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How to Map Headlights in Iracing

A calm, step-by-step guide for iRacing beginners on how to map headlights in iRacing. Map a button, test in practice, and run confident night sessions today.

You’re in a dark session, people around you are flashing their lights, and you’re stabbing random buttons hoping one of them is headlights. Nothing. It’s annoying, distracting, and it makes you feel like the only rookie in the lobby.

This guide shows you exactly how to map headlights in iRacing, which cars they actually work on, and how to set them up on your wheel so you can use them without thinking. You’ll also see common mapping mistakes and how to avoid them so your lights fire the first time, every time.

Quick answer:
To map headlights in iRacing, go to Options → Controls while in the car, make sure the “Use with…” column is set to “Keyboard” or your wheel input slot, then find the Headlight Flash (or lights) control and click in the empty box to the right. Press the key or wheel button you want to use, confirm it appears in black text (not grey), hit Done, and your car will respond to that input whenever headlights are supported.

How to map headlights in iRacing: what it actually means

When people talk about “how to map headlights in iRacing,” they’re really talking about telling the sim which physical button should control the Headlight Flash function for the cars that have lights. It’s just a normal control binding like starter, pit limiter, or brake bias – you assign a key or wheel button, then iRacing listens for that input in sessions.

A few important realities most rookies don’t hear up front:

• Not every car in iRacing has usable headlights; some formula and oval cars simply don’t support lights, so mapping won’t visibly do anything.
• The sim exposes “Headlight Flash” as the main lights control – it’s what endurance and GT drivers use to signal traffic and, sometimes, annoy each other.
• If a control shows as greyed out in the options menu, it isn’t available for the current car, so no amount of button pressing will turn lights on.

So the first mindset shift is this: headlights in iRacing are a per-car tool, not a global magic switch like in some arcade titles.

How to map headlights in iRacing (step‑by‑step)

Follow this once and your headlights will be mapped correctly for all future sessions that support them.

1. Get into the car and open Options

1. Join any test session or practice with a car that actually has headlights (GT, LMP, GTP, many road cars; most pure formula or oval cars won’t show a usable lights control).
2. Once loaded into the car (in the cockpit), press Esc to bring up the UI if needed, then click Options at the bottom.
3. Go to the Controls tab; this is where all your in‑car bindings live.

Why this matters: many controls are context‑sensitive, so you want to be in the car you actually plan to drive when mapping.

2. Pick the correct input slot (keyboard vs wheel)

iRacing lets you have different “columns” for devices – for example, keyboard, wheel, gamepad – and bindings are tied to that column.

• At the top of the controls list you’ll see something like “Use with: Keyboard / Wheel / Other” depending on your setup.
• Make sure the column you’re editing is the one you truly use in the car – often Keyboard for keyboard keys, or your specific wheel slot if you prefer a wheel button.

If you bind Headlight Flash under a slot you never actually use, it will feel like your lights “don’t work” even though you mapped them.

3. Find the Headlight Flash control

Scroll in the controls list until you find the Control Assignments section. There you’ll see entries like:

• Starter (often default S)
• Headlight Flash (usually Not Assigned by default)
• Pit Speed Limiter
• Enter/Exit/Tow Car, etc.

If Headlight Flash is shown in black text, it’s available for this car; if it’s greyed out, the car doesn’t support it, so you won’t be able to use headlights in that vehicle.

4. Assign your headlight button or key

1. Click in the empty box (or existing key) on the right side of Headlight Flash.
2. When it waits for input, press the key or wheel button you want to use (for example, Ctrl+F, H, or a face button on your wheel).
3. You should see your chosen key or button name appear in that box; that means the bind was recorded.

Tips from experience:

• Pick a button that’s easy to find by feel, not one you’ll hit by accident – something near your thumb but not the pit limiter.
• If you use voice tools like Digital Race Engineer, make sure the key you bind in iRacing matches what that tool expects (for example, “Headlight Flash = Ctrl+F” in both).

5. Save and test in-session

1. Click Done in the Options menu to save your changes.
2. Go back into the car, drive out, then tap your headlight button a few times on track.
3. In darker sessions you’ll clearly see the beams; in daylight, look for the headlight indicator on your dash or external replay to confirm it’s working.

If nothing happens, re‑check:

• Are you in a car that actually has headlights? (Try a GT3 or GTP car to test.)
• Is Headlight Flash listed in black text and not grey?
• Did you bind under the right device column? (Keyboard vs wheel slot.)

Key things beginners should know about headlights

Understanding a few simple rules will save you a lot of frustration and avoid getting on other drivers’ nerves.

• Not all cars support lights
  Many pure open‑wheel and oval cars don’t have live headlights at all, so even a correctly mapped button won’t show anything for those combinations.

• Headlight Flash is the main control
  iRacing provides a dedicated Headlight Flash control rather than a simple on/off toggle; it’s designed for multi‑class and endurance racing to signal other cars.

• Grey text means “not available”
  In the options menu, available controls show in black; if a control like Headlight Flash is greyed out for the current car, you won’t be able to use it in that combo.

• Procedural headlight rendering is separate
  There’s a renderer setting, ProceduralHeadlights, that changes how your headlights are visually generated, but it doesn’t affect the control mapping itself.

• Flashing etiquette matters
  Excessive, spammy headlight flashing purely to distract is frowned upon and has been warned against in official series; use it to communicate, not to harass.

Thinking like a respectful racecraft‑focused driver here will keep you out of trouble in leagues and official events.

Expert tips to map and use headlights smarter

Most rookies just bind any random key and forget about it. You can do better with a bit of intention.

Smart button placement

• Put Headlight Flash where your thumb naturally rests but not on a critical line‑control input like push‑to‑talk or pit limiter.
• Avoid super small or hard‑to‑reach buttons; in traffic you want to hit it once without taking your eyes off the racing line.

Create a “night / endurance” profile

If your wheel supports multiple profiles, have:

• A “sprint” profile with minimal extra functions
• A “night / endurance” profile where Headlight Flash, pit limiter, wipers, and black box controls are easy to reach

This mirrors what real‑world endurance teams do with tailored wheel layouts for the task at hand.

Practice using lights without looking

Run a short test session at night and drill:

1. Accelerate on a straight.
2. Without glancing at the wheel, tap your Headlight Flash 2–3 times.
3. Watch in the mirror or replay to confirm you never wandered off line while doing it.

The goal is to make headlights muscle memory, so you don’t start weaving down the straight every time you flash someone into Turn 1.

Use lights as a communication tool, not a weapon

• One or two flashes when you’re clearly faster and about to lap someone is fine; anything more starts to look like intimidation.
• Don’t spam headlights in official races to distract rivals; this has been specifically called out as unacceptable behavior.

Think of headlights the way you think of voice chat: a tool to communicate clearly, not an excuse to be noisy.

Common beginner mistakes when mapping headlights

Each of these is quick to fix once you know what to look for, and doing so will make your control setup feel much more professional.

FAQs: headlights and control mapping in iRacing

Do all cars in iRacing have headlights?
No. Many GT, LMP, GTP and some road cars have usable headlights, but a lot of pure open‑wheel and oval cars do not, so the headlight controls won’t do anything there.

Where is the headlights option in iRacing?
You’ll find the Headlight Flash control in Options → Controls under Control Assignments, alongside Starter and Pit Speed Limiter. If it’s black text, you can bind it; if it’s greyed out, that car doesn’t support it.

Why don’t my headlights work even though I mapped them?
Common causes are binding the button to the wrong device column, using a car with no headlights, or editing controls without being properly in the car. Double‑check the “Use with” column, test in a known night‑capable car, and verify the control isn’t grey.

Is there a difference between turning headlights on and flashing them?
In iRacing the main user‑exposed control is Headlight Flash, which toggles or pulses the headlights depending on the car’s implementation. You don’t typically have a separate high/low beam switch like in some other sims.

Can I use voice or apps to flash headlights?
Yes, tools like Digital Race Engineer can trigger headlight flash, but they only work if their configured key matches the Headlight Flash key you set in iRacing. Make sure both are using the same shortcut.

What to do next

Now that you know how to map headlights in iRacing, your next step is to jump into a night or endurance‑style test session and practice using them without disturbing your line. Pick one GT or prototype car, map Headlight Flash to a comfortable button, and run 10–15 laps where you deliberately flash only on the straights to build muscle memory.

From there, start paying attention to how faster drivers use their lights in multi‑class races – you’ll learn a lot about respectful communication and racecraft just by watching when and how often they flash.

Suggested images:

• Screenshot: iRacing Options → Controls screen with the Headlight Flash control highlighted.
• Close‑up photo of a sim racing wheel with a thumb button labeled “Flash” for headlights.
• In‑sim night shot of a GT3 car approaching slower traffic with headlights clearly visible.