Use Pixotope without internet access | Pixotope Graphics

Pixotope can run in environments that are offline or fully air-gapped. Running without internet requires some additional actions.

License a machine for offline use

Learn more about how to Get a license for an offline machine (air-gapped)

Prepare for first time engine launch

Python plugin

When the Editor/Engine launches, the Unreal Engine’s Python plugin checks for and installs the Python package dependencies required by the enabled plugins.

On a machine with internet access this happens in the background
On an offline machine, the engine waits for the download to time out before continuing
- To avoid this delay, disable Run pip install on startup. See Recommended settings below

Make sure dependencies are present if needed

Because the required Python packages depend on which plugins a project uses and the Python version, there is no single fixed set that applies to every project.

Before taking a machine offline, open the project at least once while the machine still has internet access so the required packages are installed locally
Apply the Recommended settings below so the engine no longer tries to fetch them on each launch

Create a .pxignore file in Synced Storage/Projects/[Project folder]/ and push the changes

# Default ignores
Config/MotionDesignBroadcastConfig.json
DerivedDataCache/
Intermediate/*
Saved/

# Unignore PipInstall
!Intermediate/PipInstall/

OR Manually copy the Intermediate/PipInstall folder to the other machines

Recommended settings for offline machines

Open Project Settings > Plugins > Python and configure the following:

Setting	Recommended value	Why
Run pip install on startup	Off	Stops the engine from attempting to download/install Python packages each time it launches, which is what causes the wait on an offline machine.
Offline Only	On	Forces pip to use only locally available packages and never reach out to the internet.
Pip Strict Hash Check	Off (if package installs fail offline)	Strict hash checking can cause local installs to fail if the cached package hashes don't match what is expected. Relax this only if you see install failures offline.

Plugins that require internet access

Some Unreal Engine plugins only connect to online services, such as Epic's marketplace, content libraries or cloud messaging. On an offline machine these plugins have no function, and they may still try to reach the internet. This can cause connection timeouts, error messages in the log, and editor panels that fail to load.

We recommend disabling the following plugins on offline machines:

Plugin	What it does	Why disable it offline
EOS Shared	Epic Online Services SDK	Communicates only with Epic's online services See the warning below the table before disabling it
Fab	Browses and imports content from the Fab marketplace	Marketplace content is served online and can't be accessed offline
Bridge	Quixel Bridge content library (Megascans)	The content library is served online and can't be accessed offline
Google Cloud Messaging	Push notifications for Android apps	Requires Google's online services and is not used in Pixotope workflows
Chunk Downloader	Downloads content patches from a remote server at runtime	Its only function is downloading content from the internet
Launcher Chunk Installer	Installs content through the Epic Games Launcher	Requires the Epic Games Launcher and Epic's online services

MetaHuman SDK depends on EOS Shared. If the project uses MetaHumans, keep EOS Shared enabled.

Plugins that use the local network, such as Remote Control, Live Link, Multi-User Editing, Pixel Streaming and source control, work without internet access and should stay enabled.

Disable the plugins

Open the project in the Editor
Go to Edit > Plugins
Search for each plugin in the table above and uncheck Enabled
- If the Editor warns that another plugin depends on it, leave it enabled unless the project doesn't need that plugin either. For example, disabling EOS Shared also disables MetaHuman SDK
Restart the Editor when prompted
Push the changes

The change is saved in the project's .uproject file, so it applies to every machine that uses the project.

If the machine later gets internet access and you want to use Fab or Quixel Bridge, you can re-enable the plugins the same way.