The AD5X levels its bed with a pressure sensor built into the plate itself, not a probe or a set of thumbscrews. Before a print, it measures the relative height between nozzle and bed across the surface and compensates on its own, so there’s no leveling card to slide under the nozzle and nothing to turn by hand. For most day-to-day printing, that one-click cycle is the only calibration step you’ll actively think about.
Even so, a few moments are worth triggering it manually rather than trusting the printer to catch a problem by itself. Moving the printer, even a short distance across the same room, can shift how it sits and change the reading slightly. Swapping in a different nozzle diameter or replacing the PEI plate changes the exact surface the sensor is reading against, so a fresh leveling pass after either change is a reasonable habit rather than overkill.
Flow calibration is a separate matter from leveling, and it matters more when you switch filament types or brands than when you stick with one spool run after run. PLA, PETG, TPU, and the reinforced composites the AD5X supports all extrude a little differently, and a flow rate tuned for one can leave another slightly under- or over-extruded. Orca-Flashforge has the tools to check this per filament profile, and running through it once for any material you plan to use regularly is worth the few minutes, rather than assuming the default fits every spool you own.
The CoreXY frame quietly affects both of these. Because it moves the print head with two motors working together instead of moving the bed or a single axis on its own, it holds up better at higher speeds and accelerations. That means a leveling or flow result that looks fine at low speed is more likely to still hold once you push the print speed up toward what the AD5X is actually built for.
These routines map onto broader calibration practice too. The general guide to 3D printer calibration steps in the right order puts auto-leveling and flow tuning in context alongside everything else, and the wider rundown on leveling a 3D printer bed explains why a pressure-sensor system still depends on a clean plate. Pair calibration with a look at the AD5X maintenance schedule so a dirty plate or sensor doesn’t get mistaken for a calibration problem.