path: root/doc/user.xml

<?xml version='1.0' encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
               "docbook/dtd/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
<book>
  <title>The Music Player Daemon - User's Manual</title>

  <chapter>
    <title>Introduction</title>

    <para>
      This document is work in progress.  Most of it may be incomplete
      yet.  Please help!
    </para>

    <para>
      <application>MPD</application> (Music Player Daemon) is, as the
      name suggests, a server software allowing you to remotely play
      your music, handle playlists, deliver music (HTTP streams with
      various sub-protocols) and organizze playlists.
    </para>

    <para>
      It has been written with minimal resource usage and stability in
      mind!  Infact, it runs fine on a Pentium 75, allowing you to use
      your cheap old PC to create a stereo system!
    </para>

    <para>
      <application>MPD</application> supports also gapless playback,
      buffered audio output, and crossfading!
    </para>

    <para>
      The separate client and server design allows users to choose a
      user interface that best suites their tastes independently of
      the underlying daemon, which actually plays music!
    </para>
  </chapter>

  <chapter>
    <title>Installation</title>

    <para>
      We recommend that you use the software installation routines of
      your distribution to install <application>MPD</application>.
      Most operating systems have a <application>MPD</application>
      package, which is very easy to install.
    </para>

    <section>
      <title>Installing on Debian/Ubuntu</title>

      <para>
        Install the package <application>MPD</application> via APT:
      </para>

      <programlisting>apt-get install mpd</programlisting>

      <para>
        When installed this way, <application>MPD</application> by
        default looks for music in
        <filename>/var/lib/mpd/music/</filename>; this may not be
        correct. Look at your <filename>/etc/mpd.conf</filename>
        file...
      </para>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Compiling from source</title>

      <para>
        Download the source tarball from <ulink
        url="http://www.musicpd.org/download.html">the
        <application>MPD</application> home page</ulink> and unpack
        it:
      </para>

      <programlisting>tar xf mpd-version.tar.xz
cd mpd-version</programlisting>

      <para>
        Make sure that all the required libraries and build tools are
        installed.  The <filename>INSTALL</filename> file has a list.
      </para>

      <para>
        For example, the following installs a fairly complete list of
        build dependencies on Debian Wheezy:
      </para>

      <programlisting>
apt-get install g++ automake autoconf \
  libmad0-dev libmpg123-dev libid3tag0-dev \
  libflac-dev libvorbis-dev libopus-dev \
  libadplug-dev libaudiofile-dev libsndfile1-dev libfaad-dev \
  libfluidsynth-dev libgme-dev libmikmod2-dev libmodplug-dev \
  libmpcdec-dev libwavpack-dev libwildmidi-dev \
  libsidplay2-dev libsidutils-dev libresid-builder-dev \
  libavcodec-dev libavformat-dev \
  libmp3lame-dev \
  libsamplerate0-dev \
  libbz2-dev libcdio-paranoia-dev libiso9660-dev libmms-dev \
  libzzip-dev \
  libcurl4-gnutls-dev libyajl-dev \
  libasound2-dev libao-dev libjack-jackd2-dev libopenal-dev \
  libpulse-dev libroar-dev libshout3-dev \
  libmpdclient-dev \
  libavahi-client-dev \
  libsqlite3-dev \
  libsystemd-daemon-dev libwrap0-dev \
  libcppunit-dev xmlto \
  libboost-dev \
  libglib2.0-dev
      </programlisting>

      <para>
        Now configure the source tree:
      </para>

      <programlisting>./configure</programlisting>

      <para>
        The <parameter>--help</parameter> argument shows a list of
        compile-time options.  When everything is ready and
        configured, compile:
      </para>

      <programlisting>make</programlisting>

      <para>
        And install:
      </para>

      <programlisting>make install</programlisting>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title><filename>systemd</filename> socket activation</title>

      <para>
        Using <filename>systemd</filename>, you can launch
        <application>MPD</application> on demand when the first client
        attempts to connect.
      </para>

      <para>
        <application>MPD</application> comes with two
        <application>systemd</application> unit files: a "service"
        unit and a "socket" unit.  These will only be installed when
        <application>MPD</application> was configured with
        <parameter>--with-systemdsystemunitdir=/lib/systemd</parameter>.
      </para>

      <para>
        To enable socket activation, type:
      </para>

      <programlisting>systemctl enable mpd.socket
systemctl start mpd.socket</programlisting>

      <para>
        In this configuration, <application>MPD</application> will
        ignore the <varname>bind_to_address</varname> and
        <varname>port</varname> settings.
      </para>
    </section>
  </chapter>

  <chapter>
    <title>Configuration</title>

    <section>
      <title>Configuring the music directory</title>

      <para>
        When you play local files, you should organize them within a
        directory called the "music directory".  This is configured in
        <application>MPD</application> with the
        <varname>music_directory</varname> setting.
      </para>

      <para>
        By default, <application>MPD</application> follows symbolic
        links in the music directory.  This behavior can be switched
        off: <varname>follow_outside_symlinks</varname> controls
        whether <application>MPD</application> follows links pointing
        to files outside of the music directory, and
        <varname>follow_inside_symlinks</varname> lets you disable
        symlinks to files inside the music directory.
      </para>

      <para>
        Instead of using local files, you can use storage plugins to
        access files on a remote file server.  For example, to use
        music from the SMB/CIFS server "myfileserver" on the share
        called "Music", configure the music directory
        "<parameter>smb://myfileserver/Music</parameter>".
      </para>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Configuring database plugins</title>

      <para>
        If a music directory is configured, one database plugin is
        used.  To configure this plugin, add a
        <varname>database</varname> block to
        <filename>mpd.conf</filename>:
      </para>

      <programlisting>database {
    plugin "simple"
    path "/var/lib/mpd/db"
}
      </programlisting>

      <para>
        The following table lists the <varname>database</varname>
        options valid for all plugins:
      </para>

      <informaltable>
        <tgroup cols="2">
          <thead>
            <row>
              <entry>
                Name
              </entry>
              <entry>
                Description
              </entry>
            </row>
          </thead>
          <tbody>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>plugin</varname>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                The name of the plugin.
              </entry>
            </row>
          </tbody>
        </tgroup>
      </informaltable>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Configuring input plugins</title>

      <para>
        To configure an input plugin, add a <varname>input</varname>
        block to <filename>mpd.conf</filename>:
      </para>

      <programlisting>input {
    plugin "despotify"
    user "foo"
    password "bar"
}
      </programlisting>

      <para>
        The following table lists the <varname>input</varname> options
        valid for all plugins:
      </para>

      <informaltable>
        <tgroup cols="2">
          <thead>
            <row>
              <entry>
                Name
              </entry>
              <entry>
                Description
              </entry>
            </row>
          </thead>
          <tbody>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>plugin</varname>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                The name of the plugin.
              </entry>
            </row>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>enabled</varname>
                <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                Allows you to disable a input plugin without
                recompiling.  By default, all plugins are enabled.
              </entry>
            </row>
          </tbody>
        </tgroup>
      </informaltable>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Configuring decoder plugins</title>

      <para>
        Most decoder plugins do not need any special configuration.
        To configure a decoder, add a <varname>decoder</varname> block
        to <filename>mpd.conf</filename>:
      </para>

      <programlisting>decoder {
    plugin "wildmidi"
    config_file "/etc/timidity/timidity.cfg"
}
      </programlisting>

      <para>
        The following table lists the <varname>decoder</varname>
        options valid for all plugins:
      </para>

      <informaltable>
        <tgroup cols="2">
          <thead>
            <row>
              <entry>
                Name
              </entry>
              <entry>
                Description
              </entry>
            </row>
          </thead>
          <tbody>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>plugin</varname>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                The name of the plugin.
              </entry>
            </row>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>enabled</varname>
                <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                Allows you to disable a decoder plugin without
                recompiling.  By default, all plugins are enabled.
              </entry>
            </row>
          </tbody>
        </tgroup>
      </informaltable>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Configuring encoder plugins</title>

      <para>
        Encoders are used by some of the output plugins (such as
        <varname>shout</varname>).  The encoder settings are included
        in the <varname>audio_output</varname> section.
      </para>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Configuring audio outputs</title>

      <para>
        Audio outputs are devices which actually play the audio chunks
        produced by <application>MPD</application>.  You can configure
        any number of audio output devices, but there must be at least
        one.  If none is configured, <application>MPD</application>
        attempts to auto-detect.  Usually, this works quite well with
        ALSA, OSS and on Mac OS X.
      </para>

      <para>
        To configure an audio output manually, add an
        <varname>audio_output</varname> block to
        <filename>mpd.conf</filename>:
      </para>

      <programlisting>audio_output {
    type "alsa"
    name "my ALSA device"
    device "hw:0"
}
      </programlisting>

      <para>
        The following table lists the <varname>audio_output</varname>
        options valid for all plugins:
      </para>

      <informaltable>
        <tgroup cols="2">
          <thead>
            <row>
              <entry>
                Name
              </entry>
              <entry>
                Description
              </entry>
            </row>
          </thead>
          <tbody>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>type</varname>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                The name of the plugin.
              </entry>
            </row>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>name</varname>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                The name of the audio output.  It is visible to the
                client.  Some plugins also use it internally, e.g. as
                a name registered in the PULSE server.
              </entry>
            </row>
            <row id="ao_format">
              <entry>
                <varname>format</varname>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                <para>
                  Always open the audio output with the specified audio
                  format (samplerate:bits:channels), regardless of the
                  format of the input file.  This is optional for most
                  plugins.
                </para>
                <para>
                  Any of the three attributes may be an asterisk to
                  specify that this attribute should not be enforced,
                  example: <parameter>48000:16:*</parameter>.
                  <parameter>*:*:*</parameter> is equal to not having
                  a <varname>format</varname> specification.
                </para>
                <para>
                  The following values are valid for
                  <varname>bits</varname>: <varname>8</varname>
                  (signed 8 bit integer samples),
                  <varname>16</varname>, <varname>24</varname> (signed
                  24 bit integer samples padded to 32 bit),
                  <varname>32</varname> (signed 32 bit integer
                  samples), <varname>f</varname> (32 bit floating
                  point, -1.0 to 1.0).
                </para>
              </entry>
            </row>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>enabled</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                Specifies whether this audio output is enabled when
                <application>MPD</application> is started.  By
                default, all audio outputs are enabled.
              </entry>
            </row>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>tags</varname>
                <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                If set to <parameter>no</parameter>, then <application>MPD</application>
                will not send tags to this output.  This is only
                useful for output plugins that can receive tags, for
                example the <varname>httpd</varname> output plugin.
              </entry>
            </row>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>always_on</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                If set to <parameter>yes</parameter>, then
                <application>MPD</application> attempts to keep this
                audio output always open.  This may be useful for
                streaming servers, when you don't want to disconnect
                all listeners even when playback is accidentally
                stopped.
              </entry>
            </row>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>mixer_type</varname>
                <parameter>hardware|software|none</parameter>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                Specifies which mixer should be used for this audio
                output: the hardware mixer (available for ALSA, OSS
                and PulseAudio), the software mixer or no mixer
                (<parameter>none</parameter>).  By default, the
                hardware mixer is used for devices which support it,
                and none for the others.
              </entry>
            </row>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>replay_gain_handler</varname>
                <parameter>software|mixer|none</parameter>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                Specifies how replay gain is applied.  The default is
                <parameter>software</parameter>, which uses an
                internal software volume control.
                <parameter>mixer</parameter> uses the configured
                (hardware) mixer control.  <parameter>none</parameter>
                disables replay gain on this audio output.
              </entry>
            </row>
          </tbody>
        </tgroup>
      </informaltable>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Configuring filters</title>

      <para>
        Filters are plugins which modify an audio stream.
      </para>

      <para>
        To configure a filter, add a <varname>filter</varname> block
        to <filename>mpd.conf</filename>:
      </para>

      <programlisting>filter {
    plugin "volume"
    name "software volume"
}
      </programlisting>

      <para>
        The following table lists the <varname>filter</varname>
        options valid for all plugins:
      </para>

      <informaltable>
        <tgroup cols="2">
          <thead>
            <row>
              <entry>
                Name
              </entry>
              <entry>
                Description
              </entry>
            </row>
          </thead>
          <tbody>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>plugin</varname>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                The name of the plugin.
              </entry>
            </row>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>name</varname>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                The name of the filter.
              </entry>
            </row>
          </tbody>
        </tgroup>
      </informaltable>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Configuring playlist plugins</title>

      <para>
        Playlist plugins are used to load remote playlists.  This is
        not related to <application>MPD</application>'s playlist
        directory.
      </para>

      <para>
        To configure a playlist plugin, add a
        <varname>playlist_plugin</varname> block to
        <filename>mpd.conf</filename>:
      </para>

      <programlisting>playlist_plugin {
    name "m3u"
    enabled "true"
}
      </programlisting>

      <para>
        The following table lists the
        <varname>playlist_plugin</varname> options valid for all
        plugins:
      </para>

      <informaltable>
        <tgroup cols="2">
          <thead>
            <row>
              <entry>
                Name
              </entry>
              <entry>
                Description
              </entry>
            </row>
          </thead>
          <tbody>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>name</varname>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                The name of the plugin.
              </entry>
            </row>
            <row>
              <entry>
                <varname>enabled</varname>
                <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
              </entry>
              <entry>
                Allows you to disable a input plugin without
                recompiling.  By default, all plugins are enabled.
              </entry>
            </row>
          </tbody>
        </tgroup>
      </informaltable>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Audio Format Settings</title>

      <section>
        <title>Global Audio Format</title>

        <para>
          The setting <varname>audio_output_format</varname> forces
          <application>MPD</application> to use one audio format for
          all outputs.  Doing that is usually not a good idea.  The
          values are the same as in <link
          linkend="ao_format"><varname>format</varname> in the
          <varname>audio_output</varname> section</link>.
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title>Resampler</title>

        <para>
          Sometimes, music needs to be resampled before it can be
          played; for example, CDs use a sample rate of 44,100 Hz
          while many cheap audio chips can only handle 48,000 Hz.
          Resampling reduces the quality and consumes a lot of CPU.
          There are different options, some of them optimized for high
          quality and others for low CPU usage, but you can't have
          both at the same time.  Often, the resampler is the
          component that is responsible for most of
          <application>MPD</application>'s CPU usage.  Since
          <application>MPD</application> comes with high quality
          defaults, it may appear that <application>MPD</application>
          consumes more CPU than other software.
        </para>

        <para>
          The following resamplers are available (if enabled at
          compile time):
        </para>

        <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              <ulink
              url="http://www.mega-nerd.com/SRC/"><application>libsamplerate</application></ulink>
              a.k.a. Secret Rabbit Code (SRC).
            </para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>
              <ulink
              url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/soxr/"><application>libsoxr</application></ulink>,
              the SoX Resampler library
            </para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>
              internal: low CPU usage, but very poor quality.  This is
              the fallback if <application>MPD</application> was
              compiled without an external resampler.
            </para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>

        <para>
          The setting <varname>samplerate_converter</varname> controls
          how <application>MPD</application> shall resample music.
          Possible values:
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  Value
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Description
                </entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  "<parameter>internal</parameter>"
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The internal resampler.  Low CPU usage, but very
                  poor quality.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  "<parameter>soxr very high</parameter>"
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Use <application>libsoxr</application> with "Very
                  High Quality" setting.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  "<parameter>soxr high</parameter>" or
                  "<parameter>soxr</parameter>"
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Use <application>libsoxr</application> with "High
                  Quality" setting.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  "<parameter>soxr medium</parameter>"
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Use <application>libsoxr</application> with "Medium
                  Quality" setting.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  "<parameter>soxr low</parameter>"
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Use <application>libsoxr</application> with "Low
                  Quality" setting.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  "<parameter>soxr quick</parameter>"
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Use <application>libsoxr</application> with "Quick"
                  setting.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  "<parameter>Best Sinc Interpolator</parameter>" or
                  "<parameter>0</parameter>"
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  <application>libsamplerate</application>: Band
                  limited sinc interpolation, best quality, 97dB SNR,
                  96% BW.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  "<parameter>Medium Sinc Interpolator</parameter>" or
                  "<parameter>1</parameter>"
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  <application>libsamplerate</application>: Band
                  limited sinc interpolation, medium quality, 97dB
                  SNR, 90% BW.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  "<parameter>Fastest Sinc Interpolator</parameter>" or
                  "<parameter>2</parameter>"
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  <application>libsamplerate</application>: Band
                  limited sinc interpolation, fastest, 97dB SNR, 80%
                  BW.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  "<parameter>ZOH Sinc Interpolator</parameter>" or
                  "<parameter>3</parameter>"
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  <application>libsamplerate</application>: Zero order
                  hold interpolator, very fast, very poor quality with
                  audible distortions.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  "<parameter>Linear Interpolator</parameter>" or
                  "<parameter>4</parameter>"
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  <application>libsamplerate</application>: Linear
                  interpolator, very fast, poor quality.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Other Settings</title>

      <section>
        <title>The State File</title>

        <para>
          The <emphasis>state file</emphasis> is a file where
          <application>MPD</application> saves and restores its state
          (play queue, playback position etc.) to keep it persistent
          across restarts and reboots.  It is an optional setting.
        </para>

        <para>
          <application>MPD</application> will attempt to load the
          state file during startup, and will save it when shutting
          down the daemon.  Additionally, the state file is refreshed
          every two minutes (after each state change).
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>state_file</varname>
                  <parameter>PATH</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Specify the state file location.  The parent
                  directory must be writable by the
                  <application>MPD</application> user
                  (<parameter>+wx</parameter>).
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>state_file_interval</varname>
                  <parameter>SECONDS</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Auto-save the state file this number of seconds
                  after each state change.  Defaults to
                  <parameter>120</parameter> (2 minutes).
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title>Resource Limitations</title>

        <para>
          These settings are various limitations to prevent
          <application>MPD</application> from using too many
          resources (denial of service).
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>connection_timeout</varname>
                  <parameter>SECONDS</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  If a client does not send any new data in this time
                  period, the connection is closed.  Clients waiting
                  in "idle" mode are excluded from this.  Default is
                  <parameter>60</parameter>.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>max_connections</varname>
                  <parameter>NUMBER</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  This specifies the maximum number of clients that
                  can be connected to <application>MPD</application>
                  at the same time.  Default is
                  <parameter>5</parameter>.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>max_playlist_length</varname>
                  <parameter>NUMBER</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The maximum number of songs that can be in the
                  playlist.  Default is <parameter>16384</parameter>.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>max_command_list_size</varname>
                  <parameter>KBYTES</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The maximum size a command list.  Default is
                  <parameter>2048</parameter> (2 MiB).
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>max_output_buffer_size</varname>
                  <parameter>KBYTES</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The maximum size of the output buffer to a client
                  (maximum response size).  Default is
                  <parameter>8192</parameter> (8 MiB).
                </entry>
              </row>

            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title>Buffer Settings</title>

        <para>
          Do not change these unless you know what you are doing.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>audio_buffer_size</varname>
                  <parameter>KBYTES</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Adjust the size of the internal audio buffer.
                  Default is <parameter>4096</parameter> (4 MiB).
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>buffer_before_play</varname>
                  <parameter>PERCENT</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Control the percentage of the buffer which is filled
                  before beginning to play.  Increasing this reduces
                  the chance of audio file skipping, at the cost of
                  increased time prior to audio playback.  Default is
                  <parameter>10%</parameter>.
                </entry>
              </row>

            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>
    </section>
  </chapter>

  <chapter>
    <title>Using <application>MPD</application></title>

    <section>
      <title>The client</title>

      <para>
        After you have installed, configured and started
        <application>MPD</application>, you choose a client to control
        the playback.
      </para>

      <para>
        The most basic client is <filename>mpc</filename>, which
        provides a command line interface.  It is useful in shell
        scripts.  Many people bind specific <filename>mpc</filename>
        commands to hotkeys.
      </para>

      <para>
        The <ulink
        url="http://www.musicpd.org/clients/"><application>MPD</application>
        Wiki</ulink> contains an extensive list of clients to choose
        from.
      </para>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>The music directory and the database</title>

      <para>
        The "music directory" is where you store your music files.
        <application>MPD</application> stores all relevant meta
        information about all songs in its "database".  Whenever you
        add, modify or remove songs in the music directory, you have
        to update the database, for example with
        <filename>mpc</filename>:
      </para>

      <programlisting>mpc update</programlisting>

      <para>
        Depending on the size of your music collection and the speed
        of the storage, this can take a while.
      </para>

      <para>
        To exclude a file from the update, create a file called
        <filename>.mpdignore</filename> in its parent directory.  Each
        line of that file may contain a list of shell wildcards.
      </para>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>The queue</title>

      <para>
        The queue (sometimes called "current playlist") is a list of
        songs to be played by <application>MPD</application>.  To play
        a song, add it to the queue and start playback.  Most clients
        offer an interface to edit the queue.
      </para>
    </section>
  </chapter>

  <chapter>
    <title>Plugin reference</title>

    <section>
      <title>Database plugins</title>

      <section>
        <title><varname>simple</varname></title>

        <para>
          The default plugin.  Stores a copy of the database in
          memory.  A file is used for permanent storage.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>path</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The path of the database file.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>compress</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Compress the database file using
                  <filename>gzip</filename>?  Enabled by default (if
                  built with <filename>zlib</filename>).
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>proxy</varname></title>

        <para>
          Provides access to the database of another
          <application>MPD</application> instance using
          <filename>libmpdclient</filename>.  This is useful when you
          run mount the music directory via NFS/SMB, and the file
          server already runs a <application>MPD</application>
          instance.  Only the file server needs to update the
          database.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>host</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The host name of the "master"
                  <application>MPD</application> instance.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>port</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The port number of the "master"
                  <application>MPD</application> instance.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>upnp</varname></title>

        <para>
          Provides access to UPnP media servers.
        </para>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Storage plugins</title>

      <section>
        <title><varname>local</varname></title>

        <para>
          The default plugin which gives
          <application>MPD</application> access to local files.  It is
          used when <varname>music_directory</varname> refers to a
          local directory.
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>smbclient</varname></title>

        <para>
          Load music files from a SMB/CIFS server.  It used used when
          <varname>music_directory</varname> contains a
          <parameter>smb://</parameter> URI, for example
          "<parameter>smb://myfileserver/Music</parameter>".
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>nfs</varname></title>

        <para>
          Load music files from a NFS server.  It used used when
          <varname>music_directory</varname> contains a
          <parameter>nfs://</parameter> URI according to <ulink
          url="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2224">RFC2224</ulink>,
          for example "<parameter>nfs://servername/path</parameter>".
        </para>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Input plugins</title>

      <section>
        <title><varname>alsa</varname></title>

        <para>
          Allows <application>MPD</application> on Linux to play audio
          directly from a soundcard using the scheme
          <filename>alsa://</filename>. Audio is formatted as 44.1 kHz
          16-bit stereo (CD format). Examples:
        </para>

        <para>
          <filename>mpc add alsa://</filename> plays audio from device hw:0,0
        </para>
        <para>
          <filename>mpc add alsa://hw:1,0</filename> plays audio from device
          hw:1,0
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>cdio_paranoia</varname></title>

        <para>
          Plays audio CDs.  The URI has the form:
          "<filename>cdda://[DEVICE][/TRACK]</filename>".  The
          simplest form <filename>cdda://</filename> plays the whole
          disc in the default drive.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>default_byte_order</varname>
                <parameter>little_endian|big_endian</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  If the CD drive does not specify a byte order,
                  <application>MPD</application> assumes it is the
                  CPU's native byte order.  This setting allows
                  overriding this.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>curl</varname></title>

        <para>
          Opens remote files or streams over HTTP.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>proxy</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the address of the HTTP proxy server.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>proxy_user</varname>,
                  <varname>proxy_password</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Configures proxy authentication.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>verify_peer</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Verify the peer's SSL certificate?  <ulink
                  url="http://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/c/CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER.html">More
                  information</ulink>.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>verify_host</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Verify the certificate's name against host?  <ulink
                  url="http://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/c/CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST.html">More
                  information</ulink>.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>despotify</varname></title>

        <para>
          Plays <ulink url="http://www.spotify.com">Spotify</ulink> tracks using the despotify
          library. The despotify plugin uses a <filename>spt://</filename> URI and a Spotify
          URL. So for example, you can add a song with:
        </para>
        
        <para>
          <filename>mpc add spt://spotify:track:5qENVY0YEdZ7fiuOax70x1</filename>
        </para>
        
        <para>
          You need a Spotify premium account to use this plugin, and you need
          to setup username and password in the configuration file. The
          configuration settings are global since the despotify playlist plugin
          use the same settings.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>despotify_user</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets up the Spotify username (required)
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>despotify_password</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets up the Spotify password (required)
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>despotify_high_bitrate</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Set up if high bitrate should be used for Spotify tunes.
                  High bitrate sounds better but slow systems can have problems
                  with playback (default yes).
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>file</varname></title>

        <para>
          Opens local files.
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>mms</varname></title>

        <para>
          Plays streams with the MMS protocol.
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>nfs</varname></title>

        <para>
          Allows <application>MPD</application> to access files on
          NFSv3 servers without actually mounting them (i.e. in
          userspace, without help from the kernel's VFS layer).  All
          URIs with the <filename>nfs://</filename> scheme are used
          according to <ulink
          url="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2224">RFC2224</ulink>.
          Example:
        </para>

        <para>
          <filename>mpc add nfs://servername/path/filename.ogg</filename>
        </para>

        <para>
          Note that this usually requires enabling the "insecure" flag
          in the server's <filename>/etc/exports</filename> file,
          because <application>MPD</application> cannot bind to
          so-called "privileged" ports.  Don't fear: this will not
          make your file server insecure; the flag was named in a time
          long ago when privileged ports were thought to be meaningful
          for security.  By today's standards, NFSv3 is not secure at
          all, and if you believe it is, you're already doomed.
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>smbclient</varname></title>

        <para>
          Allows <application>MPD</application> to access files on
          SMB/CIFS servers (e.g. Samba or Microsoft Windows).  All
          URIs with the <filename>smb://</filename> scheme are used.
          Example:
        </para>

        <para>
          <filename>mpc add smb://servername/sharename/filename.ogg</filename>
        </para>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Decoder plugins</title>

      <section>
        <title><varname>dsdiff</varname></title>

        <para>
          Decodes DFF files containing DSDIFF data (e.g. SACD rips).
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>lsbitfirst</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Decode the least significant bit first.  Default is
                  <parameter>no</parameter>.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>dsf</varname></title>

        <para>
          Decodes DSF files containing DSDIFF data (e.g. SACD rips).
        </para>

      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>fluidsynth</varname></title>

        <para>
          MIDI decoder based on libfluidsynth.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>sample_rate</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The sample rate that shall be synthesized by the
                  plugin.  Defaults to 48000.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>soundfont</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The absolute path of the soundfont file.  Defaults
                  to
                  <filename>/usr/share/sounds/sf2/FluidR3_GM.sf2</filename>.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>mikmod</varname></title>

        <para>
          Module player based on MikMod.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>loop</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Allow backward loops in modules.  Default is
		  <parameter>no</parameter>.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>sample_rate</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the sample rate generated by
                  <filename>libmikmod</filename>.  Default is 44100.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>modplug</varname></title>

        <para>
          Module player based on MODPlug.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>loop_count</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Number of times to loop the module if it uses backward loops.
                  Default is <parameter>0</parameter> which prevents looping.
                  <parameter>-1</parameter> loops forever.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>wildmidi</varname></title>

        <para>
          MIDI decoder based on libwildmidi.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>config_file</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The absolute path of the timidity config file.  Defaults
                  to
                  <filename>/etc/timidity/timidity.cfg</filename>.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Encoder plugins</title>

      <section>
        <title><varname>flac</varname></title>

        <para>
          Encodes into FLAC (lossless).
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>compression</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the <filename>libFLAC</filename> compression
                  level.  The levels range from 0 (fastest, least
                  compression) to 8 (slowest, most compression).
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>lame</varname></title>

        <para>
          Encodes into MP3 using the LAME library.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>quality</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the quality for VBR.  0 is the highest quality,
                  9 is the lowest quality.  Cannot be used with
                  <varname>bitrate</varname>.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>bitrate</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the bit rate in kilobit per second.  Cannot be
                  used with <varname>quality</varname>.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>null</varname></title>

        <para>
          Does not encode anything, passes the input PCM data as-is.
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>shine</varname></title>

        <para>
          Encodes into MP3 using the shine library.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>bitrate</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the bit rate in kilobit per second.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>twolame</varname></title>

        <para>
          Encodes into MP2 using the <filename>twolame</filename>
          library.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>quality</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the quality for VBR.  0 is the highest quality,
                  9 is the lowest quality.  Cannot be used with
                  <varname>bitrate</varname>.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>bitrate</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the bit rate in kilobit per second.  Cannot be
                  used with <varname>quality</varname>.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>vorbis</varname></title>

        <para>
          Encodes into Ogg Vorbis.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>quality</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the quality for VBR.  -1 is the lowest quality,
                  10 is the highest quality.  Cannot be used with
                  <varname>bitrate</varname>.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>bitrate</varname>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the bit rate in kilobit per second.  Cannot be
                  used with <varname>quality</varname>.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>wave</varname></title>

        <para>
          Encodes into WAV (lossless).
        </para>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Output plugins</title>

      <section id="alsa_output">
        <title><varname>alsa</varname></title>

        <para>
          The "Advanced Linux Sound Architecture" plugin uses
          <filename>libasound</filename>.  It is recommended if you
          are using Linux.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>device</varname>
                  <parameter>NAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the device which should be used.  This can be
                  any valid ALSA device name.  The default value is
                  "default", which makes
                  <filename>libasound</filename> choose a device.  It
                  is recommended to use a "hw" or "plughw" device,
                  because otherwise, <filename>libasound</filename>
                  automatically enables "dmix", which has major
                  disadvantages (fixed sample rate, poor resampler,
                  ...).
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>use_mmap</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  If set to <parameter>yes</parameter>, then
                  <filename>libasound</filename> will try to use
                  memory mapped I/O.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>buffer_time</varname>
                  <parameter>US</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the device's buffer time in microseconds.
                  Don't change unless you know what you're doing.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>period_time</varname>
                  <parameter>US</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the device's period time in microseconds.
                  Don't change unless you really know what you're
                  doing.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>auto_resample</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  If set to <parameter>no</parameter>, then
                  <filename>libasound</filename> will not attempt to
                  resample, handing the responsibility over to
                  <application>MPD</application>.  It is recommended
                  to let <application>MPD</application> resample (with
                  <application>libsamplerate</application>), because
                  ALSA is quite poor at doing so.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>auto_channels</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  If set to <parameter>no</parameter>, then
                  <filename>libasound</filename> will not attempt to
                  convert between different channel numbers.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>auto_format</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  If set to <parameter>no</parameter>, then
                  <filename>libasound</filename> will not attempt to
                  convert between different sample formats (16 bit, 24
                  bit, floating point, ...).
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>dop</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  If set to <parameter>yes</parameter>, then DSD over
                  PCM according to the <ulink
                  url="http://dsd-guide.com/dop-open-standard">DoP
                  standard others</ulink> is enabled.  This wraps DSD
                  samples in fake 24 bit PCM, and is understood by
                  some DSD capable products, but may be harmful to
                  other hardware.  Therefore, the default is
                  <parameter>no</parameter> and you can enable the
                  option at your own risk.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>

        <para>
          The according hardware mixer plugin understands the
          following settings:
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>mixer_device</varname>
                  <parameter>DEVICE</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  <para>
                    Sets the ALSA mixer device name, defaulting to
                    <parameter>default</parameter> which lets ALSA
                    pick a value.
                  </para>
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>mixer_control</varname>
                  <parameter>NAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  <para>
                    Choose a mixer control, defaulting to
                    <parameter>PCM</parameter>.  Type <command>amixer
                    scontrols</command> to get a list of available
                    mixer controls.
                  </para>
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>mixer_index</varname>
                  <parameter>NUMBER</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Choose a mixer control index.  This is necessary if
                  there is more than one control with the same name.
                  Defaults to <parameter>0</parameter> (the first
                  one).
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>ao</varname></title>

        <para>
          The <varname>ao</varname> plugin uses the portable
          <filename>libao</filename> library.  Use only if there is no
          native plugin for your operating system.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>driver</varname>
                  <parameter>D</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The <filename>libao</filename> driver to use for
                  audio output.  Possible values depend on what libao
                  drivers are available.  See <ulink
                  url="http://www.xiph.org/ao/doc/drivers.html">http://www.xiph.org/ao/doc/drivers.html</ulink>
                  for information on some commonly used drivers.
                  Typical values for Linux include "oss" and "alsa09".
                  The default is "default", which causes libao to
                  select an appropriate plugin.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>options</varname>
                  <parameter>O</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Options to pass to the selected
                  <filename>libao</filename> driver.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>write_size</varname>
                  <parameter>O</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  This specifies how many bytes to write to the audio
                  device at once.  This parameter is to work around a
                  bug in older versions of libao on sound cards with
                  very small buffers.  The default is 1024.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>fifo</varname></title>

        <para>
          The <varname>fifo</varname> plugin writes raw PCM data to a
          FIFO (First In, First Out) file.  The data can be read by
          another program.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>path</varname>
                  <parameter>P</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  This specifies the path of the FIFO to write to.
                  Must be an absolute path.  If the path does not
                  exist, it will be created when
                  <application>MPD</application> is started, and
                  removed when <application>MPD</application> is
                  stopped.  The FIFO will be created with the same
                  user and group as <application>MPD</application> is
                  running as.  Default permissions can be modified by
                  using the builtin shell command
                  <filename>umask</filename>.  If a FIFO already
                  exists at the specified path it will be reused, and
                  will not be removed when
                  <application>MPD</application> is stopped.  You can
                  use the "mkfifo" command to create this, and then
                  you may modify the permissions to your liking.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>jack</varname></title>

        <para>
          The <varname>jack</varname> plugin connects to a
          <application>JACK</application> server.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>client_name</varname>
                  <parameter>NAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The name of the <application>JACK</application>
                  client.  Defaults to "Music Player Daemon".
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>server_name</varname>
                  <parameter>NAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Optional name of the <application>JACK</application>
                  server.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>autostart</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  If set to <parameter>yes</parameter>, then
                  <filename>libjack</filename> will automatically
                  launch the <application>JACK</application> daemon.
                  Disabled by default.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>source_ports</varname>
                  <parameter>A,B</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The names of the <application>JACK</application>
                  source ports to be created.  By default, the ports
                  "left" and "right" are created.  To use more ports,
                  you have to tweak this option.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>destination_ports</varname>
                  <parameter>A,B</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The names of the <application>JACK</application>
                  destination ports to connect to.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>ringbuffer_size</varname>
                  <parameter>NBYTES</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the size of the ring buffer for each channel.
                  Do not configure this value unless you know what
                  you're doing.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>httpd</varname></title>

        <para>
          The <varname>httpd</varname> plugin creates a HTTP server,
          similar to <application>ShoutCast</application> /
          <application>IceCast</application>.  HTTP streaming clients
          like <application>mplayer</application> can connect to it.
        </para>

        <para>
          You must configure either <varname>quality</varname> or
          <varname>bitrate</varname>.  It is highly recommended to
          configure a fixed <varname>format</varname>, because a
          stream cannot switch its audio format on-the-fly when the
          song changes.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>port</varname>
                  <parameter>P</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Binds the HTTP server to the specified port.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>bind_to_address</varname>
                  <parameter>ADDR</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Binds the HTTP server to the specified address (IPv4 or
                  IPv6). Multiple addresses in parallel are not supported.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>encoder</varname>
                  <parameter>NAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Chooses an encoder plugin,
                  e.g. <parameter>vorbis</parameter>.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>quality</varname>
                  <parameter>Q</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Configures the encoder quality (for VBR) in the
                  range -1 .. 10.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>bitrate</varname>
                  <parameter>BR</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets a constant encoder bit rate, in kilobit per
                  second.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>max_clients</varname>
                  <parameter>MC</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets a limit, number of concurrent clients. When set
                  to 0 no limit will apply.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>null</varname></title>

        <para>
          The <varname>null</varname> plugin does nothing.  It
          discards everything sent to it.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>sync</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  If set to <parameter>no</parameter>, then the timer
                  is disabled - the device will accept PCM chunks at
                  arbitrary rate (useful for benchmarking).  The
                  default behaviour is to play in real time.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>oss</varname></title>

        <para>
          The "Open Sound System" plugin is supported on most Unix
          platforms.
        </para>

        <para>
          On Linux, <application>OSS</application> has been superseded
          by <application>ALSA</application>.  Use the <link
          linkend="alsa_output"><application>ALSA</application> output
          plugin</link> instead of this one on Linux.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>device</varname>
                  <parameter>PATH</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the path of the PCM device.  If not specified,
                  then <application>MPD</application> will attempt to
                  open <filename>/dev/sound/dsp</filename> and
                  <filename>/dev/dsp</filename>.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>

        <para>
          The according hardware mixer plugin understands the
          following settings:
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>mixer_device</varname>
                  <parameter>DEVICE</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  <para>
                    Sets the OSS mixer device path, defaulting to
                    <filename>/dev/mixer</filename>.
                  </para>
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>mixer_control</varname>
                  <parameter>NAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  <para>
                    Choose a mixer control, defaulting to
                    <parameter>PCM</parameter>.
                  </para>
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>openal</varname></title>

        <para>
          The "OpenAL" plugin uses <filename>libopenal</filename>.  It
          is supported on many platforms.  Use only if there is no
          native plugin for your operating system.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>device</varname>
                  <parameter>NAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the device which should be used.  This can be
                  any valid OpenAL device name. If not specified, then
                  <filename>libopenal</filename> will choose a default device.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>osx</varname></title>

        <para>
          The "Mac OS X" plugin uses Apple's CoreAudio API.
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>pipe</varname></title>

        <para>
          The <varname>pipe</varname> plugin starts a program and
          writes raw PCM data into its standard input.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>command</varname>
                  <parameter>CMD</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  This command is invoked with the shell.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>pulse</varname></title>

        <para>
          The <varname>pulse</varname> plugin connects to a PulseAudio
          server.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>server</varname>
                  <parameter>HOSTNAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the host name of the PulseAudio server.  By
                  default, <application>MPD</application> connects to
                  the local PulseAudio server.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>sink</varname>
                  <parameter>NAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Specifies the name of the PulseAudio sink
                  <application>MPD</application> should play on.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>roar</varname></title>

        <para>
          The <varname>roar</varname> plugin connects to a <ulink
          url="http://roaraudio.keep-cool.org/">RoarAudio</ulink>
          server.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>server</varname>
                  <parameter>HOSTNAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The host name of the RoarAudio server.  If not
                  specified, then <application>MPD</application> will
                  connect to the default locations.
                </entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>role</varname>
                  <parameter>ROLE</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  The "role" that <application>MPD</application>
                  registers itself as in the RoarAudio server.  The
                  default is "music".
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>recorder</varname></title>

        <para>
          The <varname>recorder</varname> plugin writes the audio
          played by <application>MPD</application> to a file.  This
          may be useful for recording radio streams.
        </para>

        <para>
          You must configure either <varname>quality</varname> or
          <varname>bitrate</varname>.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>path</varname>
                  <parameter>P</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Write to this file.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>encoder</varname>
                  <parameter>NAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Chooses an encoder plugin,
                  e.g. <parameter>vorbis</parameter>.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>quality</varname>
                  <parameter>Q</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Configures the encoder quality (for VBR) in the
                  range -1 .. 10.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>bitrate</varname>
                  <parameter>BR</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets a constant encoder bit rate, in kilobit per
                  second.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>shout</varname></title>

        <para>
          The <varname>shout</varname> plugin connects to a ShoutCast
          or IceCast server.  It forwards tags to this server.
        </para>

        <para>
          You must set a <varname>format</varname>.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>host</varname>
                  <parameter>HOSTNAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the host name of the Shoutcast/Icecast server.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>port</varname>
                  <parameter>PORTNUMBER</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Connect to this port number on the specified host.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>timeout</varname>
                  <parameter>SECONDS</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Set the timeout for the shout connection in seconds.
                  Defaults to 2 seconds.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>protocol</varname>
                  <parameter>icecast2|icecast1|shoutcast</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Specifies the protocol that wil be used to connect
                  to the icecast/shoutcast server.  The default
                  is "<parameter>icecast2</parameter>".

                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>mount</varname>
                  <parameter>URI</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Mounts the <application>MPD</application> stream in
                  the specified URI.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>user</varname>
                  <parameter>USERNAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the user name for submitting the stream to the
                  server.  Default is "source".
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>password</varname>
                  <parameter>PWD</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the password for submitting the stream to the
                  server.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>name</varname>
                  <parameter>NAME</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the name of the stream.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>genre</varname>
                  <parameter>GENRE</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the genre of the stream (optional).
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>description</varname>
                  <parameter>DESCRIPTION</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets a short description of the stream (optional).
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>url</varname>
                  <parameter>URL</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets a URL associated with the stream (optional).
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>public</varname>
                  <parameter>yes|no</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Specifies whether the stream should be "public".
                  Default is <parameter>no</parameter>.
                </entry>
              </row>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>encoder</varname>
                  <parameter>PLUGIN</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the name of the encoder plugin.  Default is
                  "vorbis".  "vorbis" and "lame" are valid encoder
                  plugins (provided that you enabled them at compile
                  time).
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>solaris</varname></title>

        <para>
          The "Solaris" plugin runs only on SUN Solaris, and plays via
          <filename>/dev/audio</filename>.
        </para>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>device</varname>
                  <parameter>PATH</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  Sets the path of the audio device, defaults to
                  <filename>/dev/audio</filename>.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Playlist plugins</title>

      <section>
        <title><varname>embcue</varname></title>

        <para>
          Reads CUE sheets from the "CUESHEET" tag of song files.
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>m3u</varname></title>

        <para>
          Reads <filename>.m3u</filename> playlist files.
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>extm3u</varname></title>

        <para>
          Reads extended <filename>.m3u</filename> playlist files.
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>pls</varname></title>

        <para>
          Reads <filename>.pls</filename> playlist files.
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>xspf</varname></title>

        <para>
          Reads <ulink url="http://www.xspf.org/">XSPF</ulink>
          playlist files.
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>despotify</varname></title>

        <para>
          Adds <ulink url="http://www.spotify.com/">Spotify</ulink>
          playlists. Spotify playlists use the <filename>spt://</filename> URI,
          and a Spotify playlist URL. So for example, you can load a playlist
          with
        </para>
        
        <para>
          <filename>mpc load spt://spotify:user:simon.kagstrom:playlist:3SUwkOe5VbVHysZcidEZtH</filename>
        </para>
        
        <para>
          See the despotify input plugin for configuration options (username
          and password needs to be setup)
        </para>
      </section>

      <section>
        <title><varname>soundcloud</varname></title>

        <para>
          Adds <ulink url="https://www.soundcloud.com/">Soundcloud</ulink>
          playlists. SoundCloud playlists use the <filename>soundcloud://</filename> URI,
          and with a number of arguments, you may load different playlists with
        </para>

        <programlisting>
mpc load soundcloud://track/TRACK_ID
mpc load soundcloud://playlist/PLAYLIST_ID
mpc load soundcloud://user/USERNAME
mpc load soundcloud://search/SEARCH_QUERY
mpc load soundcloud://url/https://soundcloud.com/ARTIST/TRACK-NAME
        </programlisting>

        <informaltable>
          <tgroup cols="2">
            <thead>
              <row>
                <entry>Setting</entry>
                <entry>Description</entry>
              </row>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>
                  <varname>apikey</varname>
                  <parameter>client_id</parameter>
                </entry>
                <entry>
                  User apikey/client_id can override the
                  <application>MPD</application> token provided by
                  SoundCloud.
                </entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>

      </section>

    </section>
  </chapter>
</book>