Hidden Server Settings
Plex Media Server has a number of hidden server settings that are not accessible from the Plex interface. These settings can only be accessed and changed from outside of the Plex interface.
Most users, however, will not need to change these Plex server settings, and doing so can cause problems with your Plex Media server. If you would like to find and change these settings, you can use the information below.
Table of contents
- Location of the Hidden Server Settings
- Explains where the location of the hidden settings for different operating systems.
- Available hidden settings
- Lists all the available hidden settings within Plex.
- Fixing settings issues
- Provides instructions to fix issues with hidden settings.
- SysLog option
- Additional information about enabling syslogging on supported operating systems.
Location of the Hidden Server Settings
The location of the hidden server settings in Plex is different for each of the supported operating systems. For Windows, the settings are located in the registry, while other operating systems have a file in the data directory. The table below outlines where you can find the location of the Plex config file containing these server settings.
| Operating System | Location |
|---|---|
| Windows | HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server\ |
| macOS / OS X | ~/Library/Preferences/com.plexapp.plexmediaserver.plist |
| Linux | Preferences.xml file located in the Plex Media Server data directory. |
| NVIDIA SHIELD | Preferences.xml file located in the Plex Media Server data directory, but it isn’t accessible by a user. |
Available hidden settings
There are many different hidden settings for Plex Media Server that can be changed in the locations specified above. The various settings are outlined in the table below:
| Setting Name | Value |
|---|---|
| AlbumSort | string Defines the default album sort using a field:directory value. Plex Media Server 1.4.1+ has a setting in the interface for library or artist. Example: year:desc |
| allowMediaDeletion | 1 or 0 Specifies whether the server owner can delete media from disk. Example: 1 |
| allowedNetworks | string (ip/netmask, ip/netmask) Lists the networks that can access Plex Media Server without authentication. The full subnet must be listed. Example: 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0,10.8.0.0/255.255.255.0 |
| ArticleStrings | string A list of comma-separated words that are considered to be grammatical articles. They will be removed in sort titles. You can specify the words in different languages. Example: the, a, an, das |
| autoEmptyTrash | 1 or 0 Specifies whether the trash is automatically emptied at the end of a library scan. Example: 1 |
| cinemaTrailersFromBluRay | 1 or 0 Include cinema trailers from new and upcoming movies on blu-ray. Plex Pass only. Example: 1 |
| cinemaTrailersFromLibrary | 1 or 0 Include cinema trailers from movies in library. Plex Pass only. Example: 1 |
| cinemaTrailersFromTheater | 1 or 0 Include cinema trailers from new and upcoming movies in theaters. Plex Pass only. Example: 1 |
| cinemaTrailersPrerollID | string Cinema trailers pre-roll video. This field is the video's detail page URL. |
| cinemaTrailersType | 1 or 0 Choose cinema trailers from: 0 - all movies, 1 - only unwatched movies. Default is 1. Example: 1 |
| BackgroundTranscodeLowPriority | 1 or 0 Causes the background transcodes to have a lower priority when this value is 1. Example: 1 |
| DlnaDeviceDiscoveryInterval | integer The number of seconds the DLNA discovery is performed. Example: 60 |
| DlnaEnabled | 1 or 0 Specifies whether DLNA is enabled. Example: 1 |
| DlnaPlatinumLoggingLevel | string Specified the separate, "Neptune DLNA" logging level. Example: OFF |
| EnableIPv6 | 1 or 0 Turns on IPv6 support. Example: 0 |
| FriendlyName | string The friendly name for the Plex server that is shown in player apps. Example: My Plex Media Server |
| FSEventLibraryUpdatesEnabled | 1 or 0 Specifies whether a library scan is automatically started when changes to a library folder are detected. Example: 1 |
| FSEventLibraryPartialScanEnabled | 1 or 0 Specifies to only scan the library folder that is changed. FSEventLibraryUpdatesEnabled needs to be enabled. Example: 1 |
| GdmEnabled | 1 or 0 Enables the GDM discovery for the Plex server from other players on the network. Set to 1 to enable. Example: 1 |
| GenerateBIFFrameInterval | integer Sets how often (in seconds) a video thumbnail is created. The default value is 2. Example: 2 |
| GenerateBIFKeyframesOnly | 1 or 0 Specifies to only look at keyframes in a video when generating preview thumbnails for playback. This setting speeds up processing and reduces CPU usage. Default is 1. Example: 1 |
| iTunesLibraryXmlPath | path The path to the iTunes library XML file. Example: ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library.xml |
| iTunesSharingEnabled | 1 or 0 Specifies whether the Plex server will try to connect with a local iTunes installation. Example: 0 |
| LocalAppDataPath | path (Windows only) Sets the location of the Plex Media Server data directory. Default is C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server. Example: D:\PlexData |
| logDebug | 1 or 0 Specifies whether debug logging is enabled. Example: 1 |
| LogMemoryUse | 1 or 0 Sets the Plex Media Server to log memory use and the system total used memory. The server will need to restart, and is not recommended for normal use. Example: 0 |
| LogNumFiles | integer The number of past log files to keep. Default is 5. Example: 7 |
| LogVerbose | 1 or 0 Specifies whether the logging is to be verbose. Not recommended for normal use. Default is 0. Example: 0 |
| LongRunningJobThreads | integer Specifies the number of threads used for long-running jobs. Default is half the total threads for the processor. Example: 4 |
| ManualPortMappingMode | 1 or 0 Indicates if the server is set to use port mapping for remote access. Example: 0 |
| ManualPortMappingPort | integer The manual port for remote access. ManualPortMappingMode needs to be set to 1. Example: 32400 |
| MinimumProgressTime | integer The minimum play time (in milliseconds) Plex will use to indicate a media item has started playing, and will allow user to resume playback. Default is 60000 (1 minute). Example: 60000 |
| RadioDaysSinceLastPlayed | integer For Radio or Smart Shuffle, have Plex prefer to include tracks that have not been recently played. This value is the recent period. Default is 2. Example: 5 |
| RadioDirectoryLimit | integer Controls how many "genre", "style", or "mood" radios are exposed, on clients that support those radio types. Default is 50. Example: 75 |
| secureConnections | 2, 1, or 0 Specifies how the server handles secure connections. Example: 2: Disabled 1: Preferred (default) 0: Required |
| sendCrashReports | 1 or 0 Specifies whether Plex Media Server sends crash reports when the server is launched after a crash. Example: 0 |
| ScheduledLibraryUpdatesEnabled | 1 or 0 Specifies whether the Plex server will scan the libraries on a set interval Example: 0 |
| ScheduledLibraryUpdateInterval | integer The number of seconds between library scans. ScheduledLibraryUpdatesEnabled needs to be set to 1. Example: 1800 |
| TranscoderDefaultDuration | integer The duration (in minutes), the transcoder will work ahead of the current playback. Example: 60 |
| TranscoderH264OptionsOverride | string The x264 preset to use when transcoding. Example: veryfast |
| TranscoderLogLevel | string The Plex transcoder log level. Example: error (default) verbose |
| TranscoderPhotoFileSizeLimitMiB | integer The maximum photo size (in mebibytes) to be tagged or transcoded. Example: 75 |
| TranscoderTempDirectory | path The location where the temporary transcode segments are written. Example: D:\PlexTranscodes |
Fixing settings issues
If you have issues with your Plex server after changing any of the above hidden settings, such as some Plex server settings missing, you can reset the values back to default by deleting either the preferences file or the keys in the Windows registry.
Deleting the preferences file will reset any changes you have made, and you will also lose any server shares or Mobile Sync items you may have. Your Plex Media Server library database will not be affected.
SysLog option
In addition to the above hidden settings, you can also have Plex enable syslogging on a Linux-based system. This can be done by setting the configuration variable: PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_USE_SYSLOG=true.
The variable will need to be added to the Plex Media Server configuration file. This file is located in the following locations:
CentOS/Fedora
Value: export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_USE_SYSLOG=true
Config File Location: /etc/sysconfig/PlexMediaServer
ReadyNAS
Value: export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_USE_SYSLOG=true
Config File Location: /etc/init.d/plexserver
Synology
Value: PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_USE_SYSLOG=true
Config File Location: /var/packages/Plex Media Server/scripts/start-stop-status
Ubuntu 15 (and older)
Value: PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_USE_SYSLOG=true
Config File Location: /etc/default/plexmediaserver
Ubuntu 16 (and newer)
Value: Environment="PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_USE_SYSLOG=true"
Config File Location: /etc/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service.d/override.conf