Head tracking in flight sims: settings for MSFS, DCS and IL-2

In flight sims, head tracking quickly becomes something you can't do without. Seeing the runway through the side window on approach, keeping the bandit in sight in a dogfight or glancing at a switch in the cockpit with the hat switch is slow and keeps your hand busy. With head tracking you do all of this by simply turning your head. This post covers how to turn on head tracking in flight sims and the settings that suit flying.

General setup order

Whichever sim you use, the order is the same:

• Open PiHead Tracker and check that the device is connected.
• Start the sim after that. Once connected, the game's name appears at the top of the app.
• Look straight at the screen in the cockpit and recenter once.
• If the TrackIR software or opentrack is open, close it. Only one tracking program can run at a time.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024 support the TrackIR protocol out of the box. The head tracking setting lives among the sim's camera options; according to players it shows up as an on/off option called TrackIR. Menu names can change with updates, so look for an option mentioning "TrackIR" or "head tracking" in the camera section.

MSFS also has a control binding that toggles head tracking. If you've bound it to a key by accident, head tracking may have been switched off without you noticing. If the view doesn't move, check this binding first.

MSFS uses head position as well. Since PiHead Tracker doesn't measure position, moves like leaning towards the instrument panel don't happen by themselves. The app's experimental Neck model option sends the small shift your eyes make when you turn your head, so looking to the side feels more natural.

DCS World

DCS World also supports the TrackIR protocol, but it expects the data encrypted with a game-specific key. That's why some generic head tracking programs don't work in DCS. PiHead Tracker supports this encryption, so there's nothing extra to set up in DCS. The same applies to Arma 3, the newer IL-2 Sturmovik games and Elite Dangerous.

It helps to know there are two different recenters in DCS. The first is PiHead Tracker's recenter: it treats the direction you're looking at that moment as "straight ahead". The second is DCS's own command that centers the cockpit camera, by default Num 5 on the keypad. When the view drifts, use PiHead Tracker's recenter. DCS's own command doesn't change the head tracking center.

IL-2 and others

IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles, X-Plane, Falcon BMS and Elite Dangerous also support head tracking through TrackIR or FreeTrack. The setting is usually in the Controls or Camera section. See the games page for the full list.

Put recenter on your stick

When flying, your hands are on the stick and throttle, and reaching for the keyboard to recenter is distracting. In the app's Shortcuts section, click the button in the Controller / HOTAS column and press the button you want on your stick. Recenter and pause then work from that button. Hat directions can be assigned too.

Pause is especially handy when you look at the map, a kneeboard on your lap or a second screen. While tracking is paused, the view stays fixed straight ahead and you can turn your head freely.

Sensitivity that suits flying

When flying you need to look much wider than in driving games. In a fighter you have to look over your shoulder to check your six, but if you turned your head that far in real life you couldn't see the screen. That's why yaw sensitivity is usually higher for flying.

These values are our suggested starting point. In civil flying a calm view while reading instruments matters most, so smoothing and a smooth center come first. In combat, quick looks matter, and lowering smoothing a little helps reduce lag.

The maths is simple: divide the widest angle you want to look in the game by the angle you can comfortably turn your head while still seeing the screen. If you want to turn 135° in the game and you can turn your head 45°, a yaw sensitivity of 3.0× is enough. We go into detail in our sensitivity post.

A separate profile for each sim

If you want a calm setup in MSFS and a fast one in DCS, create a separate profile for each. While the sim is running, the button in the Game Profiles section creates a profile for that game. Next time it's selected automatically, so you don't have to fiddle with settings every time.