Directory Structure

This page describes the file and folder layout used by X-Plane Launcher and the symbolic link mappings to your X-Plane 12 installation.

Central Data Folder

Default location:

~/Library/Application Support/XPlaneLauncher/

Subdirectories

XPlaneLauncher/
├── Aircraft/       # Source aircraft add-ons
├── Plugins/        # Source plugin add-ons
├── Scenery/        # Source custom scenery packages
└── LuaScripts/     # Source FlyWithLua scripts and bundles

Symlink Mappings

When a profile is activated, X-Plane Launcher creates symbolic links inside the corresponding X-Plane 12 directories:

Category	Source Path in Central Folder	Target Path in X-Plane 12
Aircraft	`Aircraft/<Folder>`	`<X-Plane 12>/Aircraft/<Folder>`
Plugins	`Plugins/<Folder>`	`<X-Plane 12>/Resources/plugins/<Folder>`
Scenery	`Scenery/<Folder>`	`<X-Plane 12>/Custom Scenery/<Folder>`
Lua Script	`LuaScripts/<Script>.lua`	`<X-Plane 12>/Resources/plugins/FlyWithLua/Scripts/<Script>.lua`
Lua Bundle	`LuaScripts/<Folder>`	`<X-Plane 12>/Resources/plugins/FlyWithLua/Scripts/<Folder>`
CSL Models	Directly installed	`<X-Plane 12>/Resources/plugins/IVAO_CSL/CSL/<Package>`

Scenery Configuration File

File location:

<X-Plane 12>/Custom Scenery/scenery_packs.ini

Entries are formatted as:

I
1000 Version
SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/Aerosoft - EDDF Frankfurt/
SCENERY_PACK_DISABLED Custom Scenery/KLAS Las Vegas/
SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/Global Airports/

SCENERY_PACK: Enabled scenery pack.
SCENERY_PACK_DISABLED: Disabled scenery pack (skipped by simulator on startup).
The order of lines determines loading and rendering priority.

Application Preferences

Preferences are saved in macOS UserDefaults:

Key	Type	Description
`XPlanePath`	String	Path to the X-Plane 12 folder
`LauncherDataFolder`	String	Path to the custom Central Data Folder
`PluginProfiles`	Data (JSON)	Saved profiles
`SelectedProfileId`	String (UUID)	ID of the currently selected profile
`SceneryGroups`	Data (JSON)	Scenery group definitions
`ScriptEnvVars`	Data (JSON)	Global pre-launch script environment variables
`EnableCSLSupport`	Boolean	Whether CSL support is enabled
`EnableCSLXP12Lights`	Boolean	Whether XP12 parameterized lighting is enabled
`HasCompletedWelcome`	Boolean	Whether the initial welcome assistant was completed