Output plugins

alsa

The "Advanced Linux Sound Architecture" plugin uses libasound. It is recommended if you are using Linux.

SettingDescription
device NAME Sets the device which should be used. This can be any valid ALSA device name. The default value is "default", which makes libasound choose a device. It is recommended to use a "hw" or "plughw" device, because otherwise, libasound automatically enables "dmix", which has major disadvantages (fixed sample rate, poor resampler, ...).
use_mmap yes|no If set to yes, then libasound will try to use memory mapped I/O.
buffer_time US Sets the device's buffer time in microseconds. Don't change unless you know what you're doing.
period_time US Sets the device's period time in microseconds. Don't change unless you really know what you're doing.
auto_resample yes|no If set to no, then libasound will not attempt to resample, handing the responsibility over to MPD. It is recommended to let MPD resample (with libsamplerate), because ALSA is quite poor at doing so.
auto_channels yes|no If set to no, then libasound will not attempt to convert between different channel numbers.
auto_format yes|no If set to no, then libasound will not attempt to convert between different sample formats (16 bit, 24 bit, floating point, ...).

ao

The ao plugin uses the portable libao library.

fifo

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

jack

The jack plugin connects to a JACK server.

mvp

The mvp plugin uses the proprietary Hauppauge Media MVP interface. We do not know any user of this plugin, and we do not know if it actually works.

httpd

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

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

SettingDescription
port P Binds the HTTP server to the specified port (on all interfaces).
encoder NAME Chooses an encoder plugin, e.g. vorbis.
quality Q Configures the encoder quality (for VBR) in the range -1 .. 10.
bitrate BR Sets a constant encoder bit rate, in kilobit per second.

null

The null plugin does nothing. It discards everything sent to it.

SettingDescription
sync yes|no If set to no, 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.

oss

The "Open Sound System" plugin is supported on most Unix platforms.

SettingDescription
device PATH Sets the path of the PCM device. If not specified, then MPD will attempt to open /dev/sound/dsp and /dev/dsp.

osx

The "Mac OS X" plugin uses Apple's CoreAudio API.

pipe

The pipe plugin starts a program and writes raw PCM data into its standard input.

SettingDescription
command CMD This command is invoked with the shell.

pulse

The pulse plugin connects to a PulseAudio server.

SettingDescription
server HOSTNAME Sets the host name of the PulseAudio server. By default, MPD connects to the local PulseAudio server.
sink NAME Specifies the name of the PulseAudio sink MPD should play on.

shout

The shout plugin connects to a ShoutCast or IceCast server. It forwards tags to this server.

You must set a format.

SettingDescription
host HOSTNAME Sets the host name of the Shoutcast/Icecast server.
port PORTNUMBER Connect to this port number on the specified host.
timeout SECONDS Set the timeout for the shout connection in seconds. Defaults to 2 seconds.
mount URI Mounts the MPD stream in the specified URI.
user USERNAME Sets the user name for submitting the stream to the server. Default is "source".
password PWD Sets the password for submitting the stream to the server.
name NAME Sets the name of the stream.
genre GENRE Sets the genre of the stream (optional).
description DESCRIPTION Sets a short description of the stream (optional).
public yes|no Specifies whether the stream should be "public". Default is "no".
encoder PLUGIN 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).

solaris

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

SettingDescription
device PATH Sets the path of the audio device, defaults to /dev/audio.