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Getting Started with Meta XR Simulator

Updated: Sep 4, 2026

Standalone XR Simulator

This documentation covers the newly released Standalone XR Simulator. Older versions of the Meta Core SDK may not be fully compatible. If you encounter issues, use the toggle in Meta XR Simulator to set it as the OpenXR active runtime. For legacy usage, refer to the Archived XR Simulator documentation.

The Meta XR Simulator is an Extended Reality (XR) runtime for developing and testing XR applications on your development machine.

The simulator implements OpenXR and integrates with supported engine and graphics API configurations. Your application must use the OpenXR features and extensions supported by Meta XR Simulator. The simulator includes a predefined input mapping schema and a user interface that displays information about how the runtime composites the final view and simulates input.

Choose which device to simulate

The simulator presents one device to your application at a time. Connect an application first: the Device control cannot list profiles until a runtime session is active. Then select the device in the Inputs panel, under Device info > Device. The default is Meta Quest 3. For the list of devices you can pick, see Meta XR Simulator.

The device you select changes what your application sees:

Field of view, recommended render resolution, and the refresh rates on offer

The supported IPD range

Which OpenXR extensions the runtime advertises, so a feature present on one device is absent on another

Which input options appear. An input mode available on one device is absent on another

Passthrough color mode

Test against the device you intend to ship on. A build that runs on one profile does not prove it runs on another.

Stop and restart your application after you change Device. In an editor, stop and re-enter Play mode. The profile is captured when your application creates its OpenXR instance, so restarting is the reliable way to pick up the change.

Note: For download and installation instructions, see the Meta XR Simulator Overview page.

Before you start

Unreal Engine

UE5

Note: Meta XR Simulator requires SDK v57 or later. For earlier SDK versions or UE4, see the Getting Started guide for native development.

Graphics API

Meta XR Simulator supports Direct3D 11, Direct3D 12, and Vulkan. Direct3D renders through a Vulkan compositor.

Host operating system

Unreal editor integration for Meta XR Simulator runs on Windows.

Setup

Create a VR project. You can create a VR Template project or create one from scratch following Set up your development environment.

Verify that XR API is set to Epic Native OpenXR in Project Settings > Plugins > Meta XR. This is the default and works with the Meta XR Simulator.

Enable the Meta XR Simulator by checking the Meta XR Simulator toggle, under the Meta XR Simulator dropdown located on the main toolbar. Unreal XR Simulator Setting

The editor opens a dialog stating that a restart is required. Select OK to let the editor restart itself and apply the change; closing and reopening the editor by hand does not apply it. Select Cancel to leave the OpenXR runtime unchanged, which leaves the simulator inactive. Deactivating the simulator opens the same dialog.

Click VR Preview to launch the Meta XR Simulator.

Note: Activating the simulator from the Unreal editor sets the active OpenXR runtime for the editor process only. It records the previous value and restores it when you deactivate the simulator. Other applications keep using the OpenXR runtime configured on your system.

Multiplayer testing

By default, Unreal sets Run Under One Process and HMD For Primary Process Only to True. To test all instances connecting to the Meta XR Simulator, set both options to False: Unreal XR Simulator Setting