DCS World Set-Up for Multiple Monitors

1 Basics
DCS World allows us to set up a larger virtual screen consisting of several physical monitors that we have previously
arranged in the Microsoft Windows environment. This larger display space can be used in different ways:
1. One single large “panorama” cockpit view
2. Cockpit view on one (typically main) monitor, plus exported cockpit elements like MFCD’s on the other monitor(s)
3. A combination of 1. and 2.
In this chapter we will provide the basic understanding of the display configuration structure and the steps necessary to
implement a new monitor configuration.
Author’s note: At this point in time, I have only 2 physical monitors which limits the ability to create more complex set-
ups. Also, I had to learn from posts on the forum plus trial and error, as there is no published documentation from ED.
Therefore, this document cannot describe all possible solutions. A working monitor set-up requires three elements to be
defined correctly:

1. Windows “Display” set-up

2. DCS World Options/System display parameters
3. .lua file that defines the allocation of screen space to “Viewports”.
There is always one viewport that displays the GUI (Graphical User Interface), the cockpit or the Mission Editor.
Additional viewports can be defined for MFD’s (Multi-Function Displays) and some other major display elements
of the cockpit that can be “exported”.

My physical monitors:

• Main Monitor 2560 x 1440 Pixels, in the Center

• Secondary Monitor 1680 x 1050 Pixels, at the right

1.1 Monitor set-up in Windows

This is defined in Settings/System/Display. On that same page in “Settings” I have selected the big monitor as “Main
Display”. My two physical monitors are bottom-aligned, and therefore I have bottom-aligned them in the Windows
Display setting.

The overall screen has a pixel size of 4240 x 1440. However, I will only use the left part of the secondary monitor. This will
allow me to display an Excel Sheet with control binding during the game.
1.2 DCS World Options/System display parameters

Resolution: The Pixel size of the virtual screen we want to use.

Aspect Ratio: Is calculated by the software
Monitors: Title of the .lua file we want to use

1.3 LUA File defining the Monito Set-up

There are two folders for these files:
The stock files from ED are in the sim folder “…\Config\MonitorSetup”.
Your custom files should be in the folder “C:\Users\your name\Saved Games\DCS\Config\MonitorSetup”. You could
actually save these files in the sim’s folder, but it’s better to keep them separate.

2 Example 1: Using 2nd Monitor for exported MFD’s

2.1 Layout Design
Especially for beginners, it’s probably a good idea to start with a drawing:

3080

DCS World Overall Screen Size =

400

3080 x 1440
919

512
512

Main Monitor First MFCD

1440

2560 x 1440 Secondary

1050
Monitor
1680 x 1050
512

Second MFCD

2560 1680
4240

The drawing helps us to determine the coordinate values we will use in the .lua file. As my secondary monitor has a
smaller vertical pixel count and the monitors are bottom-aligned, the upper right corner (512 x 400 pixels) of our virtual
screen space is not available for display.
Note that:
x-coordinates have their origin at the left edge of the virtual screen space.
y-coordinates have their origin at the top edge of the virtual screen space.
Thus the coordinates of our viewports are:
Main view: x = 0; y = 0
First MFCD: x = 2560; y = 400
Second MFCD: x = 2560; y = 919

The .lua file will determine what we display in the two MFCD viewports. It could be left and right MFCD, but one of the
viewports, if used for the F/A-18C could also be the AMPCD. I saved this file as “Camera+LMFCD+RMFCD.lua” in folder
“\...Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Config\MonitorSetup”.
2.2 LUA file
As a starting point I use he stock file “Camera+RMFCD.lua” from the sim folder. We open it with Notepad++ and edit it by
adapting the coordinate values and adding a second MFCD:

_ = function(p) return p; end;

name = _('Camera + Left MFCD + Right MFCD');
Description = 'Left MFCD in Upper Right, Right MFCD in Lower Right, camera on the center'
Viewports =
{
Center =
{
x = 0;
y = 0;
width = 2560;
height = screen.height;
viewDx = 0;
viewDy = 0;
aspect = 2560 / 1440;
}
}
-- LEFT_MFCD is on top of RIGHT_MFCD
RIGHT_MFCD =
{
x = 2560;
y = 919;
width = 512;
height = 512;
}

LEFT_MFCD =
{
x = 2560;
y = 400;
width = 512;
height = 512;
}

UIMainView = Viewports.Center
GU_MAIN_VIEWPORT = Viewports.Center

Note this line: name = _('Camera + Left MFCD + Right MFCD'); it defines the “name” of the file in the dropdown for “monitors” on
Options/System.
Formatting notes:
1. Spaces and blank lines have no function other than make the code more “human-readable”.
2. The semicolons at the ends of many of the lines are necessary.
3. The curly braces (“{“ and “}”) delimit blocks of code. They must not be omitted.
If you violate rule 2 or 3, the software will reject the file, and you will not see it in the dropdown!
Lines starting with two hyphens (“-”) are comments and are ignored by the software.
The viewport names “RIGHT_MFCD” and “LEFT_MFCD” are defined in the system and work for all aircrafts that have
MFCD’s (or DDI’s or whatever they are called). Therefore, you do not need to define a separate file for every aircraft.
For the AMPCD in the F/A-18C the system uses “CENTER_MFCD”.
2.3 Result
DCS World Screenshot of the virtual display we have created (A-10C):

Photo of the physical rig:

3 Example 2: Using 2nd Monitor for exported F/A-18C DDI’s and AMPCD
Next, we want to create a set-up for the F/A-18C which has a third MFD referred to as “AMPCD”. We also want to create
a “window” for showing the IFEI a bit more visibly. We’ll worry about how to “grab” the IFEI in paragraph Error!
Reference source not found..
3.1 Layout Design
We use the same thought process as for the previous example. The size of the IFEI at this point is tentative. We will need
to determine the right values empirically.

3600

DCS World Overall

380
Screen Size =
3080 x 1440

900
512

512
Left DDI Right DDI
Main Monitor
1440

2560 x 1440

1050
Secondary
IFEI
Monitor
1680 x 1050

512
AMPCD

2560 1680
3075
4240

3.2 DCS World Options/System display parameters

3.3 LUA File

_ = function(p) return p; end;
name = _('FA-18 Camera+LDDI+AMPCD+RDDI+IFEI');
Description = 'FA-18 AMPCD in Lower Right, Right DDI in Upper Right (both on secondary monitor), camera on the center (on main monitor)'
--Game screen size set to 3600 x 1440. Hardware: Main monitor 2560 x 1440; second monitor 1680 x1050 on the right.
Viewports =
{
Center =
{
x = 0;
y = 0;
width = 2560;
height = screen.height;
viewDx = 0;
viewDy = 0;
aspect = 2560 / 1440;
}
}

CENTER_MFCD =
{
x = 2560;
y = 900;
width = 512;
height = 512;
}

RIGHT_MFCD =
{
x = 3075;
y = 380;
width = 512;
height = 512;
}
LEFT_MFCD =
{
x = 2560;
y = 380;
width = 512;
height = 512;
}

IFEI =
{
x = 3075;-- 2910
y = 900;-- 650
width = 430;
height = 167;
}

UIMainView = Viewports.Center
GU_MAIN_VIEWPORT = Viewports.Center

I saved this file as “Camera+FA-18_AMPCD.lua”.

3.4 Result
DCS World Screenshot of the virtual display we have created (F/A-18C):

Photo of the physical rig:

4 How to find the names of the indicators
We used the following names:

CENTER_MFCD
RIGHT_MFCD
LEFT_MFCD
IFEI

These names are defined in the “…init.lua” files under “…\Mods\aircraft\FA-18C\Cockpit\Scripts\INDICATOR\indicator”

where “INDICATOR” is the name of the indicating device. For the IFEI it’s the file “IFEI_init.lua” in the folder

“…\Mods\aircraft\FA-18C\Cockpit\Scripts\IFEI\indicator”

If you want to try and find the names of other indicators, look for this kind of line:

try_find_assigned_viewport("FA_18C_IFEI", "IFEI")

In my example I could have used the name "FA_18C_IFEI" and that would work with the Hornet, but not with the F-16
Viper. If you want to use your monitor set-up file for multiple similar aircraft you should use the generic names.