Provided by: mpc_0.34-1_amd64 
NAME
mpc - mpc Documentation
DESCRIPTION
mpc is a command-line client for the Music Player Daemon (MPD). It connects to a MPD and
controls it according to commands and arguments passed to it. If no command is given, the
current status is printed (same as "mpc status").
SYNOPSIS
mpc [options] <command> [<arguments>]
OPTIONS
-f, --format
Configure the format used to display songs.
The metadata delimiters are:
┌───────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┐
│Name │ Description │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%name% │ A name for this song. This is │
│ │ not the song title. The exact │
│ │ meaning of this tag is not │
│ │ well-defined. It is often used │
│ │ by badly configured internet │
│ │ radio stations with broken tags │
│ │ to squeeze both the artist name │
│ │ and the song title in one tag. │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%artist% │ Artist file tag │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%album% │ Album file tag │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%albumartist% │ Album Artist file tag │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%comment% │ Comment file tag (not enabled by │
│ │ default in mpd.conf's │
│ │ metadata_to_use) │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%composer% │ Composer file tag │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%date% │ Date file tag │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%originaldate% │ Original Date file tag │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%disc% │ Disc file tag │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%genre% │ Genre file tag │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%performer% │ Performer file tag │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%title% │ Title file tag │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%track% │ Track file tag │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%time% │ Duration of file │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%file% │ Path of file, relative to MPD's │
│ │ music_directory variable │
└───────────────┴──────────────────────────────────┘
│%position% │ Queue track number │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%id% │ Queue track id number │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%prio% │ Priority in the (random) queue. │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%mtime% │ Date and time of last file │
│ │ modification │
├───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%mdate% │ Date of last file modification │
└───────────────┴──────────────────────────────────┘
The [] operator is used to group output such that if no metadata delimiters are
found or matched between [ and ], then none of the characters between [ and ] are
output. & and | are logical operators for and and or. # is used to escape
characters. Some useful examples for format are: "%file%" and "[[%artist% -
]%title%]|[%file%]". This command also takes the following defined escape
sequences:
┌───┬─────────────────┐
│\ │ backslash │
├───┼─────────────────┤
│\[ │ left bracket │
├───┼─────────────────┤
│\] │ right bracket │
├───┼─────────────────┤
│\a │ alert │
├───┼─────────────────┤
│\b │ backspace │
├───┼─────────────────┤
│\e │ escape │
├───┼─────────────────┤
│\t │ tab │
├───┼─────────────────┤
│\n │ newline │
├───┼─────────────────┤
│\v │ vertical tab │
├───┼─────────────────┤
│\f │ form-feed │
├───┼─────────────────┤
│\r │ carriage return │
└───┴─────────────────┘
If not given, the value of the environment variable MPC_FORMAT is used.
--wait Wait for operation to finish (e.g. database update).
--range=[START]:[END]
Operate on a range (e.g. when loading a playlist). START is the first index of the
range, END is the first index after the range (i.e. excluding). START and END may
be omitted, making the range open to that end. Indexes start with zero.
-q, --quiet, --no-status
Prevents the current song status from being printed on completion of some of the
commands.
--verbose
Verbose output.
--host=HOST
The MPD server to connect to. This can be a hostname, IPv4/IPv6 address, an
absolute path (i.e. local socket) or a name starting with @ (i.e. an abstract
socket, Linux only).
To use a password, provide a value of the form "password@host".
If not given, the value of the environment variable MPD_HOST is used.
--port=PORT, -p PORT
The TCP port of the MPD server to connect to.
If not given, the value of the environment variable MPD_PORT is used.
COMMANDS
Commands can be used from the least unambiguous prefix (e.g insert or ins).
Player Commands
consume <on|off> - Toggle consume mode if state (on
or off) is not specified.
crossfade [<seconds>] - Gets and sets the current amount of
crossfading between songs (0 disables crossfading).
current [--wait] - Show the currently playing song. With
--wait, mpc waits until the song changes (or until playback is started/stopped)
before it queries the current song from the server.
queued - Show the currently queued (next) song.
mixrampdb [<db>] - Gets and sets the volume level at which
songs with MixRamp tags will be overlapped. This disables the fading of the
crossfade command and simply mixes the songs. -50.0 will effectively remove any
gaps, 0.0 will mash tracks together. The amount of overlap is limited by the
audio_buffer_size MPD configuration parameter.
mixrampdelay [<seconds>] - Gets and sets the current amount
of extra delay added to the value computed from the MixRamp tags. (A negative value
disables overlapping with MixRamp tags and restores the previous value of
crossfade).
next - Starts playing next song on queue.
pause - Pauses playing.
play <position> - Starts playing the song-number
specified. If none is specified, plays number 1.
prev - Starts playing previous song.
random <on|off> - Toggle random mode if state (on
or off) is not specified.
repeat <on|off> - Toggle repeat mode if state (on
or off) is not specified.
replaygain [<off|track|album>] - Sets the replay gain mode.
Without arguments, it prints the replay gain mode.
single <on|once|off> - Toggle single mode if state (on,
once, or off) is not specified. once toggles to off.
seek [+-][<HH:MM:SS>] or <[+-]<0-100>%> - Seeks by hour,
minute or seconds, hours or minutes can be omitted. If seeking by percentage,
seeks within the current song in the specified manner. If a + or - is used, the
seek is done relative to the current song position. Absolute seeking by default.
seekthrough [+-][<HH:MM:SS>] - Seeks by hour,
minute or seconds, hours or minutes can be omitted, relatively to the current
position. If the duration exceeds the limit of the current song, the seek command
proceeds to seek through the playlist until the duration is reached. If a + is
used, the seek is forward. If a - is used, the seek is backward. Forward seeking by
default.
stop - Stops playing.
toggle - Toggles between play and pause. If stopped starts
playing. Does not support start playing at song number (use play).
Queue Commands
add <file> - Adds a song from the music database to the
queue. Can also read input from pipes. Use "mpc add /" to add all files to the
queue.
insert <file> - The insert command works similarly to
add except it adds song(s) after the currently playing one, rather than at the end.
When random mode is enabled, the new song is queued after the current song.
clear - Empties the queue.
crop - Remove all songs except for the currently playing
song.
del <songpos> - Removes a queue number from the queue. Can
also read input from pipes (0 deletes the current playing song).
mv, move <from> <to> - Moves song at position <from> to the
position <to> in the queue.
searchplay <type> <query> [<type> <query>]... - Search the
queue for a matching song and play it.
shuffle - Shuffles all songs on the queue.
Playlist Commands
load <file> - Loads <file> as queue. The option
--range may be used to load only a portion of the file
lsplaylists: - Lists available playlists.
playlist [<playlist>] - Lists all songs in <playlist>. If
no <playlist> is specified, lists all songs in the current queue.
rm <file> - Deletes a specific playlist.
save <file> - Saves playlist as <file>.
Database Commands
listall [<file>] - Lists <file> from database. If no
file is specified, lists all songs in the database.
ls [<directory>] - Lists all files/folders in
directory. If no directory is specified, lists all files in music directory.
search <type> <query> [<type> <query>]... - Searches for
substrings in song tags. Any number of tag type and query combinations can be
specified. Possible tag types are: artist, album, title, track, name, genre, date,
composer, performer, comment, disc, filename, or any (to match any tag).
search <expression> - Searches with a filter expression,
e.g.:
mpc search '((artist == "Kraftwerk") AND (title == "Metall auf
Metall"))'
Check the MPD protocol documentation for details. This syntax can be used with
find and findadd as well. (Requires libmpdclient 2.16 and MPD 0.21)
find <type> <query> [<type> <query>]... - Same as
search, but tag values must match query exactly instead of doing a substring match.
findadd <type> <query> [<type> <query>]... - Same as
find, but add the result to the current queue instead of printing them.
list <type> [<type> <query>]... [group <type>]... - Return
a list of all tags of given tag type. Optional search type/query limit results in
a way similar to search. Results can be grouped by one or more tags. Example:
mpc list album group artist
stats - Displays statistics about MPD.
update [--wait] [<path>] - Scans for updated files in the
music directory. The optional parameter path (relative to the music directory) may
limit the scope of the update.
With --wait, mpc waits until MPD has finished the update.
rescan [--wait] [<path>] - Like update, but also rescans
unmodified files.
File Commands
albumart <file> - Download album art for the given song and
write it to stdout.
readpicture <file> - Download a picture embedded in the
given song and write it to stdout.
Mount Commands
mount - Lists all mounts.
mount <mount-path> <storage-uri> - Create a new mount:
mounts a storage on the given path. Example:
mpc mount server nfs://10.0.0.5/mp3
mpc mount stick udisks://by-id-ata-FOO-part2
unmount <mount-path> - Remove a mount.
listneighbors - Print a list of "neighors"
(i.e. automatically detected storages which can be mounted). This requires
enabling at least one neighbor plugin in mpd.conf. Example:
$ mpc listneighbors
upnp://uuid:01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef/urn:schemas-upnp-org:service:ContentDirectory:1
udisks://by-id-dm-name-_dev_sdb3
udisks://by-id-ata-FOO-part2
Sticker Commands
The sticker command allows you to get and set song stickers.
sticker <file> set <key> <value> - Set the value of a song
sticker.
sticker <file> get <key> - Print the value of a song
sticker.
sticker <file> list - List all stickers of a song.
sticker <file> delete <key> - Delete a song sticker.
sticker <dir> find <key> - Search for stickers with the
specified name, below the specified directory.
Output Commands
volume [+-]<num> - Sets the volume to <num> (0-100). If
+ or - is used, then it adjusts the volume relative to the current volume.
outputs - Lists all available outputs
disable [only] <output # or name> [...] - Disables the
output(s); a list of one or more names or numbers is required. If only is the first
argument, all other outputs are enabled.
enable [only] <output # or name> [...] - Enables the
output(s); a list of one or more names or numbers is required. If only is the first
argument, all other outputs are disabled.
toggleoutput <output # or name> [...] - Changes the
status for the given output(s); a list of one or more names or numbers is required.
Client-to-client Commands
channels - List the channels that other clients have
subscribed to.
sendmessage <channel> <message> - Send a message to the
specified channel.
waitmessage <channel> - Wait for at least one message on
the specified channel.
subscribe <channel> - Subscribe to the specified channel
and continuously receive messages.
Other Commands
idle [events] - Waits until an event occurs. Prints a list
of event names, one per line. See the MPD protocol documentation for further
information.
If you specify a list of events, only these events are considered.
idleloop [events] - Similar to idle, but
re-enters "idle" state after events have been printed.
If you specify a list of events, only these events are considered.
status [format] - Without an argument print a three line status
output equivalent to "mpc" with no arguments. If a format string is given then the
delimiters are processed exactly as how they are for metadata. See the '-f' option
in Options
┌──────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┐
│Name │ Description │
├──────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%totaltime% │ The total duration of the song. │
├──────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%currenttime% │ The time that the client is │
│ │ currently at. │
├──────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%percenttime% │ The percentage of time elapsed │
│ │ for the current song. │
├──────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%songpos% │ The position of the current song │
│ │ within the playlist. │
├──────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%length% │ The number of songs within the │
│ │ playlist │
├──────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%state% │ Either 'playing' or 'paused' │
├──────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%volume% │ The current volume spaced out to │
│ │ 4 characters including a percent │
│ │ sign │
└──────────────┴──────────────────────────────────┘
│%random% │ Current status of random mode. │
│ │ 'on' or 'off' │
├──────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%repeat% │ Current status of repeat mode. │
│ │ 'on' or 'off' │
├──────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%single% │ Current status of single mode. │
│ │ 'on', 'once', or 'off' │
├──────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│%consume% │ Current status of consume mode. │
│ │ 'on' or 'off' │
└──────────────┴──────────────────────────────────┘
version - Reports the version of the protocol spoken, not the real
version of the daemon.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
All environment variables are overridden by any values specified via command line
switches.
MPC_FORMAT
Configure the format used to display songs. See option --format.
MPD_HOST
The MPD server to connect to. See option --host.
MPD_PORT
The TCP port of the MPD server to connect to. See option --port.
BUGS
Report bugs on https://github.com/MusicPlayerDaemon/mpc/issues
Since MPD uses UTF-8, mpc needs to convert characters to the charset used by the local
system. If you get character conversion errors when you're running mpc you probably need
to set up your locale. This is done by setting any of the LC_CTYPE, LANG or LC_ALL
environment variables (LC_CTYPE only affects character handling).
SEE ALSO
mpd(1)
AUTHOR
See https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MusicPlayerDaemon/mpc/master/AUTHORS
AUTHOR
Max Kellermann
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2003-2021 The Music Player Daemon Project