{{MusicLibraryCreate}}
{{mininav|[[Music library]]}}

= Introduction =
This page provides the following information:

*How the Music section differs from the Video section of {{kodi}}
*The recommended method to organise your music files
*The recommended method for tagging your music files
*Explanation of some commonly misunderstood Music File Tags
*The Audio Files and Tags that {{kodi}} reads and uses

= Understanding the Music Library =
<section begin="understanding" />There is a fundamental differences between video library operation and the music library operation:
*The video library is based on using the filenames or folder names to obtain online data. If they are incorrectly named, then there are no scraper results and there will be no library entry.
*'''The music library is based on scanning tags embedded in the music files.''' It ignores the folder names and structure and file names. Proper tagging is essential to ensure the library is populated correctly. Having slight variations in the tags for artist and album names could mean duplicated and unwanted entries.<section end="understanding" />

= Folder and File Structure =
Although {{kodi}} ignores the folder structure and the names of the folders and files, the structure of your folders is important as it affects the operation of other functions such as Import/Export, nfo files and Artwork. For example, if you have all your music files in one folder (which is possible), then you lose the ability to use local nfo files, local artwork, and the import/export module will not function correctly.

The following is {{kodi}} '''best practice'''. Remember use a layout that is nice for you, but '''tag accurately.'''

== Files ==
Song files require suitable tagging for use in {{kodi}}. While {{kodi}} can scan minimal tags into the library, it can lead to errors in the library and subsequent scraping. We recommend music files are tagged with MusicBrainz as detailed below.

Remember that {{kodi}} does not extract any information from the filename, so the filename is your choice.

== Folders ==
{{kodi}} is quite flexible with the folder structure. The diagram below is an '''example'''. You should group your albums in a manner that makes sense to you.

To ensure {{kodi}} and other add-on processes can function efficently and correctly, the following is recommended.
*Songs from the same album should be in the one folder
*If there is more than one disk in the release, each disk should be in a sub-folder containing the songs from that disk

The following is a typical folder structure:

f:\ ....................................(root)
|__Artist Information ..................(Artist Information Folder)
|
|__Artist Music .......................(source folder)
| |__ Madonna ........................(artist folder)
| | |__ Beautiful Stranger (1999) ..(album folder)
| | | |__ Song 1
| | | |__ Song 2
| | | |__ Song 3 etc
| | |__ Bedtime Stories (1994) .....(album folder)
| | | |__ Song 1
| | | |__ Song 2
| | | |__ Song 3 etc
| | |__ Like A Prayer (1989) .......(album folder)
| | | |__ Song 1
| | | |__ Song 2
| | | |__ Song 3 etc
| |__ Simply Red .....................(artist folder)
| |__ Picture Book (1985) ........(album folder)
| |__ Song 1
| |__ Song 2
| |__ Song 3 etc
|
|__Compilations .......................(Source)
| |__ Essential Eighties .............(album folder)
| | |__ Song 1
| | |__ Song 2
| | |__ Song 3 etc
| |__ 100% Hits- Best of 2005 ........(album folder)
| |__ Song 1
| |__ Song 2
| |__ Song 3 etc
|
|__Classical ..........................(Source)
|
|__Audiobooks .........................(Source)

== Sources ==
A source is the parent folder that contains your media collection- in this case Music. This folder is then set as a Source in {{kodi}} which enables {{kodi}} to access your Music.

In the diagram from the previous section ''Artist Music, Compilations, Classical'' and ''Audiobooks'' are Sources.

Notes on naming and setting a '''Source''':
*There is no limit on the number of Sources that can be used
*The Source names, which essentially is your folder name, can be anything that makes sense to you. The names should be unique, which makes it easier to navigate to the correct source in {{Kodi}}
*Larger libraries do benefit from multiple sources
*There is no requirement on how to separate music between Sources. Many users separate based on Genre, alphabetical listing, release type or any method you prefer
*If your music collection exists on multiple drives, then a Source folder is required for each drive
*'''Never''' mix media classes. ie, ensure TV Shows, Movies, Music Videos or Music are not in the same source, nor as a sub-folder of another source.
*'''Never''' set the entire hard drive as your Source as this will create multiple ghost entries.

Setting and Scanning of Sources is covered in detail in the next step of the guide.

= Tagging =
Most music files purchased or ripped by your favourite software have only minimal metadata embedded. Normally this is not a problem and works very well on simple music players.
<br /><br />
{{kodi}}, being an advanced and feature rich player, requires greater accuracy with the embedded tags. Any slight variance in, for example, the Album name between the tracks from the same album will see multiple entries in the library for that Album. It is not uncommon to have a single album split into three similarly named albums. Also true for Artists. It is for this reason that there is a separation of the Scanning and Scraping processes for Music. The initial scan allows you to find and correct errors in tagging, before scraping.
<br /><br />
This table has examples of errors in tagging, which will cause duplicated entries in the library...

{|class="prettytable"
!Similar Name 1 || Similar Name 2 || Note
|-
|György Ligeti || Gyorgy Ligeti || Accented and unaccented names will create duplicate entries
|-
|The Best of || The Very Best Of || Inconsistent naming between songs of the same album and/or artist will cause duplicated entries
|-
|Madonna || Madonnna || Spelling mistakes will cause duplicated entries for albums and/or artists
|-
|Sting || Sting and The Police || Seen as two separate and unrelated Artists
|}

As {{kodi}} scans your music collection, it copies the data contained in those tags into the {{kodi}} music database. The benefits of this are:
*Once the scan is complete, the tags are not accessed again
*All information is now obtained from the database. This has the benefit of dramatically increasing efficency and speed when navigating the library.
*Now that a database entry exists, you are able to scrape additional information from online sources. This is covered later in the guide.

== MusicBrainz ==
'''{{kodi}} has strong support for MusicBrainz tagging. It is highly recommended that users tag their music files using MusicBrainz Picard.'''

'''MusicBrainz Picard''' is the music file tagger software that can access the MusicBrainz database to locate metadata to embed into your music files. MBIDs are useful because names are not unique. The bigger and more diverse your music collection is, the more likely you will encounter Artists with the same name.

The advantages of tagging with MusicBrainz are:
*They allow you to have different artists with the same name in your library e.g. "John Williams" the classical guitarist and "John Williams" the film music composer and conductor.
*They negate inconsistencies in artist naming e.g. having "Peter Tchaikovsky" on some albums and "Piotr Czajkowski" on others
*They allow you to have more than one release of an album in your library e.g. the normal and deluxe editions of an album
*They clearly identify the artist and album in ways that names alone can not. This can then be used to accurately scrape additional artist and album information and locate the correct artwork
*They allow the scraping process to be more efficient, otherwise an extra call is made to try and get an mbid first to use at the scraping sites, and each request from Musicbrainz must be throttled to 1 per sec which will slow the scraping process.

Below is a screenshot of the main screen of the Picard software. A brief description of the layout as follows.

*Top Left Box- Folder listing of your music collection
*Top Centre Box- Albums are dragged and dropped here in preparation for matching and tagging. Pressing ''Lookup'' (greyed out) will commence the lookup process
*Top Right Box- Matching albums are displayed here and your songs are overlayed. In the screenshot, songs 01, 08 and 09 have been matched to the suggested album. If all songs match and you agree the correct album was located, simply pressing Save will tag the album with the tags displayed in the Bottom Tag Box.
*Bottom Tag Box - Selecting a song from the Top Right Box will display all available tag fields (left column), the current tags in the music file (Original Value column) and the MusicBrainz tags to be embedded in the music file (right column).

The example in the image below shows the following:
*Most tags are missing (original value column)
*The top three yellow entries are incorrect (original value column) and the corrections are in the right column
*The green entries in the right column indicate new tags to be embedded
*The black entries at the bottom of the list indicate no change to the existing tags as they are correct or not used by MusicBrainz.

<gallery mode="packed" widths="1000px" heights="563px">
File:MusicBrainzPicard01.jpg
</gallery>

Although Picard is very easy to use, you must avoid blindly accepting everything offered by the software. It is important that you confirm the correct album was located. Due to the global nature of the database, there are many releases for a single album. These releases differ between countries, usually due to copyright requirements. This may lead you to inadvertendly select the incorrect release for your album, even though it is named exactly the same. The differences between releases may be as simple as different song ordering or the inclusion of additional bonus tracks.

== Clear Existing Tags ==
For the best tagging experience set the correct options in Picard, particularly the "Clear Existing Tags" option in settings. This option means that any old tags that may cause issues are wiped, preserving only the musicbrainz tagging. It will also be wise to tag using ID3v2.4 compatibility.

<gallery mode="packed" widths="500px" heights="283px">
File:Picard options.jpg
</gallery>

== albumartists ==
{{Kodi}} requires the '''albumartists''' tag to correctly handle multiple album artists on the same album. This tag is not a default tag in MusicBrainz Picard and other tagging software. <ref> https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=334729&pid=2760161#pid2760161 </ref>

To include this tag add a new script under ''Options > Options > Scripting > Add new script'' and include the following code...
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml">
$setmulti(albumartists,%_albumartists%)
</syntaxhighlight>

<gallery mode="packed" widths="500px" heights="283px">
File:Picard Script.JPG
</gallery>

Once the music files are tagged, avoid modifying the MusicBrainz tags unless you clearly understand the relationship of the MBID's and the other related tags. For example, embedding MBID tags, but then editing the Artist tag or Album Artist tag will result in incorrect entries in the library.

For example:
*If you need to change the artist or album artist tag you also have to edit the matching artist mbid tag and album artist mbid tag.
*If Kodi finds a release mbid it will expect the artist mbid tags to also be present.

:'''''See: [https://musicbrainz.org/ MusicBrainz Website]'''''
:'''''See: [https://picard.musicbrainz.org/ MusicBrainz Picard Software]'''''

----
<center>{{red|'''The remainder of this page deals with special use cases or provides information for technical interest and reference only. It can be safely disregarded if these do not apply to you'''}}</center>
----

<div style="{{linear-gradient|left|#f5d3ff, #12b2e7}}">{{next|[[Adding_music_to_the_library|Scanning Music into Library]]}} </div>

= Ripping CD's =
{{main|Ripping CDs}}
{{#lst:Ripping CDs|intro}}

There is no requirement to use the {{Kodi}} CD Ripper. If you are comfortable using other ripping software, then we recommend you continue using that software.

= Cue Sheets =
{{#lst:Cue_sheets|intro}}

{{kodi}} does provide basic support for using cue sheets to define individual tracks when an entire CD has been ripped into a single music file. However the information provided by the cue sheet standard is much more limited than that of standard tagging, hence to enjoy the full music library features it is recommended that tracks are ripped into separate files and fully tagged.
<br />
{{red|If you do not use Cue Sheets you can safely move onto the next step.}}
<br />
;{{see also|Cue_sheets}}

= Streams =
{{#lst:Internet_video_and_audio_streams|intro}}

;{{see also|Internet_video_and_audio_streams}}

= Technical Explanation: File tags =
For many categories, such as genres and artists, {{kodi}} supports multiple values in the one field. By default it uses the character sequence " / " to divide the entry into multiple values. This divider may be changed via [[advancedsettings.xml]].

== Resolving Compilations and Multiple Artists ==
{{red|Applies to v17 and below. v18 introduced the [[Artist information folder]] which solved these problems. You are encouraged to update to v18}}

{{kodi}} reads the ''Album Artist'' tag in ID3, Ogg, APE and MP4 tags and uses it if available to assign an artist to the album (independently of the track's artist information). This is the "Album Artist" tag (in ID3 this is represented by the "TPE2" tag; in vorbiscomment (ogg) files "ALBUMARTIST", "ALBUM ARTIST" and "ENSEMBLE" are all supported). Multiple artists for either a track or album artist can be specified in "Artist1 / Artist2 / Artist3" format.

If no ''Album Artist'' tag exists, {{kodi}} will use the first (primary) artist from the tracks as the ''Album Artist''. Essentially we do a string comparison of all the track artists, and assign the common artists as the ''Album artist''. This is generally the TPE1 tag in ID3.

As many users don't yet use the ''Album Artist'' tag, {{kodi}} has an additional filter system for identifying compilation albums, where each track normally has a different artist. As {{kodi}} scans a folder, it does the following:
# Identifies albums based on ''Album'' name alone in the folder and groups the songs that have the same ''Album'' name together as an album.
# Runs through each album's assigned songs. If there is 2 or more tracks with the same ''Track'' number, the group of songs must come from 2 or more albums, so the ''Album'' name is ruled out as a possible compilation.
# If any of the songs assigned to the ''Album'' name have an ''Album Artist'' tag, then {{kodi}} assumes the user knows what they're doing, and this album is also ruled out from being a compilation.
# If two or more songs assigned to the ''Album'' name then have different primary artists, then the ''Album'' name is considered to be a group of songs from a compilation, and the ''Various Artists''" tag is assigned as the album artist.
# Otherwise, if all the songs have the same primary artist but don't have the same full artist list (eg a song or two has an additional artist) then the album is assigned the primary artist as it's ''Album Artist'', and we assume the additional artists are guest artists.

== Ratings in ID3 tags ==
Ratings in ID3 tags are read via the POPM field, and (if this doesn't exist) in a custom (TXXX) field named "RATING". For the RATING field, we accept 1-5 as valid ratings. For the POPM field things are more complicated, as there is no established standard in place. We currently most closely respect what Mediamonkey does, and also have some support for what Windows Media Player 11 does. The POPM tag takes a value from 0..255, with 0 meaning no rating, 1 the worst, and 255 the best. We currently map these as follows:

{| class="prettytable"
|-
!'''POPM value''' || '''Star rating'''
|-
|0 ||
|-
|1 || '''*''' This is a special case for Windows Media Player
|-
| 2-8 ||
|-
|9-49 || '''*'''
|-
|50-113 ||'''**'''
|-
|114-167 || '''***'''
|-
|168-218 || '''****'''
|-
|219-255 ||'''*****'''
|}

= Audio Formats & Tags =

== Supported Audio Formats ==
Although the list of playable formats is quite comprehensive, it is not accurate to say that every {{kodi}} installation will play every format. The ability to play some of the more obscure formats will depend upon the version of {{kodi}} and the operating system in use. Some formats will require the installation of add-ons.

{{#lst:Advancedsettings.xml|musicextensions}}

;{{See also|Advancedsettings.xml}}

== Supported Metadata Containers ==
The following metadata containers are supported by {{kodi}}

{| class="prettytable"
|-
! Metadata Container || Note
|-
|[[wikipedia:APEv2 tag|APEv2 tag]] ||
|-
|[[wikipedia:Advanced_Systems_Format|ASF]] ||
|-
|Generic Tag || A generic tag for basic data from other odd file types
|-
|[[wikipedia:ID3|ID3]] || v1, v2.3 and v2.4
|-
|[[wikipedia:MPEG-4 Part 14#Metadata|MP4]] ||
|-
|[https://xiph.org/ Xiph.org] || Vorbis Comments
|}

== Common File & Tag Combination ==
You will notice that not all the tags listed in the section ''Supported Audio Formats'' above are listed in the following table. Those formats that are ommitted do not have provision to support embedded tags. If your collection contains any of these unsupported formats, you will be unable to scan the music into the library. Your options are:
#Convert your audio file to a supported format and tag using MusicBrainz Picard. (recommended)
#Access your music via the File Manager or via File View

{{kodi}} supports the following common Audio File and Tag Formats

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!| Metadata container
!| Additional Filename extensions
|-
| [[wikipedia:APEv2 tag|APEv2 tag]] || ape, mp3, aac, wv, mpc
|-
| [[wikipedia:Advanced_Systems_Format|ASF]] || asf, wmv, wma
|-
| Generic Tag || it, mod, module, nst, wow, s3m, xm
|-
| [[wikipedia:ID3|ID3 v1]] || mp3, aac
|-
| [[wikipedia:ID3|ID3 v2]] || mp3, aac, tta, aif, aiff, wav, flac
|-
| iTunes [[wikipedia:MPEG-4 Part 14#Metadata|MP4]] || .3g2 .m4a .m4b .m4p .m4r .m4v .mp4
|-
|[https://xiph.org/ Xiph.org] || flac, oga, ogg, opus
|}

Note:
*FLAC files- xiph tags override id3v2 tags
*mp3 files can have either id3 or APE tags
*mka, dsf, dff - ID3v2 format read but are handled by ffmpeg tag reader and it does not support all tags from IDE standard)

== Tags {{kodi}} reads ==
{{kodi}} will scan the following tags embedded in the music file. The column ''{{kodi}} Version'' indicates the version of {{kodi}} that the tag was introduced, and will work in subsequent versions.

<section begin="TagTable" />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! style="text-align:left;"| {{kodi}} Version
! Vorbis (.Flac)
! ID3v2 (.mp3)
! APE
! MP4
! ASF
|-
|v16
|ARTIST
|TPE1
|ARTIST
|\251ART
|Author
|-
|v16
|ARTISTS
|ARTISTS
|ARTISTS
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:ARTISTS
|
|-
|v16
|ALBUMARTIST or ALBUM ARTIST
|TPE2 OR ALBUMARTIST or ALBUM ARTIST
|ALBUMARTIST or ALBUM ARTIST
|aART
|WM/AlbumArtist
|-
|v16
|ALBUMARTISTS or ALBUM ARTISTS
|ALBUMARTISTS or ALBUM ARTISTS
|ALBUMARTISTS or ALBUM ARTISTS
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:ALBUMARTISTS
|
|-
|v16
|ALBUM
|TALB
|ALBUM
|\251alb
|WM/AlbumTitle
|-
|v16
|TITLE
|TIT2
|TITLE
|\251nam
|
|-
|v16
|TRACKNUMBER
|TRCK
|TRACKNUMBER or TRACK
|trkn
|WM/TrackNumber or WM/Track
|-
|v16
|DISCNUMBER
|TPOS
|DISCNUMBER or DISC
|disk
|WM/PartOfSet
|-
|v16
|YEAR
|TYER
|YEAR
|\251day
|WM/Year
|-
|v16
|DATE
|TDRC, TDRL
|DATE
|
|
|-
|v16
|GENRE
|TCON
|GENRE
|\251gen
|WM/Genre
|-
|v16
|MOOD
|TMOO OR TXXX:MOOD
|MOOD
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:MOOD
|WM/Mood
|-
|v16
|COMMENT
|COMM
|COMMENT
|\251cmt
|(COMMENT)
|-
|v16
|CUESHEET
|
|CUESHEET
|
|
|-
|v16
|COMPILATION
|TCMP
|COMPILATION
|cpil
|
|-
|v16
|LYRICS
|USLT
|LYRICS
|
|
|-
|v16
|REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_GAIN
|REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_GAIN
|REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_GAIN
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:replaygain_track_gain
|replaygain_track_gain
|-
|v16
|REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_GAIN
|REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_GAIN
|REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_GAIN
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:replaygain_album_gain
|replaygain_album_gain
|-
|v16
|REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_PEAK
|REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_PEAK
|REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_PEAK
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:replaygain_track_peak
|replaygain_track_peak
|-
|v16
|REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_PEAK
|REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_PEAK
|REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_PEAK
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:replaygain_album_peak
|replaygain_album_peak
|-
|v16
|REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_PEAK
|REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_PEAK
|REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_PEAK
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:replaygain_album_peak
|replaygain_album_peak
|-
|v16
|MUSICBRAINZ_ARTISTID
|MUSICBRAINZ ARTIST ID
|MUSICBRAINZ_ARTISTID
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:MusicBrainz Artist Id
|MusicBrainz/Artist Id
|-
|v16
|MUSICBRAINZ_ALBUMARTISTID
|MUSICBRAINZ ALBUM ARTIST ID
|MUSICBRAINZ_ALBUMARTISTID
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:MusicBrainz Album Artist Id
|MusicBrainz/Album Artist Id
|-
|v16
|MUSICBRAINZ_ALBUMARTIST
|MUSICBRAINZ ALBUM ARTIST
|MUSICBRAINZ_ALBUMARTIST
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:MusicBrainz Album Artist
|MusicBrainz/Album Artist
|-
|v16
|MUSICBRAINZ_ALBUMID
|MUSICBRAINZ ALBUM ID
|MUSICBRAINZ_ALBUMID
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:MusicBrainz Album Id
|MusicBrainz/Album Id
|-
|v16
|MUSICBRAINZ_TRACKID
|UFID
|MUSICBRAINZ_TRACKID
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:MusicBrainz Track Id
|
|-
|v16
|RATING
|POPM
|
|
|
|-
|v16
|METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE or COVERART or COVERARTMIME
|APIC
|
|covr
|WM/Picture
|-
|v17
|COMPOSER
|TCOM
|COMPOSER
|\251wrt
|WM/Composer
|-
|v17
|CONDUCTOR
|TPE3
|CONDUCTOR
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:CONDUCTOR
|WM/Conductor
|-
|v17
|LYRICIST
|TEXT
|LYRICIST
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:LYRICIST
|WM/Writer
|-
|v17
|REMIXER or MIXARTIST
|TPE4
|REMIXER or MIXARTIST
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:REMIXER
|WM/ModifiedBy
|-
|v17
|ENSEMBLE
|(TIPL) or TXXX:Ensemble
|ENSEMBLE
|
|
|-
|v17
|ARRANGER
|(TIPL)
|ARRANGER
|
|
|-
|v17
|ENGINEER
|(TIPL)
|ENGINEER
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:ENGINEER
|WM/Engineer
|-
|v17
|PRODUCER
|(TIPL)
|PRODUCER
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:PRODUCER
|WM/Producer
|-
|v17
|DJMIXER
|(TIPL)
|DJMIXER
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:DJMIXER
|WM/DJMixer
|-
|v17
|MIXER
|(TIPL)
|MIXER
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:MIXER
|WM/Mixer
|-
|v17
|PERFORMER
|TMCL
|PERFORMER
|
|
|-
|v17
|LABEL
|TPUB
|LABEL
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:LABEL
|WM/Publisher
|-
|v17
|RELEASETYPE
|MUSICBRAINZ ALBUM TYPE
|MUSICBRAINZ_ALBUMTYPE
| ---:com.apple.iTunes:MusicBrainz Album Type
|MusicBrainz/Album Type
|-
|v18
|MUSICBRAINZ_RELEASEGROUPID
|MUSICBRAINZ RELEASE GROUP ID
|MUSICBRAINZ_RELEASEGROUPID
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:MusicBrainz Release Group Id
|MusicBrainz/Release Group Id
|-
|v18
|ARTISTSORT
|TSOP
|ARTISTSORT
|
|WM/ArtistSortOrder
|-
|v18
|ALBUMARTISTSORT
|TS02
|ALBUMARTISTSORT
|soaa
|WM/AlbumArtistSortOrder
|-
|v18
|COMPOSERSORT
|TSOC
|COMPOSERSORT
|soco
|WM/ComposerSortOrder
|-
|v18
|WRITER
|WRITER
|WRITER
|
|-
|v19
|DISCSUBTITLE
|TSST
|DiscSubtitle
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:DISCSUBTITLE
|WM/SetSubTitle
|-
|v19
|BPM
|TBPM
|BPM
|tmpo
|WM/BeatsPerMinute
|-
|v19
|ORIGINALDATE / ORIGINALYEAR
|TDOR / TORY
|ORIGINALYEAR
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:originaldate
|WM/OriginalReleaseYear
|-
|v19
|RELEASESTATUS
|TXXX:MusicBrainz Album Status
|MUSICBRAINZ_ALBUMSTATUS
| ----:com.apple.iTunes:MusicBrainz Album Status
|MusicBrainz/Album Status
|}
<section end="TagTable" />

= References =
<references />

{{Top}}

<div style="{{linear-gradient|left|#f5d3ff, #12b2e7}}">{{next|[[Adding_music_to_the_library|Scanning Music into Library]]}} </div>

{{updated|18}}
[[Category:FAQ]]
[[Category:Index]]
[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Manual]]
[[Category:Karellen]]
[[Category:First time user]]
[[Category:Music library]]
[[Category:Advanced topics]]
[[Category:Quick Start Guide]]

Advancedsettings.xml

2020-08-11T10:16:03Z

Black eagle:

{{TOC right}}{{mininav|[[Settings]]|page=advancedsettings.xml}}
{{bigger|{{note|'''The advancedsettings.xml file does not exist by default. You have to create it first!'''}} }}

<section begin="intro" />The [[advancedsettings.xml]] file, which does not exist by default, can be created by a user in their '''[[Userdata|userdata folder]]'''.

This file is used for advanced settings and options that do not have GUI controls inside of {{kodi}}. Some settings are experimental or very rarely set, so they can only be used via the advancedsettings.xml file. The file is simply a plain text file and can be edited by various text editors, so long as the name is "advancedsettings.xml". These advanced settings can be used to tweak various things such as episode naming patterns, special network ports, special behaviors, and more.<section end="intro" />

The following page will describe the structure of the advancedsettings.xml file and the various individual settings.

{{note|
# All XML tags must be lowercase. The start and end of the advancedsettings.xml file must have the <advancedsettings> and </advancedsettings> tags.
# Kodi will only read the advancedsettings.xml file when it starts up. If you make changes while it is running then you must restart Kodi.
# For some Windows versions, Kodi has two <code>\userdata\</code> folders. The correct one to put the advancedsettings.xml file in is not the one in Program Files, but in <code>%appdata%\Kodi\userdata\.</code>}}

== Layout ==

The layout of <code>advancedsettings.xml</code> is as follows:

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<advancedsettings version="1.0">
<setting>value</setting>
...
<setting>value</setting>
</advancedsettings>
</syntaxhighlight>

where "setting" gives the name of the setting, and "value" gives its value.

A list of the available "setting" strings and their values is given below.

= List of available settings =
List of available settings that are recognised in the advancedsettings.xml file <ref>https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/blob/master/xbmc/settings/AdvancedSettings.cpp</ref>

Recommended: Use the table of contents or the search function in your browser to locate items.

== Troubleshooting settings ==

=== loglevel ===
{{Anchor|.3Cloglevel.3E}}

<section begin="loglevel" />
Sets the logging level used to log errors and information. The "hide" attribute is optional.

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<loglevel hide="attribute">options</loglevel>
</syntaxhighlight>

{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable"
|-
! style="width:100px;" | Attribute
! style="width:500px;" | Action
|-
! '''true'''
| Hides the "enable debugging" setting in the Settings page. (default)
|-
! '''false'''
| Allows "enable debugging" setting to switch between '''0''' and '''2'''.
|}

{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable"
|-
! style="width:100px;" | Option
! style="width:500px;" | Action
|-
! '''-1'''
| No logging, suppresses all log output
|-
! '''0'''
| Normal logging, only logging errors (default)
|-
! '''1'''
| Debug logging with freemem, fps and cpu usage (no on screen)
|-
! '''2'''
| Same as 1 (with on screen display)
|-
! '''3'''
| Same as 2 + full smb logging (no on screen display)
|}

{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable"
|-
! style="width:100px;" | Example
! style="width:500px;" |
|-
! Example 1:
|<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<advancedsettings>
<loglevel>2</loglevel>
</advancedsettings>
</syntaxhighlight>
|-
! Example 2:
|<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<advancedsettings>
<loglevel hide="true">2</loglevel>
</advancedsettings>
</syntaxhighlight>
|}

'''Note:''' The setting is persistent through shutdown and restarts.<br>
'''Note:''' If debugging is enabled in the GUI, loglevel will be set to '''2'''. This will over-ride the <code>advancedsettings.xml</code> setting. You must disable the GUI Setting before adding the entry to <code>advancedsettings.xml</code>.<br />
<section end="loglevel" />
:''{{see also|Log_file|label 1=Debug Log}}''

=== jsonrpc ===
{{Anchor|.3Cjsonrpc.3E}}
To make it easier for developers using the [[JSON-RPC_API]] API in their (third party) applications to debug during development the json output of Kodi can be prettified by setting '''compactoutput''' to '''false'''. Default json output mode is a compact print which does not contain any unnecessary whitespaces and therefore is difficult to read for humans.
Furthermore using the '''tcpport''' setting it is possible to change the default TCP port used by Kodi for JSON RPC (which is 9090) to any other valid port.

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<jsonrpc>
<compactoutput>false</compactoutput>
<tcpport>9999</tcpport>
</jsonrpc>
</syntaxhighlight>

== Audio/video playback settings ==

=== skiploopfilter ===
{{anchor|.3Cskiploopfilter.3E}}
The amount of the loop filter to skip on h.264 decoding. This can help the performance of slower machines when decoding h264 content. Values, in decreasing CPU usage (and decreasing quality)
* -16 None
* 0 Skip only empty frames (default)
* 8 Skip non-reference frames
* 16 Skip bi-dir frames
* 32 Skip all non-key frames
* 48 Skip all frames
Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<skiploopfilter>8</skiploopfilter>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== video ===
{{anchor|.3Cvideo.3E}}

The <video> section also includes the following child-tags, which have their own sections:
*[[#cleandatetime]]
*[[#cleanstrings]]
*[[#excludefromscan]]
*[[#excludefromlisting]]
*[[#excludetvshowsfromscan]]

{{note|Some tags that have a "third-level" and are grouped together are highlighted in color.}}

{| class="prettytable"
! Tag !! Description
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<video>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Parent tag that all other child tags need to be placed inside of. Do not use more than one '''<code><video></code>''' tag, but instead place all other child-tags within a single '''<code><video></video></code>''' set.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<subsdelayrange>10</subsdelayrange>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Delay range for subtitles, in seconds.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<maxtempo>2.1</maxtempo>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Allow further increase of playback speed over the default of 1.5<br>
maxtempo must be in the range of 1.5 to 2.1 <br>
Be aware of the limitations of your platform / hardware as not all are capable of the increased maxtempo <ref>https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=10023&pid=2795069#pid2795069</ref>
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<audiodelayrange>10</audiodelayrange>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Delay range for audio/video sync, in seconds.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<usetimeseeking>true</usetimeseeking>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Whether to use time based or percentage based seeking. {{small see also|Skip steps}}
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<timeseekforwardbig>600</timeseekforwardbig>
<timeseekbackwardbig>-600</timeseekbackwardbig>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Time to seek forward in seconds when doing a long seek. Defaults to 600 (10 minutes) and -600 (-10 minutes) respectively. ''{{small|See also: [[Skip steps]] }}''
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<percentseekforward>2</percentseekforward>
<percentseekbackward>-2</percentseekbackward>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Amount to seek forward as a percentage, when doing a short seek. Defaults to 2 (2%) and -2 (2%) respectively. ''{{small|See also: [[Skip steps]] }}''
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<percentseekforwardbig>10</percentseekforwardbig>
<percentseekbackwardbig>-10</percentseekbackwardbig>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Amount to seek forward as a percentage, when doing a long seek. Defaults to 10 (10%) and -10 (10%) respectively. ''{{small|See also: [[Skip steps]] }}''
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<fullscreenonmoviestart>true</fullscreenonmoviestart>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Whether to go to fullscreen or not when starting a movie. Defaults to true.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<defaultplayer>VideoPlayer</defaultplayer>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Set the default video player: VideoPlayer or an external player. See '''[[External players]]''' for more info.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<excludefromscan>
<regexp>[-\._ ](sample|trailer)[-\._ ]</regexp>
</excludefromscan>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Regular expressions that if evaluated to true won't be added to library. It is possible to add multiple <code><regexp></code> tags to match multiple patterns
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<excludefromlisting>
<regexp>[-\._ ](sample|trailer)[-\._ ]</regexp>
</excludefromlisting>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Regular expressions that if evaluated to true won't be displayed in files view.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<playcountminimumpercent>90</playcountminimumpercent>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Minimum percentage that has to be played before it is marked as watched. Set to 101 to never auto-mark items as watched. ''{{small|See also: [[HOW-TO:Modify automatic watch and resume points]] }}''
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<ignoresecondsatstart>180</ignoresecondsatstart>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Number of seconds to ignore at video start after which a resume point is created. ''{{small|See also: [[HOW-TO:Modify automatic watch and resume points]] }}''
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<ignorepercentatend>8</ignorepercentatend>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Percentage of video to ignore at the end. If you stop watching the video here no resume point is created. Set to 101 to never save a resume point. The video is already marked as watched at 90%, see above. ''{{small|See also: [[HOW-TO:Modify automatic watch and resume points]] }}''
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<vdpauscaling>true</vdpauscaling>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Scales with vdpau instead of opengl and turns on its HQ scaler when available, enabling this might slow down rendering and cause framedrops especially on ION systems, this setting requires a vdpau feature set C GPU.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<enablehighqualityhwscalers>true</enablehighqualityhwscalers>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Allow turning on the spline36 and lanczos3 shader (for GL builds).
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<dxvaallowhqscaling>false</dxvaallowhqscaling>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Enables high quality video upscaling for Windows.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<ppffmpegdeinterlacing>linblenddeint</ppffmpegdeinterlacing>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Override the deinterlacing options passed to libpostproc.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<ppffmpegpostprocessing>ha:128:7,va,dr</ppffmpegpostprocessing>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Override the post processing options passed to libpostproc when 'Video post-processing' is activated in GUI Videos-Settings-Playback.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<autoscalemaxfps>30</autoscalemaxfps>
</syntaxhighlight>
| When scaling method is set to auto, bilinear is chosen when the fps is higher than this limit, the default is 30.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<adjustrefreshrate>
</syntaxhighlight>
| style="background:#CADCFB;" | Settings for when "Adjust refreshrate to match video fps" is enabled in the video playback GUI settings.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<override>
<fps>23.976</fps>
<refresh>60.0</refresh>
</override>
</syntaxhighlight>
| style="background:#CADCFB;" | '''Example -''' "Adjust refreshrate to match video fps" will try to select the best refreshrate for the video fps but it doesn't always get it right, for example it might switch to an unsupported refreshrate. You can add overrides here to switch to a certain refreshrate based on video fps. It's possible to add as many overrides as you need. Overrides are processed in order, if the first one doesn't match the fps or no refreshrates match that override, it will try the next one until no overrides are left.

* '''fps''' - if the fps is between 23.966 and 23.986
* '''refresh''' - switch to the first found refreshrate that is between 59.99 and 60.01
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<override>
<fpsmin>29.96</fpsmin>
<fpsmax>30.01</fpsmax>
<refreshmin>59.0</refreshmin>
<refreshmax>61.0</refreshmax>
</override>
</syntaxhighlight>
| style="background:#CADCFB;" | '''Example -'''
* '''fpsmin''' / '''fpsmin''' - You can also specify the fps range yourself.
* '''refreshmin''' / '''refreshmax''' - Same for the refreshrate
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<fallback>
<refresh>50.0</refresh>
</fallback>
</syntaxhighlight>
| style="background:#CADCFB;" | '''Example -''' If none of the overrides match, or none of the refreshrates match any of the fps matching overrides, it will choose a fallback refreshrate. Fallbacks are process in order, if the first fallback doesn't match any refreshrate, it will try the next one until no fallbacks are left.

* '''refresh''' - Switch to the first found refreshrate that is between 49.99 and 50.01.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<fallback>
<refreshmin>49.0</refreshmin>
<refreshmax>51.0</refreshmax>
</fallback>
</syntaxhighlight>
| style="background:#CADCFB;" | '''Example -''' You can also specify the range for the fallback yourself.

If none of the overrides match the video fps, or no refreshrates match any of the fps matching overrides, and no fallbacks are specified or no refreshrates match any fallbacks, it will automatically choose the best refreshrate (same as having no overrides and fallbacks).
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
</adjustrefreshrate>
</syntaxhighlight>
| style="background:#CADCFB;" |
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<checkdxvacompatibility>value</checkdxvacompatibility>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Advanced setting not present: let Kodi autodetect cards that support H.264 profile > L4.1. Set value to false to enable DXVA no matter what. Set value to true if Kodi doesn't autodetect that the graphics card doesn't support > L4.1.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<useocclusionquery>-1</useocclusionquery>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Use an occlusion query when capturing videoframes, -1 means auto detect, 0 means disabled, 1 means enabled, the default is -1.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<fpsdetect>1</fpsdetect>
</syntaxhighlight>
| FPS detection for video playback
* 0 = trust codec fps
* 1 = recalculate from video timestamps with uniform spacing
* 2 = recalculate from video timestamps always
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<latency>
</syntaxhighlight>
| style="background:#F0E68C;"| Start of '''latency''' tags. Display latency (video lag). Latency is given in msecs.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<delay>0</delay>
</syntaxhighlight>
| style="background:#F0E68C;" | Global default display latency.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<refresh></refresh>
</syntaxhighlight>
| style="background:#F0E68C;" | Override latency for given display (not video) refresh rates. When Kodi is in windowed mode, override is ignored. Multiple overrides are allowed.

Syntax of an override entry:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<refresh>
<min>, <max> refresh rate range, OR
<rate> exact refresh rate
<delay> display latency for the given refresh rate
</refresh>
</syntaxhighlight>
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<refresh>
<min>23</min>
<max>24</max>
<delay>125</delay>
</refresh>
</syntaxhighlight>
| style="background:#F0E68C;" | '''Example:''' display has 125 msec latency at 23-24 Hz
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<refresh>
<rate>50</rate>
<delay>50</delay>
</refresh>
</syntaxhighlight>
| style="background:#F0E68C;" | '''Example:''' display has 50 msec latency at 50 (+/-0.01) Hz
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
</latency>
</syntaxhighlight>
| style="background:#F0E68C;" |
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<stereoscopicregex3d>[-. _]3d[-. _]</stereoscopicregex3d>
<stereoscopicregexsbs>[-. _]h?sbs[-. _]</stereoscopicregexsbs>
<stereoscopicregextab>[-. _]h?tab[-. _]</stereoscopicregextab>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Filename triggers for 3D (stereoscopic) mode.
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
<assfixedworks>false</assfixedworks>
</syntaxhighlight>
| Position behavior of ass subtitiles when setting "subtitle position on screen" set to "fixed". True to show at the fixed position set in video calibration. False to show at the bottom of video (default).
|-
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml>
</video>
</syntaxhighlight>
|
|}

=== audio ===
{{anchor|.3Caudio.3E}}
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<audio>

<headroom>0</headroom>

<defaultplayer>paplayer</defaultplayer>

<excludefromscan>
<regexp>[-\._ ](podcast)[-\._ ]</regexp>
</excludefromscan>

<excludefromlisting>
<regexp>[-\._ ](podcast)[-\._ ]</regexp>
</excludefromlisting>

<ac3downmixgain>12.0</ac3downmixgain>

<usetimeseeking>true</usetimeseeking>

<timeseekforwardbig>600</timeseekfowardbig>

<timeseekbackwardbig>-600</timeseekbackward>

<playcountminimumpercent>99</playcountminimumpercent>

<applydrc>-1.0</applydrc>

<limiterhold>0.025</limiterhold>

<limiterrelease>0.1</limiterrelease>
</audio>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== edl ===
{{anchor|.3Cedl.3E}}
{{main|Edit_decision_list}}
Commercial break detection not as good you think it could be? Are some commercial breaks in a series of adverts not being skipped? Are some parts being skipped that are clearly not commercials? Does the end of the previous recording still show? The following advanced settings can be used to better identify full commercial break sequences, remove incorrectly flagged commercial breaks, and have playback start at the actual beginning of the recording.

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<edl>

<mergeshortcommbreaks>false</mergeshortcommbreaks>

<maxcommbreaklength>250</maxcommbreaklength>

<mincommbreaklength>90</mincommbreaklength>

<maxcommbreakgap>120</maxcommbreakgap>

<commbreakautowait>0</commbreakautowait>

<commbreakautowind>0</commbreakautowind>
</edl>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== pvr ===
{{anchor|.3Cpvr.3E}}
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<pvr>
<timecorrection>0</timecorrection> 
<infotoggleinterval>3000</infotoggleinterval> 
<channeliconsautoscan>true</channeliconsautoscan> 
<autoscaniconsuserset>false</autoscaniconsuserset> 
<numericchannelswitchtimeout>1000</numericchannelswitchtimeout> 
</pvr>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== epg ===
{{anchor|.3Cpvr.3E}}
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<epg>
<updatecheckinterval>300</updatecheckinterval> 
<updateemptytagsinterval>60</updateemptytagsinterval> 
<cleanupinterval>900</cleanupinterval> 
<activetagcheckinterval>60</activetagcheckinterval> 
<retryinterruptedupdateinterval>60</retryinterruptedupdateinterval> 
<displayupdatepopup>true</displayupdatepopup> 
<displayincrementalupdatepopup>false</displayincrementalupdatepopup> 
</epg>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== forcedswaptime ===
{{anchor|.3Cforcedswaptime.3E}}
Use to force a backbuffer->frontbuffer swap while vsync is enabled. Set to the time (in ms) to allow for the swap (e.g. <forcedswaptime>1</forcedswaptime> is typical).

Default: Off



== Video library settings ==

=== videoextensions ===
{{anchor|.3Cvideoextensions.3E}}<section begin="videoextensions" />
A list of additional file-extensions to allow ('''add''') or exclude ('''remove''') in the My Video windows.

Default extensions for VIDEOS:
<pre>
.m4v .3g2 .3gp .nsv .tp .ts .ty .strm .pls .rm .rmvb .mpd .m3u .m3u8 .ifo .mov .qt .divx .xvid
.bivx .vob .nrg .img .iso .udf .pva .wmv .asf .asx .ogm .m2v .avi .bin .dat .mpg .mpeg .mp4
.mkv .mk3d .avc .vp3 .svq3 .nuv .viv .dv .fli .flv .001 .wpl .xspf .zip .vdr .dvr-ms .xsp .mts
.m2t .m2ts .evo .ogv .sdp .avs .rec .url .pxml .vc1 .h264 .rcv .rss .mpls .mpl .webm .bdmv
.bdm .wtv .trp .f4v
</pre>
Examples:
<pre>
<videoextensions>
<add>.ex1|.ex2</add>
<remove>.ex3|.ex4</remove>
</videoextensions>
</pre>
<section end="videoextensions" />

=== discstubextensions ===
{{main|Media stubs}}

<section begin="discstubextensions" />
The default filename extension for Disc Stubs is:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
.disc
</syntaxhighlight>
Using the following tags, it is possible to <tt><add></tt> additional or <tt><remove></tt> existing disc stub extensions to better suit your requirements.
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<discstubextensions>
<add>.disk|.stub</add>
<remove>.disc</remove>
</discstubextensions>
</syntaxhighlight>
<section end="discstubextensions" />

=== languagecodes ===
{{anchor|.3Clanguagecodes.3E}}
Translation table for subtitle and audio names. Contains entries of the form

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<languagecodes>
<code>
<short>alt</short>
<long>Alternate</long>
</code>
</languagecodes>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== moviestacking ===
{{anchor|.3Cmoviestacking.3E}}<section begin="moviestacking" />
{{main|Naming_video_files/Movies}}
This is used by the [[Naming_video_files/Movies#Split_Video_Files|file stacking]] algorithm to combine multi-part files and contains a list of "''[[RegEx_tutorial|regular expressions]]''". For stacking videos that are contained in folders, such as VIDEO_TS folders, see '''[[advancedsettings.xml#folderstacking|<folderstacking>]]'''

As of v9.11, video stacking regular expressions '''must''' contain exactly four (4) capture expressions.

Default:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<moviestacking>

<regexp>(.*?)([ _.-]*(?:cd|dvd|p(?:ar)?t|dis[ck])[ _.-]*[0-9]+)(.*?)(\.[^.]+)$</regexp>

<regexp>(.*?)([ _.-]*(?:cd|dvd|p(?:ar)?t|dis[ck])[ _.-]*[a-d])(.*?)(\.[^.]+)$</regexp>

<regexp>(.*?)([ ._-]*[a-d])(.*?)(\.[^.]+)$</regexp>
</moviestacking>
</syntaxhighlight>

If the argument <tt>action="append"</tt> or <tt>append="yes"</tt> is supplied, the default moviestacking regular expressions will remain intact and the user specified ones will be added to the end.

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<moviestacking action="append">

<regexp>(.*?)([ ._-]*[0-9])(.*?)(\.[^.]+)$</regexp>
</moviestacking>
</syntaxhighlight>

If the argument <tt>action="prepend"</tt> is supplied, the default moviestacking regular expressions will remain intact and the user specified ones will be added to the beginning.

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<moviestacking action="prepend">
<regexp>(Title)(Volume)(Ignore)(Extension)</regexp>
</moviestacking>
</syntaxhighlight>

If no argument is supplied, or the argument <tt>append="no"</tt> is supplied, the default moviestacking regular expressions are overwritten by the user specified ones.
<section end="moviestacking" />

=== folderstacking ===
{{main|Naming_video_files/Movies}}
This is similar to '''[[advancedsettings.xml#moviestacking|<moviestacking>]]''', but is used for videos that are contained in folders that use the folder names to stack, such as VIDEO_TS folders (DVD rips that are not in ISO format).

Default:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<folderstacking>

<regexp>((cd|dvd|dis[ck])[0-9]+)$</regexp>
</folderstacking>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== cleandatetime ===
{{anchor|.3Ccleandatetime.3E}}
Matches a year number in a string using a ''[[RegEx_tutorial|Regular Expression]]''

Default expression:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<video>
<cleandatetime>(.*[^ _\,\.\[\]\-])[ _\.\[\]\-]+(19[0-9][0-9]|20[0-9][0-9])([ _\,\.\[\]\-]|[^0-9]$)?</cleandatetime>
</video>
</syntaxhighlight>
:* The string found before will be used as basis string getting cleaned by the cleanstrings expressions.
:* By default date formats like MM:YY are ignored.

=== cleanstrings ===
{{anchor|.3Ccleanstrings.3E}}
Clean unwanted characters from filenames or folders by using a list of ''[[RegEx_tutorial|Regular Expressions]]''. Please note that everything right of the match (at the end of the file name) is removed, so if you would have a file named ''Super movie.mp4'' and would add <tt><regexp> </regexp></tt> (only a space), the only thing that would be left is ''Super'', which is probably not what you want.

Default expressions:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<video>
<cleanstrings>
<regexp>[ _\,\.\[\]\-](ac3|dts|custom|dc|remastered|divx|divx5|dsr|dsrip|dutch|dvd|dvd5|dvd9|dvdrip|dvdscr|dvdscreener|screener|dvdivx|cam|fragment|fs|hdtv|hdrip|hdtvrip|internal|limited|multisubs|ntsc|ogg|ogm|pal|pdtv|proper|repack|rerip|retail|r3|r5|bd5|se|svcd|swedish|german|read.nfo|nfofix|unrated|extended|ws|telesync|ts|telecine|tc|brrip|bdrip|480p|480i|576p|576i|720p|720i|1080p|1080i|3d|hrhd|hrhdtv|hddvd|bluray|x264|h264|xvid|xvidvd|xxx|www.www|cd[1-9]|\[.*\])([ _\,\.\[\]\-]|$)</regexp>
<regexp>(\[.*\])</regexp>
</cleanstrings>
</video>
</syntaxhighlight>

:* Arguments <tt>action="append"</tt> or <tt>action="prepend"</tt> will insert user specified expressions after, or before, the defaults above. (Further details in [[Advancedsettings.xml#.3Cmoviestacking.3E|moviestacking]] section)

=== tvshowmatching ===
{{anchor|.3Ctvshowmatching.3E}}
Matches the season and episode numbers in file paths by using a list of ''[[RegEx_tutorial|Regular Expressions]]''

Defaults:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<tvshowmatching>
<regexp>s([0-9]+)[ ._x-]*e([0-9]+(?:(?:[a-i]|\\.[1-9])(?![0-9]))?)([^\\\\/]*)$</regexp> 
<regexp>[\._ -]()[Ee][Pp]_?([0-9]+)([^\\/]*)$</regexp> 
<regexp>([0-9]{4})[\.-]([0-9]{2})[\.-]([0-9]{2})</regexp> 
<regexp>([0-9]{2})[\.-]([0-9]{2})[\.-]([0-9]{4})</regexp> 
<regexp>[\\/\._ \[\(-]([0-9]+)x([0-9]+)([^\\/]*)$</regexp> 
<regexp>[\\/\._ -]([0-9]+)([0-9][0-9])([\._ -][^\\/]*)$</regexp> 
<regexp>[\/._ -]p(?:ar)?t[_. -]()([ivx]+)([._ -][^\/]*)$</regexp> 
</tvshowmatching>
</syntaxhighlight>

:* Arguments <tt>action="append"</tt> or <tt>action="prepend"</tt> will insert user specified expressions after, or before, the defaults above. (Further details in [[Advancedsettings.xml#.3Cmoviestacking.3E|moviestacking]] section)
:* Paths are converted to lower case before matching.
:* Examples of matching regexps for certain filenames can be found on the [[Naming_video_files/TV_shows|TV shows]] page.

:* For multi-episode matching to work, there needs to be a third set of parentheses '()' at the end, this part is fed back into the regexp engine.

:* A [https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=51614 forum thread] has a discussion of pre-made regex lists to match common names. These might improve Kodi's ability to match TV show names in some situations, at the risk of additional false positives.

==== Filenames without Season ====
There are two methods to add episodes without a season in their file path. Both ways will force the season to '1' by default, so that you can use
the 'Use Absolute Ordering (Single Season)' setting from the TheTvDb.com scraper.

; Simple Method ''(XBMC v9.11 onwards and Kodi)''
: Use only one pair of parentheses
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div"><regexp>[/\._ \-]([0-9]+)</regexp></syntaxhighlight>
; Advanced Method ''(XBMC v10.05 onwards and Kodi)''
: Supports multi-episode files without season
: Use an empty pair of parentheses for the season
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div"><regexp>[/\._ \-]()([0-9]+)(-[0-9]+)?</regexp></syntaxhighlight>

; Specifying Default Season ''(XBMC v12.0 onwards and Kodi)''
It is possible to set the default season for specific regular expressions by setting the 'defaultseason' attribute.
: Works with both the simple method and advanced method
: If not used, the season will be set to '1'
: Useful for setting specials to season '0'
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div"><regexp defaultseason="0">[/\._ \-]X()([0-9]+)(-[0-9]+)?</regexp>
<regexp defaultseason="1">[/\._ \-]E()([0-9]+)(-[0-9]+)?</regexp></syntaxhighlight>

=== tvmultipartmatching ===
{{anchor|.3Ctvmultipartmatching.3E}}
Matches a multipart episode number based on a previously identified episode file, using a list of ''[[RegEx_tutorial|Regular Expressions]]''.

Default:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<tvmultipartmatching>^[-_ex]+([0-9]+(?:(?:[a-i]|\\.[1-9])(?![0-9]))?)</tvmultipartmatching>
</syntaxhighlight>
:* Text matching is compared case-insensitive.
:* Specifying this option '''replaces''' the default value

=== excludefromscan ===
{{anchor|.3Cexcludefromscan.3E}}
Matches filenames or folders which should be excluded from a library scan (except tvshows) using a list of ''[[RegEx_tutorial|Regular Expressions]]''. This can be for both Video or Audio sections of <tt>advancedsettings.xml</tt>.

Defaults:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<video>
<excludefromscan>
<regexp>-trailer</regexp>
<regexp>[!-._ \\/]sample[-._ \\/]</regexp>
</excludefromscan>
</video>
</syntaxhighlight>

:* Arguments <tt>action="append"</tt> or <tt>action="prepend"</tt> will insert user specified expressions after, or before, the defaults above. (Further details in [[Advancedsettings.xml#.3Cmoviestacking.3E|moviestacking]] section)

=== excludefromlisting ===
{{anchor|.3Cexcludefromlisting.3E}}
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<video>
<excludefromlisting> 
<regexp>[-\._ ](sample|trailer)[-\._ ]</regexp>
</excludefromlisting>
</video>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== excludetvshowsfromscan ===
{{anchor|.3Cexcludetvshowsfromscan.3E}}
Matches filenames or folders which should be excluded from a tvshow library scan using a list of ''[[RegEx_tutorial|Regular Expressions]]''

Defaults:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<video>
<excludetvshowsfromscan>
<regexp>[!-._ \\/]sample[-._ \\/]</regexp>
</excludetvshowsfromscan>
</video>
</syntaxhighlight>

:* Arguments <tt>action="append"</tt> or <tt>action="prepend"</tt> will insert user specified expressions after, or before, the defaults above. (Further details in [[Advancedsettings.xml#.3Cmoviestacking.3E|moviestacking]] section)

=== trailermatching ===
{{anchor|.3Ctrailermatching.3E}}
Contains "''[[RegEx_tutorial|Regular Expression]]''" syntax (commonly referred to as "''[[RegEx_tutorial|RegEx]]''" or "''[[RegEx_tutorial|RegExp]]''") to match the locally stored trailers to movies in the library.

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<trailermatching>

<regexp>(.*?)(_Trailer)(\.[^.]+)$</regexp>
</trailermatching>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== videolibrary ===
{{anchor|.3Cvideolibrary.3E}}
Options specific to the Video Library

<syntaxhighlight lang="xml" line='line'>
<videolibrary>
<allitemsonbottom>false</allitemsonbottom> 
<cleanonupdate>false</cleanonupdate> 
<usefasthash>true</usefasthash> 
<recentlyaddeditems>35</recentlyaddeditems> 
<itemseparator> / </itemseparator> 
<exportautothumbs>false</exportautothumbs> 
<importwatchedstate>false</importwatchedstate> 
<importresumepoint>false</importresumepoint> 
<dateadded>1</dateadded> 
</videolibrary>
</syntaxhighlight>

==== Extra artwork ====

New for Kodi v18.
Configuration to expand the artwork automatically added by Kodi to media items in the library, either from local files or online scrapers.

The original basic artwork types are still hardcoded so they don't need to be configured here (and can't be removed). "poster" and "fanart" for movies, movie sets, TV shows, seasons, and music videos; "banner" for TV shows and seasons; and "thumb" for episodes.

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<videolibrary>


<tvshowextraart>
<arttype>characterart</arttype>
<arttype>clearart</arttype>
<arttype>clearlogo</arttype>
<arttype>landscape</arttype>
<arttype>keyart</arttype>
</tvshowextraart>

<tvseasonextraart>
<arttype>landscape</arttype>
</tvseasonextraart>

<episodeextraart>
<arttype>fanart</arttype>
</episodeextraart>

<movieextraart>
<arttype>banner</arttype>
<arttype>clearart</arttype>
<arttype>clearlogo</arttype>
<arttype>discart</arttype>
<arttype>landscape</arttype>
<arttype>keyart</arttype>
</movieextraart>

<moviesetextraart>
<arttype>banner</arttype>
<arttype>clearart</arttype>
<arttype>clearlogo</arttype>
<arttype>discart</arttype>
<arttype>landscape</arttype>
<arttype>keyart</arttype>
</moviesetextraart>

<musicvideoextraart>
<arttype>banner</arttype>
<arttype>clearart</arttype>
<arttype>clearlogo</arttype>
<arttype>discart</arttype>
<arttype>landscape</arttype>
</musicvideoextraart>
</videolibrary>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== videoscanner ===
{{anchor|.3Cvideoscanner.3E}}
Options specific to the Video scanner
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<videoscanner>
<ignoreerrors>true</ignoreerrors> 
</videoscanner>
</syntaxhighlight>

== Library artwork ==

{{note|Using <imageres>9999</imageres> and <fanartres>9999</fanartres> will allow caching artwork at original size.}}

=== imageres ===
{{anchor|.3Cimageres.3E}}

<section begin="imageres description" />Specify the maximum resolution that [[Artwork/Cache#Texture optimization| cached artwork]] (other than fanart / 16:9 images) should be resized to in pixels. The width is automatically calculated as being 16/9*height. The image will be resized to fit within this size. e.g. an image that is 2000x500 will be cached at size 1280x320. An image that is 500x800 will be cached at size 450x720 using the default value of 720.<section end="imageres description" />

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<imageres>720</imageres>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== fanartres ===
{{anchor|.3Cfanartres.3E}}

<section begin="fanartres description" />Specify the maximum resolution that [[Artwork/Cache#Texture optimization| cached fanart]] should be resized to in pixels. The width is automatically calculated as being 16/9*height. Only images that are exactly 16x9 and equal to or greater than this resolution will be cached at this size - all other images will be cached using <imageres>. The default value is 1080.<section end="fanartres description" />

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<fanartres>1080</fanartres>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== fanart ===
{{anchor|.3Cfanart.3E}}
A list of additional files to scan when searching for local fanart images. (The defaults are fanart.jpg and fanart.png which can be removed.)
*Used for '''music only'''
*Cannot be used in conjunction with ''[[Advancedsettings.xml#Music_library_extra_artwork|2.6.5.1 Music library extra artwork]]'' to rename extra fanart.

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<fanart>
<remove>fanart.jpg</remove>
<add>backdrop.jpg</add>
</fanart>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== musicthumbs ===
{{anchor|.3Cmusicthumbs.3E}}
<section begin="musicthumbs" />A list of additional files to try when searching for music thumbnail images. (The default is folder.jpg which can be removed.)

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<musicthumbs>
<remove>folder.jpg</remove>
<add>thumb.jpg|cover.jpg</add>
</musicthumbs>
</syntaxhighlight><section end="musicthumbs" />

=== imagescalingalgorithm ===
Specify the image scaling algorithm for image resizing when [[Artwork/Cache#Texture optimization| caching artwork]] to the local texture cache.
<br />
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<imagescalingalgorithm>bicubic</imagescalingalgorithm>
</syntaxhighlight>

[https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/blob/1a8753d5cd93890dc6a9f9d4b2ce8848066ea5d0/xbmc/pictures/PictureScalingAlgorithm.cpp#L32-L43 Available image scaling algorithms]

<syntaxhighlight lang=text enclose="div">
fast_bilinear
bilinear
bicubic
experimental
nearest_neighbor
averaging_area
bicublin
gaussian
sinc
lanczos
bicubic_spline
</syntaxhighlight>

== Video and music library settings ==

=== playlistasfolders ===
{{anchor|.3Cplaylistasfolders.3E}}
In the recent releases, playlists are treated as folders. Selecting a playlist no longer plays it, but opens it, as if it were a folder.

Set to false to revert to the previous behaviour. When you select a playlist, its content is added to the list of elements to be played.

:{{note|This setting will not affect smart playlists, they will always show as folders.}}

;Example
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<playlistasfolders>true</playlistasfolders>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== playlistretries ===
{{anchor|.3Cplaylistretries.3E}}
The number of retries attempted if a source is offline. With this control you can alter the number of consecutive failed items before a playlist fails.

Default:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<playlistretries>100</playlistretries>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== playlisttimeout ===
{{anchor|.3Cplaylisttimeout.3E}}
The timeout, in seconds, before item failure.

Default:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<playlisttimeout>20</playlisttimeout>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== sorttokens ===
Allows you to specify additional tokens that will be ignored at the start of lines during sorting.
{{note|Sort tokens are case sensitive.}}
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<sorttokens>
<token>the</token>
</sorttokens>
</syntaxhighlight>

In the above example "the ", "the." and "the_" will be ignored at the start of titles or names when sorting items, in both video and music libraries. A separator can also be specified, for example
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<sorttokens>
<token separators="'">L</token>
</sorttokens>
</syntaxhighlight>
In that case the value L', as in French movie name ''L'argent'', will be ignored and the item listed under "A".

=== musicdatabase/videodatabase ===
{{anchor|.3Cmusicdatabase.3E/.3Cvideodatabase.3E|musicdatabase/videodatabase|database tags music/video/tv/epg/adsp}}
{{main|MySQL}}
<section begin="videodatabase" />
Allows advanced customization of the default database settings for music, video, TV, EPG, and ADSP databases.

:{{note| '''It is HIGHLY recommended that you not attempt to place an sqlite3 database outside of kodi's path. sqlite3 contains no filesystem abstraction, so this will plain break on any non-local (as far as Kodi is concerned) paths. Use this for mysql only.'''}}

'''Parent tags:'''

* '''<videodatabase>'''
* '''<musicdatabase>'''
* '''<tvdatabase>''' - Highly experimental/unstable and no practical benefit for most users. '''Avoid using.'''
* '''<epgdatabase>''' - Highly experimental/unstable and no practical benefit for most users. '''Avoid using.'''
* '''<adspdatabase>''' - Highly experimental/unstable and no practical benefit for most users. '''Avoid using.'''
{{MySQL warning}}

'''Child tags: '''

;<type>
: ''Required'' - Can be either "sqlite3" or "mysql" (default: sqlite3)

;<host>
:''Required'' -
* sqlite3: defines the relative path to the database file (eg. /usr/local/kodi/databases).
* mysql: defines the host of the mysql socket (eg. localhost, 192.168.0.1, etc)

;<port>
: ''Optional'' -
* sqlite3: silently ignored
* mysql: defines the port of the mysql socket (default: 3306)

;<name>
: ''Optional'' -
:by default "MyVideos"+DB number will be used.
* sqlite3: defines the name of the database file to read from, excluding the ".db" extension.
* mysql: defines the name of the database to use

;<user>
: ''Required for MySQL'' -
* sqlite3: silently ignored
* mysql: defines the user with privileged access to the database

;<pass>
: ''Required for MySQL'' -
* sqlite3: silently ignored
* mysql: defines the password for the user with privileged access to the database

;<compression>
: ''Optional'' - Defaults to false. Set to "true" to enable MySQL compression protocol. Performance benefit is going to be largely dependent on the network bandwidth, latency between database and clients and on the size of the result sets. [https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/6484]
: {{Note|Slower clients (such as the RPi and others) won't benefit from it as the zlib de-compression overhead is higher than the actual compression savings}}

;<key>
: ''Optional'' - SSL setting for MySQL [https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/2566]

;<cert>
: ''Optional'' - SSL setting for MySQL [https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/2566]

;<ca>
: ''Optional'' - SSL setting for MySQL [https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/2566]

;<capath>
: ''Optional'' - SSL setting for MySQL [https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/2566]

;<ciphers>
: ''Optional'' - SSL setting for MySQL [https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/2566]

'''Examples:'''

1) Configure a database for MySQL.
:{{note| ''The '''<videodatabase>''', '''<musicdatabase>''', '''<tvdatabase>''', '''<epgdatabase>''', and '''<adspdatabase>''' tags are interchangeable here.''}}
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<videodatabase>
<type>mysql</type>
<host>192.168.0.10</host>
<name>kodi_video</name>
<user>kodi</user>
<pass>kodi</pass>
</videodatabase>
</syntaxhighlight>

2) Configure a database for an sqlite database.
:{{note| ''The '''<videodatabase>''', '''<musicdatabase>''', '''<tvdatabase>''', '''<epgdatabase>''', and '''<adspdatabase>''' tags are interchangeable here.''}}
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<musicdatabase>
<type>sqlite3</type>
<host>/usr/local/share/kodi/databases</host>
</musicdatabase>
</syntaxhighlight>

<section end="videodatabase" />

=== externalplayer ===
{{anchor|.3Cexternalplayer.3E}}
{{see|External players}}

== Music settings ==

=== musicextensions ===
{{anchor|.3Cmusicextensions.3E}}
<section begin="musicextensions" />
Default extensions for MUSIC:
<pre>
.nsv .m4a .flac .aac .strm .pls .rm .rma .mpa .wav .wma .ogg .mp3 .mp2 .m3u .gdm .imf .m15 .sfx
.uni .ac3 .dts .cue .aif .aiff .wpl .xspf .ape .mac .mpc .mp+ .mpp .shn .zip .wv .dsp .xsp .xwav
.waa .wvs .wam .gcm .idsp .mpdsp .mss .spt .rsd .sap .cmc .cmr .dmc .mpt .mpd .rmt .tmc .tm8
.tm2 .oga .url .pxml .tta .rss .wtv .mka .tak .opus .dff .dsf .m4b .dtshd
</pre>

It is possible to add or remove extensions for Music, using the following XML tags. Useful if you keep, say, FLAC and mp3 versions of music in the same folder. The <remove> tag can be used to remove mp3 from being listed in the library, leaving only the higher quality FLAC being displayed.

<musicextensions>
<add>.ex1|.ex2</add>
<remove>.ex3|.ex4</remove>
</musicextensions>

<section end="musicextensions" />

=== cddbaddress ===
{{anchor|.3Ccddbaddress.3E}}
The address of the online CDDb database. You may set this to another freedb mirror if there is a more suitable one.

Default:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div>
<cddbaddress>freedb.freedb.org</cddbaddress>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== songinfoduration ===
{{anchor|.3Csonginfoduration.3E}}
This controls how long the song information will remain onscreen when the song changes during visualisations. The valid range is "1" to "Indefinite (0)", in seconds. This does not include the duration of any transition effects.

Default:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<songinfoduration>10</songinfoduration>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== musicfilenamefilters ===
{{anchor|.3Cmusicfilenamefilters.3E}}
Contains filters to match music information (artist, title etc.) from a tag-less music filename. The first <filter> to match completely is used. Matched items include:

<pre>
%A - Artist
%T - Title
%B - Album
%N - Track number
%S - Part of set (disk number)
%D - Duration
%G - Genre
%Y - Year
%R - Rating
</pre>

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<musicfilenamefilters>
<filter>%A - %T</filter>
</musicfilenamefilters>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== musiclibrary ===
Options specific to the Music Library
<section begin="MusicLibrary" />
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml" line='line'>
<musiclibrary>
<allitemsonbottom>true</allitemsonbottom> 
<cleanonupdate>false</cleanonupdate> 
<recentlyaddeditems>35</recentlyaddeditems> 
<albumformat>%B - %Y</albumformat> 
<prioritiseapetags>true</prioritiseapetags> 
<itemseparator> / </itemseparator> 
<artistseparators> 
<separator>;</separator>
<separator>:</separator>
<separator>|</separator>
<separator> feat. </separator>
<separator> ft. </separator>
</artistseparators>
<dateadded>1</dateadded> 


<useartistsortname>false</useartistsortname> 


<useisodates>false</useisodates> 
</musiclibrary>
</syntaxhighlight>
{{Note|Changing the <itemseparator> or <artistseparators> will only affect newly added items. A rescan won't change the existing ones. Remove the Source(s) or delete the Music DB and rebuild. This process should be made easier from v18 and up using <promptfulltagscan>}}<section end="MusicLibrary" />

==== Music library extra artwork ====

New for Kodi v18.
Configuration to expand the artwork automatically added by Kodi to media items in the library, either from local files or online scrapers.

The original basic artwork types are still hardcoded so they don't need to be configured here (and can't be removed). "thumb" for artists and albums, and "fanart" for artists.

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<musiclibrary>


<artistextraart>
<arttype>banner</arttype>
<arttype>clearlogo</arttype>
<arttype>clearart</arttype>
<arttype>landscape</arttype>
</artistextraart>

<albumextraart>
<arttype>discart</arttype>
<arttype>spine</arttype>
<arttype>back</arttype>
</albumextraart>
</musiclibrary>
</syntaxhighlight>

== Photos settings ==

=== pictureextensions ===
{{anchor|.3Cpictureextensions.3E}}
A list of additional file-extensions to allow ('''add''') or exclude ('''remove''') in the My Pictures window.

Default extensions for PICTURES:
<pre>
.png .jpg .jpeg .bmp .gif .ico .tif .tiff .tga .pcx .cbz .zip .rss .webp .jp2 .apng
</pre>

Examples:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<pictureextensions>
<add>.ex1|.ex2</add>
<remove>.ex3|.ex4</remove>
</pictureextensions>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== pictureexcludes ===
{{anchor|.3Cpictureexcludes.3E}}
Matches filenames or folders which should be excluded from being displayed in My Pictures using a list of ''[[RegEx_tutorial|Regular Expressions]]''

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<pictureexcludes> 
<regexp>small</regexp>
<regexp>[-\._ ](sample|trailer)[-\._ ]</regexp>
</pictureexcludes>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== slideshow ===
{{anchor|.3Cslideshow.3E}}
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<slideshow>

<panamount>2.5</panamount>

<zoomamount>5.0</zoomamount>



<blackbarcompensation>20</blackbarcompensation>
</slideshow>
</syntaxhighlight>

== Network settings ==

=== ftp ===
{{anchor|.3Cftp.3DE}}
Specific settings if a ftp server is in use as a source

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<ftp>
<remotethumbs>true</remotethumbs> 
</ftp>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== samba ===
{{anchor|.3Csamba.3E}}
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<samba>
<doscodepage></doscodepage> 
<clienttimeout>10</clienttimeout> 
<statfiles>true</statfiles> 
</samba>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== hosts ===
{{anchor|.3Cfhosts.3E}}
Static dns entries which take precedence over your dns server.
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<hosts>
<entry name="HOSTNAME">IPADDRESS</entry>
</hosts>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== network ===
{{anchor|.3Cnetwork.3E}}

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<network>
<curlclienttimeout>10</curlclienttimeout> 
<curllowspeedtime>20</curllowspeedtime> 
<curlretries>2</curlretries> 
<httpproxyusername></httpproxyusername> 
<httpproxypassword></httpproxypassword> 
</network>
</syntaxhighlight>

{{Note|In Kodi v17, the three buffer settings are removed from the <code><network></code> tag and now placed under the new <code><cache></code> tag. See '''[[#cache]]''' for full details.}}

=== cache ===
{{see also|HOW-TO:Modify_the_video_cache}}
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<cache>
<memorysize>0</memorysize> 
<buffermode>0</buffermode> 
<readfactor>4.0</readfactor> 
</cache>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== airtunesport ===
{{anchor|.3Cairtunesport.3E}}<section begin="airtunesport" />
This overwrites the defalt listening port of the AirTunes server (announced via zeroconf).
<section end="airtunesport" />

=== airplayport ===
{{anchor|.3Cairplayport.3E}}<section begin="airplayport" />
This overwrites the default listening port of the AirPlay server (announced via zeroconf).
<section end="airplayport" />

== File system settings ==

=== packagefoldersize ===
<section begin="packagefoldersize" />
{{anchor|.3Cpackagefoldersize.3E}}
{{xml setting
| tag name = packagefoldersize
| option type = numerical
| option values =
| default values = 200
| platform = all
| XBMC version = 12
| description = The amount (in megabytes) of add-on zip packages saved from previous add-on installs. These packages are mainly used for the [[Add-ons|add-on]] rollback feature. Increasing the size should increase the amount of past versions saved. Defaults to 200 MB.
| example = Example: <syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div"><packagefoldersize>200</packagefoldersize> </syntaxhighlight>
}}
<section end="packagefoldersize" />

=== detectasudf ===
{{anchor|.3Cdetectasudf.3E}}
Set to true if you wish to detect joint ISO9660/UDF disks as UDF.

Default: False

=== pathsubstitution ===
{{anchor|.3Cpathsubstitution.3E}}
{{main|Path substitution}}

{{divbox|red||'''Note:''' Path substition for "sources" and profiles is broken, and will '''NOT''' be fixed.}}

Path substitutions are for use for redirecting file paths. These are processed in order, and are useful for substituting an absolute path on a PC with a path suitable for Kodi to handle.

Default: No path substitutions defined.

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<pathsubstitution>
<substitute>
<from>G:\dvds\</from>
<to>smb://somecomputer/g-share/dvds/</to> 
</substitute>
</pathsubstitution>
</syntaxhighlight>

== Input control settings ==

=== remotedelay ===
{{anchor|.3Cremotedelay.3E}}
The repeat delay for a LIRC remote control. A delay value between 1 and 20 before a remote button starts repeating on a long keypress (i.e. continuously sending button pushes while it's held down).

Default: 3
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<remotedelay>10</remotedelay>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== controllerdeadzone ===
{{anchor|.3Ccontrollerdeadzone.3E}}
This advanced settings has been removed.
Since v17, the [[Advancedsettings.xml#controllerdeadzone|<controllerdeadzone>]] advanced setting has been removed. Deadzones can now be configured by plugging in the controller and selecting it in Settings -> System settings -> Input -> Peripherals.

=== enablemultimediakeys ===
{{anchor|.3Cenablemultimediakeys.3E}}
This setting only has any effect on Windows versions of Kodi, and only applies to builds from 28th May 2011 onwards.
In Windows the multimedia keys generate a WM_APPCOMMAND message in addition the keypress. Kodi processes both keypresses and the WM_APPCOMMAND messages, and the end result would be that the command is executed twice. To avoid this, by default multimedia keypresses are disabled. Although it should rarely be necessary, the enablemultimediakeys setting allows you to enable the multimedia keys.

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<enablemultimediakeys>true</enablemultimediakeys>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== seeksteps ===
{{Main|Skip steps}}

This setting changes which increments are available in the settings GUI for additive seeking. Note that <code><seeksteps></code> is not used to actually choose which seek steps are enabled.

'''Default:'''
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<seeksteps>7, 15, 30, 60, 180, 300, 600, 900, 1800</seeksteps>
</syntaxhighlight>

{{editor note|the defaults need to be updated for seeksteps.}}

=== touchscreen ===
{{anchor|.3Ctouchscreen.3E}}
This setting allows you to move/align the origin of the touch screen with the origin of the display used. If touch input does not result in a correct movement of the mouse pointer, the behaviour can be corrected with an offset and a stretch/compress factor.

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<touchscreen>
<x_offset>0</x_offset> 
<y_offset>0</y_offset> 
<x_stretch_factor>1.0</x_stretch_factor> 
<y_stretch_factor>1.0</y_stretch_factor> 
</touchscreen>
</syntaxhighlight>

== Other interface settings ==

=== window ===
{{anchor|.3Cwindow.3E}}
{{note|This is a "hidden" guisettings.xml setting (defined by the mouse moving the window size), but it is mentioned here because it is a particularly useful override when used in advancedsettings.xml}}
This allows you to manually set the default size of Kodi's windowed mode. If you resize the window, it will return to the set size when restarting.

WIDTH and HEIGHT are the values for each dimension, in pixels.

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<window>
<width>WIDTH</width>
<height>HEIGHT</height>
</window>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== restrictcapsmask ===
{{anchor|.3Crestrictcapsmask.3E}}
Windows only. A bitmask to prevent Kodi from using detected texture capabilities of the GPU. This helps work around buggy hardware/drivers.

1: prevent the use of compressed textures (DXT1, DXT3, DXT5)
2: prevent the use of non-power-of-two dimensions for textures
4: prevent the use of compressed textures with non-power-of-two dimensions.

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<restrictcapsmask>0</restrictcapsmask>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== algorithmdirtyregions ===
{{anchor|.3Calgorithmdirtyregions.3E}}
{{see also|HOW-TO:Modify dirty regions}}
<section begin="algorithmdirtyregions" />{{note|Some GPU/hardware configurations will have some minor issues (such as a visual "flicker"). For those situations try mode 2 or use the default (mode 3, which requires no advancedsetting). Almost all ARM-based devices (such as [[Android]]) willl likely have flickering issues.}}

Enable dirty-region processing. Dirty regions are any parts of the screen that have changed since the last frame. By not re-rendering what hasn't changed the GUI can be sped up. Because all GPUs work differently, only Mode 3 is guaranteed to work for everyone without flickering issues. This mode will reduce CPU/GPU usage, but will not increase GUI speed.

{| class="prettytable"
! value !! result !! description
|-
! 0
| Off
| The entire viewport is always rendered.
|-
! 1
|Union
|All dirty regions are grouped into the smallest possible rectangle. This is typically the fastest mode for slower GPUs due to only making one pass.
|-
! 2
| {{nowrap|Cost reduction}}
| Each dirty region is presented separately, in as many passes as there are regions.
|-
! 3
| {{nowrap|Whole Screen}}
| The entire screen is rendered if there are any dirty regions. This is a safe default for drivers that clear buffer contents (manifests as blinking or vibrating images). '''Default'''
|}<section end="algorithmdirtyregions" />

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<gui>
<algorithmdirtyregions>1</algorithmdirtyregions>
</gui>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== visualizedirtyregions ===
{{anchor|.3Cvisualizedirtyregions.3E}}
{{see also|HOW-TO:Modify dirty regions}}
<section begin="visualizedirtyregions" />Enable dirty-region visualization. Paints a rectangle over marked controls.

* true: on
* false: off '''(Default)'''

{{note|This is only a development mode and isn't of use to normal users.}}
<section end="visualizedirtyregions" />
Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<gui>
<visualizedirtyregions>true</visualizedirtyregions>
</gui>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== smartredraw ===

{{note|This is an experimental feature and you might face issues using it. So please be aware of that.}}

This new feature was introduced in Kodi 18 and if enabled, the GUI process call (and therefore the render call) is only done if anything has changed. The result will be a faster GUI and less load if Kodi plays a video

* true: on
* false: off '''(Default)'''

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<gui>
<smartredraw>true</smartredraw>
</gui>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== showexitbutton ===
{{anchor|.3Cshowexitbutton.3E}}
Setting to hide the exit button, useful for people running appliance based setups where exit would only confuse/complicate the user. Modifiable via the advancedsettings.xml by setting showexitbutton to false, default is true (show)

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<showexitbutton>true</showexitbutton>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== fullscreen ===
{{anchor|.3Cfullscreen.3E}}
Starts Kodi in full screen (check resolutions!).

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<fullscreen>false</fullscreen>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== splash ===
{{anchor|.3Csplash.3E}}
Set to false if you wish to disable the startup splash image. Defaults to true.

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<splash>true</splash>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== cputempcommand ===
{{anchor|.3Ccputempcommand.3E}}
Provide a shell command Kodi will use to get CPU temperature. It should print out only "[temp as integer] [scale as one of "CcFf"]".<br />
;<u>For Nvidia and Raspberry Pi</u>
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<cputempcommand>sed -e 's/$[0-9]*$[0-9]\{3\}.*/\1 C/' /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp</cputempcommand>
</syntaxhighlight>
or
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<cputempcommand>echo "$(sensors -u | tail -n64 | grep temp1_input | awk '{print $2 }' |awk '{printf("%d\n",$1 + 0.5);}') C"</cputempcommand>
</syntaxhighlight>
;<u>For ATI/AMD</u>
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<cputempcommand>sensors|sed -ne "s/temp1: \+[-+]$[0-9]\+$.*/\1 C/p"</cputempcommand>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== gputempcommand ===
{{anchor|.3Cgputempcommand.3E}}
Provide a shell command Kodi will use to get GPU temperature. It should print out only "[temp as integer] [scale as one of "CcFf"]".<br />
;<u>For Nvidia</u>
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<gputempcommand>echo "$(nvidia-settings -tq gpuCoreTemp) C"</gputempcommand>
</syntaxhighlight>
or
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<gputempcommand>echo "$(nvidia-smi -q -d TEMPERATURE | grep Gpu | cut -c35-36) C"</gputempcommand>
</syntaxhighlight>
;<u>For ATI/AMD</u>
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<gputempcommand>/usr/bin/aticonfig --od-gettemperature | grep Temperature | cut -f 2 -d "-" | cut -f 1 -d "." | sed -e "s, ,," | sed 's/$/ C/'</gputempcommand>
</syntaxhighlight>

;<u>For Raspberry Pi</u>
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<gputempcommand>/opt/vc/bin/vcgencmd measure_temp | sed -e "s/temp=//" -e "s/\..*'/ /"</gputempcommand>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== glrectanglehack ===
{{anchor|.3Cglrectanglehack.3E}}
Problems with ghosting or videos which are only played back in the left upper quarter? The following ATI hack may solve it.
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<glrectanglehack>yes</glrectanglehack>
</syntaxhighlight>

=== alwaysontop ===
{{anchor|.3Calwaysontop.3E}}
Added in XBMC v9.11 (Windows OS only). Keeps Kodi always on top when windowed.
<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<alwaysontop>yes</alwaysontop>
</syntaxhighlight>

There is also a fake fullscreen GUI option in Kodi's settings.

== Removed tags ==
{{anchor|Recently removed tags}}
* {{anchor|.3Cthumbsize.3E}}'''<thumbsize>''' - replaced by <[[#imageres|imageres]]> in v12 Frodo
* {{anchor|.3Cfanartheight.3E}}'''<fanartheight>''' - replaced by <[[#fanartres|fanartres]]> in v12 Frodo
* {{anchor|.3Cdvdthumbs.3E}}'''<dvdthumbs>''' - removed in v12 Frodo
* {{anchor|.3Cbusydialogdelayms.3E}}'''<busydialogdelayms>''' - removed in v12 Frodo
* {{anchor|.3Cbginfoloadermaxthreads.3E}}'''<bginfoloadermaxthreads>''' - removed in v13 Gotham
* '''<showepginfoonselect>''' - replaced by a GUI setting in v13 Gotham
* '''<resample>''', '''<forceDirectSound>''', '''<audiophile>''', '''<audiosinkbufferdurationmsec>''', '''<allowtranscode44100>''', and '''<streamsilence>''' - These were various sub-tags for <audio> that were removed in v13 Gotham and either replaced by GUI settings or were no longer needed.
* {{anchor|.3Cenableairtunesdebuglog.3E}}'''<enableairtunesdebuglog>''' - replaced by a GUI option in v14 Helix
* '''<videoDisableHi10pMultithreading>''' - renamed to <disableswmultithreading> in v14 Helix
* '''<hideallitems>''' - For both the <code><videolibrary></code> and <code><musiclibrary></code> sections, this is replaced by a GUI option in v15 Isengard
* '''<SmallStepBackSeconds>''' - In v15 the <code>SmallStepBack</code> [[Action_IDs]] has been replaced by <code>seek(-7)</code> in default keymaps. See '''[[skip steps]]''' for details. When the original <code>SmallStepBack</code> action ID is used it defaults to the first backwards [[skip steps|additive seeking value]].
* '''<timeseekforward>/<timeseekbackward>''' - In v15 these tags are replaced by GUI options via [[skip steps|additive seeking]], which is configured in the GUI. See '''[[skip steps]]''' for details.
* {{anchor|.3Ckaraoke.3E}}'''<karaoke>''' - In v16 all of the karaoke features in Kodi were removed.
* '''<useddsfanart>''' - removed in v17 Krypton.
* '''<cachemembuffersize>''' and '''<readbufferfactor>''' - In v17 '''<cachemembuffersize>''' is renamed to '''<memorysize>''' and <code><readbufferfactor></code> is renamed to <code><readfactor></code>. In addition, all three buffer related settings in <network> are moved out of <network> and into a new <cache> parent tag.
* '''<minvideocachelevel>''', '''<minaudiocachelevel>''', and '''<cacheindvdplayer>''' have been removed in v17.
* '''<useffmpegvda>''' - Tag was only used for development testing. Removed in v17.
* '''<nofliptimeout>''' - Removed in v17
* '''<blackbarcolour>''' - Removed in v17 (maybe?)
* '''<disableswmultithreading>''' - Removed in v17 (maybe?)
* {{anchor|.3Cmeasurerefreshrate.3E}}'''<measurerefreshrate>''' - Removed in v17 or v18?
* {{anchor|.3Cmyth.3E}}'''<myth>''' - Removed sometime between v16 to v18
* {{anchor|.3Ctuxbox.3E}}'''<tuxbox>''' - Removed
* '''<backgroundupdate>''' - Removed
* '''<hideemptyseries>''' - Replaced by a GUI option.
* '''<mymovies>''' and child tag '''<categoriestogenres>''' - Removed
* '''<albumssortbyartistthenyear'''> - Removed
* '''<albumformatright>''' - Removed
* {{anchor|.3Cremoterepeat.3E}}'''<remoterepeat>''' - Removed
* {{anchor|.3Callowd3d9ex.3E}}'''<allowd3d9ex>''' and {{anchor|.3Cforced3d9ex.3E}}'''<forced3d9ex>''' - Removed sometime between v16 to v18
* '''<lingertime>''' - Replaced by a GUI setting in v18
* '''<forcevaapienabled>''' - Removed in v18
* '''<promptfulltagscan>false</promptfulltagscan>''' Removed in v18. Now automatically asked each time a scan is conducted.
* '''<controllerdeadzone>''' - Removed in v17

== guisettings.xml settings ==
You can also define the settings normally defined in the GUI (and stored in guisettings.xml) in advancedsettings.xml. Most guisettings.xml settings defined in advancedsettings.xml will override the guisettings.xml values, and the settings will be removed completely from the interface.

The easiest way to include a guisettings.xml setting is to first change the setting in the interface to the value that you want, and then open the '''[[userdata]]/guisettings.xml''' file and find the XML entry that corresponds to that setting.

Then just add that entry to the advancedsettings.xml file.

For instance, to set the Font Character Set (found in the appearance setting, in the Look and Feel section), you'd open up guisettings.xml and find:

<syntaxhighlight lang=xml enclose="div">
<lookandfeel>
<charset>Hebrew (Windows)</charset>
</lookandfeel>
</syntaxhighlight>

Simply take that entry and place it in advancedsettings.xml. The option in Kodi's interface for the character set will then no longer be visible, and Kodi will always use the Hebrew (Windows) character set.

= References =
<references />

{{Updated|17}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:advancedsettings.xml}}

[[Category:Advanced topics]]
[[Category:Manual]]
[[Category:Settings]]