PX4 SITL Quickstart: Fly Without Hardware

You can fly PX4 in simulation without any hardware in two ways: pull a pre-built Docker image for the fastest possible start, or build PX4 from source for full control over the flight stack. Either path ends the same way — QGroundControl connects automatically and you fly a simulated vehicle using the same interface you would use with real hardware.

Choose your path

Docker (fastest)
Build from source

The Docker path requires no build environment setup. Install Docker, run one command, and open QGroundControl.

Install Docker

Install Docker Desktop for your platform (Linux, macOS, or Windows). On Linux, also add your user to the docker group so you can run containers without sudo:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Run the PX4 SITL container

Pull and start the pre-built PX4 SITL image. This launches a quadrotor simulation using the SIH simulator (no external rendering dependencies):

docker run --rm -it -p 14550:14550/udp px4io/px4-sitl:latest

The container publishes MAVLink heartbeats on UDP port 14550. Leave this terminal open.

Open QGroundControl

Download and launch QGroundControl. It listens on UDP port 14550 by default and connects to the simulated vehicle automatically within a few seconds.

Fly

The vehicle appears on the QGroundControl map. You can arm it, switch flight modes, plan a mission, and execute it exactly as you would with real hardware.

Other vehicle typesPass the PX4_SIM_MODEL environment variable to try different airframes:

# Fixed-wing plane
docker run --rm -it -p 14550:14550/udp -e PX4_SIM_MODEL=sihsim_airplane px4io/px4-sitl:latest

# Standard VTOL
docker run --rm -it -p 14550:14550/udp -e PX4_SIM_MODEL=sihsim_standard_vtol px4io/px4-sitl:latest

# Ackermann rover
docker run --rm -it -p 14550:14550/udp -e PX4_SIM_MODEL=sihsim_rover px4io/px4-sitl:latest

The Docker image uses the SIH (Simulation-In-Hardware) simulator, which runs entirely inside PX4 with no external dependencies. For Gazebo with 3D rendering, follow the build-from-source path.

Building from source gives you the latest code, the full Gazebo simulator with 3D rendering, and the ability to modify PX4 flight software directly.

Set up the development environment

Clone the PX4-Autopilot repository and run the Ubuntu setup script. This installs all build dependencies including Gazebo:

git clone https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot.git --recursive
bash ./PX4-Autopilot/Tools/setup/ubuntu.sh

Restart your terminal after the script completes so that environment variable changes take effect.

Build and run PX4 SITL

Navigate to the repository root and launch the default SITL build. The first build takes several minutes; subsequent builds are incremental.

cd PX4-Autopilot
make px4_sitl

To launch with Gazebo and a specific vehicle, use a vehicle-specific make target:

# Quadrotor in Gazebo
make px4_sitl gz_x500

# Fixed-wing plane in Gazebo
make px4_sitl gz_rc_cessna

# jMAVSim (lightweight, multicopter only)
make px4_sitl jmavsim

Open QGroundControl

Download and launch QGroundControl. It connects automatically on UDP port 14550.

Fly your first mission

In QGroundControl, switch to Plan view, draw a waypoint mission over the map, upload it to the vehicle, then return to Fly view, arm, and start the mission.

Run make px4_sitl gz_x500 from the PX4-Autopilot directory. If Gazebo does not open, confirm that you ran the setup script and restarted your shell.

Verify the connection

Once PX4 SITL is running, confirm that QGroundControl has connected:

The vehicle icon appears on the map at the default home position.
The top toolbar shows “Ready to Fly” or a disarmed status message.
The telemetry panel displays battery percentage, GPS fix, and flight mode.

If QGroundControl does not connect within 30 seconds, check that nothing is blocking UDP port 14550 on your firewall, and that PX4 is still running in the terminal.

Available make targets

The general syntax for make targets is:

make px4_sitl <simulator>[_<vehicle-model>]

Command	Simulator	Vehicle
`make px4_sitl`	SIH (headless)	Quadrotor
`make px4_sitl gz_x500`	Gazebo	x500 quadrotor
`make px4_sitl gz_rc_cessna`	Gazebo	Fixed-wing plane
`make px4_sitl gz_standard_vtol`	Gazebo	Standard VTOL
`make px4_sitl gz_rover_ackermann`	Gazebo	Ackermann rover
`make px4_sitl jmavsim`	jMAVSim	Quadrotor

Next steps

Gazebo simulation

Full vehicle list, world configuration, multi-vehicle setup, and ROS 2 integration with Gazebo.

Simulation overview

SITL vs HITL, simulator comparison, MAVLink port architecture, and remote server setup.

Getting Started

Vehicle Setup

Configuration

Flight Modes

Simulation

PX4 SITL Quickstart: Fly Without Hardware

Choose your path

Verify the connection

Available make targets

Next steps

Gazebo simulation

Simulation overview

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Getting Started

Vehicle Setup

Configuration

Flight Modes

Simulation

Documentation Index

​Choose your path

​Verify the connection

​Available make targets

​Next steps

Gazebo simulation

Simulation overview

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Choose your path

Verify the connection

Available make targets

Next steps