Menu & Commands

Where things live, what to press

Where things live, what to press.

Open it from the X-Plane menu bar:

Plugins -> NextATC

Common items:

Start plugin / Stop plugin / Reset plugin — control the plugin lifecycle. Reset clears the current flight state.
Nav Display — route map, Flight Info, descent profile, and Airport board.
Frequencies selector — the Frequency Box.
Flight Snapshots — save the current flight state, restore a saved slot, or clear old slots.
Generate random flight — pick a random departure and file a random flight.
Options — every setting (see Options Reference).
Traffic — built-in traffic controls, TCAS publishing, and Bluebell CSL models.
Check for Updates — check for a newer plugin release.
Help & FAQ — this window.
Patreon Page, Donate, Website.
? (About) — version and credits.

Handoff: your main key#

NextATC/handoff does whatever the current context expects:

Tune the highlighted frequency in the Frequency Box, or
Confirm a readback in the Radio Log, or
Press the highlighted ATC action button.

If more than one action is offered at once, NextATC/handoff_switch cycles which one is highlighted. Then Handoff does it.

Bind these two in Settings -> Keyboard in X-Plane.

Common bindable commands#

Search for NextATC in the X-Plane keyboard/joystick settings. The most useful commands:

NextATC/handoff
NextATC/handoff_switch
NextATC/frequency_selector_toggle
NextATC/options_toggle
NextATC/nav_display
NextATC/flight_informations_toggle
NextATC/show_radio_log
NextATC/heading_indicator
NextATC/taxi_guide_toggle
NextATC/voice_toggle
NextATC/voice_recognition_toggle
NextATC/voice_push_to_talk

Flight Snapshots#

Flight Snapshots opens a small save/restore window. Save before a complex phase, name the slot if you want, then load it later from the same window. The snapshot stores the plugin flight context as well as the aircraft position, so it is better than only moving the aircraft with the X-Plane map.

Use it as a convenience feature, not as a replacement for normal flight-plan filing. If you load an old snapshot after changing navdata or scenery, review the active runway/SID/STAR before continuing.

What "highlighted" actually means#

When a button has a small outline or a brighter colour, it is the highlighted/default action. Handoff will press that one.

If two buttons are offered (for example Readback and Say Again), Handoff defaults to Readback. Use Handoff Switch once to highlight Say Again instead, then press Handoff.

Joystick / HOTAS users#

All of the above can be bound to joystick or HOTAS buttons. A typical setup:

A stick top button → NextATC/handoff.
A stick secondary button → NextATC/handoff_switch.
A throttle pinky / HAT button → NextATC/voice_push_to_talk.
A panel toggle → NextATC/frequency_selector_toggle.

Quick UI keys vs ATC keys#

Two groups of commands:

UI toggles: Nav Display, flight_informations_toggle, frequency_selector_toggle, show_radio_log, options_toggle. These open or close a window.
Actions: handoff, handoff_switch, voice_push_to_talk, taxi_guide_toggle, heading_indicator. These do something.

You can bind any of them, but you only need handoff and handoff_switch to play a full flight.

More bindable commands#

These commands are also available for keyboard or joystick binding:

NextATC/nav_display — toggles the Nav Display: the same key opens and closes it. NextATC/flight_informations_toggle only opens the Flight Info page.
NextATC/request_vectors — requests radar vectors to the active flight-plan fix. When vectors cannot be requested, the OSD shows Vectors not available at the moment.
NextATC/request_follow_me — requests Follow Me assistance on the active Ground or Tower frequency.
NextATC/ground_service_skip — advances the dispatched pushback tug or the Follow Me car along its route.
NextATC/aircraft_labels_toggle — shows or hides the 3D aircraft labels.
NextATC/bug_report_toggle — opens and closes the bug reporter; it works only with an active Patreon supporter entitlement.