Im new to the game and I haven’t joined any servers like vatsim because I play on a xbox s connected to a tv so thats why I cant join vatsim. I was wondering how I can see real people playing the game and their aircraft because when I play I only see AI aircraft in the game and not real peoples aircraft please help me if you can.
Hi!
You can do see other players by going into the World Map > Click on the box on the top right (showing weather) and then you have three options:
Off
Multiplayer is off. You will not see anyone nor will anyone see you.
All Players
See every player in the sim that is flying an aircraft. You will see more players with this option.
Live Multiplayer
See all live players in the sim.
I hope this helps! 
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To expand a bit on what @HamMan2118 said…
I recommend using “All Players” because “Live Players” is supposedly for those who take realism the most seriously, such as doing VatSim and whatnot, and who don’t want to be bothered by drunks barnstorming their destination airports after long flights. So folks on “Live Players” only see other folks on “Live Players”, they don’t see the folks on “All Players”. But folks on “All Players” see everybody, although they are invisible to the “Live Players”. Of course, nothing stops drunks from going on “Live Players” but they usually don’t because there are far fewer folks to harass and also a smaller audience.
That all said, regardless of “Live Players” and “All Players”, you only see folks on the same MSFS server as you. There are a bunch of servers catering to different parts of the world and the default setting is that the game selects the server with the lowest ping for you, and this might change mid-flight. You can, however, manually select a specific server and the game will stay there. In the upper right corner of any of the main menu screens, click on your user name. This will display a list of servers. Click on the one you want and there you’ll stay.
Next, you also need to go where the people are. The world’s a big place and most of it seems uninhabited. I flew around South America for several months and Africa for several weeks and seldom saw a single soul. But go to the big-name airports in the US and Europe and the airspace is jam packed. So are hurricanes and other massive bad weather events
As to how other players are visible in the game, it depends. On the world map, you’ll see green airplane icons moving about with player user IDs. Click on one of these to see what the person is flying. You can even decide to start your flight right next to them.
Once you’re flying, if you want to see folks, go to Options / General (I think) and be sure player nameplates are turned on. This will put a big label on everybody within 100-200 miles of you, displaying their names, what they’re flying, and their altitudes. Otherwise, they’ll just be dots in the distance that you may not notice. I always have nameplates on because there are quite a few imaginative user names out there 
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If another player’s plane is a payware plane that isn’t in your hangar, you will see a generic plane.
So if I use Live Multiplayer then I’ll see real people using real aircraft and livires right?
oh ok that might be the issue because I have all planes that come with standard version and the captian sim 777 300 er thanks for helping me!
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No. Whether you have “All” or “Live” MP set, you do see real people, you just see fewer of them on “Live” and they’re mostly trying to be serious. As to how they appear, you only see what’s in your hangar. If another player is flying a plane and a livery that you have, then you see exactly what that person is flying. If the other player is flying a plane you don’t have, or even just a livery you don’t have, then you see a generic plane.
And usually this generic plane is WAY off from what the nameplate says the other person is flying. There’s a strong tendency for the generic airliner to appear in place of just about everything, even single-engined pistons. This is quite annoying, especially when you have the plane, just not the livery. Why can’t it show you the plane but with a livery you do have? But that’s how it is.
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Please pardon my denseness, but can I use one of these options to see an aircraft that my cousin is a passenger on IRL, or just sim users? Thanks. --Redeye
thanks for helping
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To see planes flying in real life, you need to turn on Live Traffic. This has nothing to do with multiplayer. Basically, there are 3 separate types of traffic you can have in the game, each of which can be turned on and off individually. There’s Live Traffic (planes IRL), AI traffic (generic stuff doing random flights) and multiplayer (other people playing MSFS).
Live Traffic is just that and so there aren’t any settings for it. I don’t recommend it if you’re going to busy airports because all the time slots are already taken by real planes so you’ll have difficulty getting in or out.
AI Traffic has a bunch of sliders to change the amount of it that you have. This traffic is generated by your computer and so is invisible to everybody else. There are also mods that inject AI traffic in a more controlled manner.
Multiplayer traffic, as discussed previously, has 3 settings: Off, Live Players, and All Players.
NOTE: In general, I only use MP traffic, not AI or Live. This is because 1) I have regularly scheduled MP nights with friends, 2) at other times I like to see funny under names, and most importantly, 3) the live and AI traffic often interferes with my flight. I’ll be cleared to land on final and suddenly an AI or live plane will pop up right in front of me and I have to go around.
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What is MP traffic?
Other players? Multi player
Many thanks. --Redeye
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MP = multiplayer. IOW, other people flying in MSFS on your server.
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oh ok I play on multiplayer too
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Yep, have just started to use multiplayer and there is always someone who wants to land on the taxiway or apron next to you and take off again or the like.
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