer forum moderators never remove any messages on the official forums just because they are expressing negative feedback about MSFS. Anyone who spends five minutes browsing the official forums -- including in the very thread mentioned in the quoted text above -- will find plenty of negative feedback posts which are perfectly acceptable and have not been removed, including several negative messages from this very poster. The only reason we ever remove a negative feedback post on the official forums is if it violates the Code of Conduct. For example, this might be because the post included profanity, was non-constructive, or was written in a disrespectful manner. As the classic expression goes, it's not what you said, it's how you said it. I looked up your account on the official forums to see why three of your posts were removed. Here is what I found: The first post was flagged by a member of the community because you used profanity to express your point in a disrespectful manner. Just like here on AVSIM, the official forums have a profanity filter, but you used strategically-placed asterisks to circumvent the filter to write a blocked word that is a synonym for "cattle poo". Deliberately bypassing the profanity filter in this manner is a violation of the Code of Conduct. Accordingly, your post was flagged and removed, and you received a polite reminder (not an Official Warning) from Chewwy94 requesting that in the future you refrain from using profanity when sharing negative feedback. Your second post was flagged and hidden because you posted an AI-generated meme image instead of contributing constructively to the discussion. This AI-generated image was non-constructive and added nothing of value to the thread, so it too was removed by one of our volunteer forum moderators. Once again you did not receive an Official Warning for this. Finally, your third post from today was flagged because you made an unrelated off-topic post in a bug report thread to complain about "censorship". As was the previous case with Chewwy94, you received a polite reminder about the Code of Conduct from one of our volunteer moderators, but you did not receive an Official Warning. So to conclude: we have always allowed negative feedback on the official MSFS forums, and we always will. We never "censor" posts just because they are negative in nature or are complaining about a bug or issue someone is experiencing with the sim. We take the concerns from the simmer community very seriously and regularly share player feedback (both positive and negative) with the broader MSFS Dev Team. Your three posts were flagged and removed because they violated the Code of Conduct, were non-constructive, and didn't add value to the conversation; they were not removed because you shared negative feedback, something you have done many other times on the official forums without having those posts removed. Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

Hello @Christopher Low, You do not need a moderator to manually verify your account. All of this is explained in the stickied thread here: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/trust-levels-and-how-to-advance/121729 The trust level "nonsense" (as another poster described it) is a forum security measure to prevent bots and spammers. For a regular forum user such as yourself, it is very quick and 100% automated to advance to the trust level where you can start a new thread. Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

I was really hoping they'd put a nod to this piece of aviation lore in the YouTube trailer for the aircraft, but I understand completely why the video team didn't do so (it would look really weird to people unfamiliar with the story to see an airliner flying inverted). Glad you're having fun with the plane so far! Thanks, SeedyL, Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Manager

Hello @fluffyflops, XBOX CTO Scott Van Vliet wrote the following post on Twitter yesterday. Thanks, SeedyL, Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Manager https://x.com/scottvanvliet/status/2081892395218841974

Update at 2255 UTC - XBOX Support shared the following “All Clear” message. Normal service should now be restored.

Hello @sd_flyer, This outage is with XBOX online services and is impacting many different titles (not just MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024). There is nothing the MSFS team can do except wait for the XBOX support staff (who are working on it right now) to resolve the issue and restore normal service. Thanks, SeedyL, Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Manager

Hello @fppilot, All gaming titles published by Microsoft (including MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024) are published under the XBOX brand regardless if they are running on a Windows PC, an XBOX console, a PlayStation 5 console, or via cloud streaming from XBOX Cloud Gaming or Nvidia GeForce NOW. The references to XBOX in today's outage notices are related to various online services used by MSFS (and other titles) and affect players equally whether you use a Windows PC or a console. Thanks, SeedyL, Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Manager

Hello @sd_flyer, The official word according to the XBOX Status page (as of the time of this writing, 1805 UTC) is that they have identified the cause of the outage and a resolution is pending. You can check this link for the latest updates: https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-live-status Thanks, SeedyL, Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Manager

Hello @AnkH, Can you please kindly link to a post where I made this alleged "blunt statement"? I just checked my posting history here, and I've made exactly two prior comments about this issue, both in response to a user who incorrectly believed that footage shown in the pre-recorded loading screen video represents the current build of the sim (it does not; that footage was captured and the intro video edited together months before MSFS 2024 shipped). I wrote the following two posts about this topic: Post #1: "The footage in the intro video was recorded using a pre-launch WIP version of MSFS 2024 prior to v1.0 shipping in November 2024. I believe the team made changes to make landing gear LOD culling less aggressive in a subsequent Sim Update (I want to say it was SU4, but I'm not 100% sure about that). If you have video or screenshots of stock first party aircraft exhibiting this behavior in the current live SU5 build, please let us know!" Post #2: "For clarification, there should have been no changes to landing gear LOD culling of AI aircraft between SU4 and SU5. This was adjusted in a previous Sim Update (again, I think it was SU4, but I'm not 100% sure about that and it might have been an earlier SU). The intro video was made at least two years ago using a pre-release WIP build of MSFS 2024 and does not reflect the current release state, so any footage you see in that video is not applicable to the current version of the sim. If you're seeing overly aggressive LOD culling for landing gear on any first-party stock aircraft while in a flight session in SU5, please let us know and be sure to mention which specific aircraft type(s) you're seeing this with." In neither of those posts did I say that landing gear culling never occurs anymore under any circumstances. What I actually said is that in a prior Sim Update the culling system was made less aggressive than it was previously so the issue should be improved compared to what it was before. I didn't say it was eliminated entirely. Thanks, SeedyL, Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Manager

Hi @SayAgain, For clarification, there should have been no changes to landing gear LOD culling of AI aircraft between SU4 and SU5. This was adjusted in a previous Sim Update (again, I think it was SU4, but I'm not 100% sure about that and it might have been an earlier SU). The intro video was made at least two years ago using a pre-release WIP build of MSFS 2024 and does not reflect the current release state, so any footage you see in that video is not applicable to the current version of the sim. If you're seeing overly aggressive LOD culling for landing gear on any first-party stock aircraft while in a flight session in SU5, please let us know and be sure to mention which specific aircraft type(s) you're seeing this with. Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

Hello @SayAgain, The footage in the intro video was recorded using a pre-launch WIP version of MSFS 2024 prior to v1.0 shipping in November 2024. I believe the team made changes to make landing gear LOD culling less aggressive in a subsequent Sim Update (I want to say it was SU4, but I'm not 100% sure about that). If you have video or screenshots of stock first party aircraft exhibiting this behavior in the current live SU5 build, please let us know! Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

Hello @sd_flyer, This was always possible in both MSFS (2020) and MSFS 2024 (SU4 and previous) when using a Tobii Eye Tracker 5. Were you not able to do this previously? Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

Hello @Wise87, YMMV, but at least in my case I had to modify the values I was previously using in SU4. In my experience, the new Tobii SDK is more sensitive than the previous version, so I had to reduce the sensitivity of the various pitch/roll/yaw/x/y/z axes in the Tobii hardware configuration menu compared to how I had them configured in SU4. Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

Hello @sd_flyer, I can confirm that the Tobii Eye Tracker 5 is working properly in SU5 (I tested my own earlier today after updating), but please be advised that MSFS 2024 is now using the latest SDK from Tobii. At least in my case, I had to go into my Tobii hardware configuration settings from the Controls menu in the sim and re-adjust the sensitivity values to get it to where I wanted it. You may or may not need to do the same. Thankfully it took me less than five minutes of experimentation to lock in new settings that feel great for me. Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

Hello Fielder, The "advice" you received from AI on this topic has no merit. There is no problem with staying enrolled in the beta when the release version goes live. With previous Sim Updates, the final beta build was the same build number as the release version, so those enrolled in the beta didn't even need to download a new update as they were already using the full release version. If you don't want to automatically enroll in the next beta (i.e. Sim Update 6), then you should exit the beta after SU5 is released. Otherwise, you can stay enrolled and will receive the first SU6 beta build as soon as it is available. Thanks, SeedyL, MSFS Community Manager

See my post above. There is only one value for Dynamic Settings (even if you expand the dropdown menu). Max Frame Rate is a different setting entirely.