A method for operating a lighting system comprising at least one central control unit and a plurality of lighting devices, including in the lighting devices a positioning sensor system, by which the locations of the lighting devices is determined and wherein location data for describing the locations is transmitted to the central control device from each lighting device comprising a data interface and wherein a stage set database, which describes a stage set model and in which the locations of the various lighting devices in a stage set is stored, is stored in the central control device, the method comprising, a) determining the current locations of the lighting devices by the positioning sensor system in the lighting devices; b) transferring the current location data from the lighting devices to the central control device; c) storing the location data in the stage set database.