VRS X 0.8.4 Stable is now available, released on 22 October 2026. This update improves ADS-B and MLAT feed handling, live aircraft tracking, flight history and multi-stop route reporting. It also fixes a Traffic Recorder issue caused by statistics queries and updates several security-sensitive components.
These release notes cover the changes since the production version of VRS X 0.8.3.
At a glance
- More reliable BaseStation/SBS positions, passive TCP feeds and mixed ADS-B/MLAT rebroadcasting.
- A configurable tracking-session reset after reception gaps, separate from trail retention.
- Improved mobile radar controls, aircraft following and ground-object markers.
- Faster history searches and recorder statistics that no longer block recording.
- Route reports with up to eight stops, including routes returning to their departure airport.
- Security updates, safer configuration handling and more reliable Linux release packages.
ADS-B, MLAT and feed compatibility
BaseStation/SBS reception now correctly handles the first complete message after connecting, as well as positions delivered through MSG,7 and MLAT,7. This fixes a case where aircraft appeared in the list while the map remained empty.
SBS7 positions are also passed correctly through merged feeds and into the Traffic Recorder, preserving ADS-B/MLAT provenance and explicit airborne or ground information.
- Passive TCP feeds: improved listener startup, a clearer waiting-for-sender state and correct release of ports after configuration changes.
- BaseStation + MLAT rebroadcast: a combined output format preserves the origin of positions in mixed streams. Configuration changes apply without restarting.
- Beast/SBS compatibility: fixes to MLAT recognition, CRC validation and formatting across different regional settings.
- Clearer format warnings: VRS X warns when the selected rebroadcast format omits decoded SBS sources.
Tracking sessions after reception gaps
A new setting controls when a tracking session resets after a gap in valid position reception. The default is 120 minutes, with a configurable range of 1–720 minutes.
The reset affects the “On radar” timer and session statistics, independently of how long the aircraft trail is retained. Session recovery now also handles stationary aircraft more reliably. Timing is based on the last accepted position, and the setting can be changed without restarting VRS X.
A more predictable live radar on desktop and mobile
Following a selected aircraft no longer forces a zoom change. Manually moving the map or using geolocation pauses following; recentering on the aircraft resumes it. The radar stays north-up, with accidental rotation and tilt disabled for mouse, touch and keyboard interaction.
- Mobile layer, weather and map-appearance menus have been reorganised. Panels close when clicking outside them or pressing Escape, while enabled weather layers continue working.
- Mobile aircraft lists now offer All and On screen filters and remember the selection. The saved Missing from database filter also behaves more consistently.
- New GRND markers represent ground vehicles, while TWR markers represent towers and transmitters. They work in the radar, history and administrator previews. Tower markers stay upright, and custom icon assignments retain priority.
- Operator colours now apply correctly to civil PNG aircraft markers in both MapLibre and Leaflet, preserving transparency, outlines and colouring-rule priorities.
Traffic Recorder reliability and faster flight history
Recorder statistics no longer block the Traffic Recorder. Statistics reads now run independently of recording writes and history readiness. If a query times out, VRS X retains the last valid values and displays a warning instead of disconnecting the recorder.
Late statistics results can no longer overwrite state after a reset or connection change. Migration state is similarly protected against delayed responses.
The experimental history view also receives several improvements:
- An All recordings / Completed flights switch, clearer recording statuses and better explanations when reception ends because coverage is lost.
- Faster history and activity-calendar searches by ICAO/HEX, registration and callsign, particularly in large archives.
- Newly recorded points refresh during playback, including when viewing an older portion of an ongoing recording, without moving the current playback position.
- Protection against late responses after changing the receiver, date range or recording. Calendar errors are displayed separately and do not block flights that have already loaded.
Multi-stop routes and safer Central Repository reports
The route-report form supports up to eight stops, with controls to add, remove and reorder them, preview the complete route and preserve every stop during editing.
Routes returning to their original departure airport, such as A–B–C–A, are now handled throughout reporting forms, route variants and the recorder’s planned route. This work includes corresponding changes to the Central Repository.
Report drafts are better protected: live data updates and tab changes no longer overwrite entered corrections, notes or reporter details. If submission fails, the form remains available for correction.
- Explicit military/civil selection and an Interesting flag with government, royal, rare and historic tags.
- Clearer handling of existing flags, including deliberate removal.
- Aircraft-editor search results are protected against older responses replacing newer searches.
Aircraft data and administration
Aircraft updates from Central now behave consistently across the live view, local database and background synchronisation. New manual edits are marked and protected from being overwritten. Older manual corrections without a recorded source can be protected by saving them again in the aircraft editor.
Operator-name precedence has been corrected while preserving manual aliases and the distinction between aircraft owner and operator. An incorrect historical name for LPR has also been corrected.
- Atomic configuration writes and synchronised reads/writes help prevent partial or conflicting saves. A temporary read failure keeps the last valid configuration, protecting settings such as the administration domain, feed visibility and map keys.
- Individual operator logos can be uploaded and removed within a normal administrator session, with clearer upload errors, HTTP 429 handling and retries.
- The administrator password-confirmation screen works better with password managers. New settings and messages also receive translation updates.
Security updates and browser compatibility
This release updates bundled runtimes, native libraries and frontend dependencies:
- .NET 10.0.13 and the actual bundled SQLite engine 3.53.4, including security and write-ahead logging (WAL) fixes.
- MapLibre 6.4.1, addressing a critical cross-site scripting issue in map-source descriptions, with updated worker loading and missing-image handling.
- SkiaSharp 4.153.1 replaces ImageSharp. PNG/BMP processing enforces dimension limits, preserves transparency, handles colour conversion and removes metadata. Release builds no longer require a Six Labors key.
- Updates to React Router, Vite, Vitest, PostCSS and transitive dependencies. The release’s npm and NuGet audits reported no vulnerable packages after these changes, and additional checks guard against reintroducing vulnerable dependencies.
- Node.js 22.23.4 in the build environment, with version checks before dependency installation, testing and publishing, including Node interpreters used by GitHub Actions.
Compatibility note: MapLibre 6 requires WebGL2. Leaflet remains available as an alternative renderer.
Release packaging and upgrade reliability
Saved data remains compatible after obfuscation, including the recorder secret, Central identity and other JSON contracts. A damaged or unreadable secret is preserved and reported for repair.
Signed Release packages receive improved build and startup checks. A new --runtime-info diagnostic helps identify the actual runtime components. Validation also checks native library versions, full HTTP startup and rejection of a modified executable.
Linux x64 and ARM64 packages now include ICU libraries, resolving startup failures on systems without ICU installed.
Release validation
Validation for 0.8.4 included 1,432 passing .NET tests, 490 frontend tests, compatibility checks for older secrets and tests of the finished signed package. The final Linux x64 package was deployed, with matching backend/frontend versions and new recordings confirmed.
Thank you to everyone who tested fixes and reported issues. Those reports continue to improve how VRS X handles real traffic, unusual feeds and long-running installations.
For installation and configuration, visit the VRS X Operator’s Handbook. Access information is available in the VRS X Closed Beta guide.