Playback options

Control playback behavior: speed, looping, start time, chapters, and more

These options control how mpv begins, progresses through, and ends playback of media files.

Start and end positions

--start · relative time

Seek to a position before playback begins.

Time formats:

• [[hh:]mm:]ss[.ms] — absolute timestamp
• -[[hh:]mm:]ss[.ms] — relative from the end of the file
• pp% — percentage position (0–100)
• #c — chapter number (chapters start at 1)
• none — reset any previously set value

mpv --start=+56 file.mkv          # 56 seconds in
mpv --start=01:10:00 file.mkv     # 1 hour 10 minutes in
mpv --start=50% file.mkv          # seek to middle
mpv --start=-56 file.mkv          # 56 seconds before end
mpv --start='#2' file.mkv         # start at chapter 2

--end · relative time

Stop playback at the given position. Uses the same format as --start.

mpv --start=30 --end=40 file.mkv          # play seconds 30–40 then quit
mpv --start='#2' --end='#4' file.mkv      # play chapters 2 and 3 then quit

--length · relative time

Stop playback after a given duration relative to --start. Uses the same format as --start.

If both --end and --length are given, playback stops at whichever endpoint comes first.

mpv --start=-3:20 --length=10 file.mkv    # play 10s starting 3m20s before end

--rebase-start-time · yes|no · default: "yes"

Move the file start time to 00:00:00. Useful for transport streams that begin at a non-zero timestamp. Disable with no if you need to work with the actual timestamps in the file.

Speed and pitch

--speed · float (0.01–100) · default: "1.0"

Play back at a multiple of normal speed. Values above 1 speed up; values below 1 slow down.

When --audio-pitch-correction is enabled (the default), mpv automatically inserts the scaletempo2 filter to preserve pitch when playing faster or slower than normal.

mpv --speed=2.0 lecture.mp4    # double speed
mpv --speed=0.5 video.mkv      # half speed

--pause · flag

Start the player in the paused state. Playback does not begin until you press the play key (default: Space).

mpv --pause file.mkv

Looping

--loop-file · N|inf|no · default: "no"

Loop a single file N times. inf means loop indefinitely. no plays through once.

--loop is an alias for --loop-file.

--loop-file counts the number of seeks to the beginning, not full playthroughs. --loop-file=1 plays the file twice (one seek back).

mpv --loop-file=inf video.mkv   # loop forever
mpv --loop=3 video.mkv          # play 4 times total (3 repeats)

--loop-playlist · N|inf|no|force · default: "no"

Loop the entire playlist N times. inf means loop forever. force is like inf but continues even if some entries fail to open (useful for web radio with bad connectivity).

mpv --loop-playlist=inf *.mp3   # loop through all mp3 files forever

A-B loop

--ab-loop-a · time

Set the start point of an A-B loop. When playback reaches --ab-loop-b, it seeks back to this point. Use no (or leave unset) to disable.

mpv --ab-loop-a=1:20 --ab-loop-b=1:45 file.mkv   # loop 25s section

--ab-loop-b · time

Set the end point of the A-B loop. See --ab-loop-a.

--ab-loop-count · N|inf · default: "inf"

How many times to run the A-B loop before ignoring the loop points. inf means loop forever. 0 disables the A-B loop even if both points are set.

Chapters

--chapter · chapter

Start playback at the given chapter. Chapters are numbered from 1 in most contexts, but this option uses the same format as --start='#c'.

--chapter-merge-threshold · integer (ms) · default: "100"

Threshold in milliseconds for merging nearly-consecutive ordered chapter parts in Matroska files. If the gap between the end of one chapter part and the start of the next is below this value, mpv plays through the boundary without seeking.

--chapter-seek-threshold · float (seconds) · default: "5.0"

When seeking backward within a chapter, if the current position is within this many seconds of the chapter start, the seek goes to the previous chapter. Beyond this threshold it goes to the beginning of the current chapter. A negative value always seeks to the previous chapter.

Seeking precision

--hr-seek · no|absolute|default|yes · default: "default"

Control when to use precise (non-keyframe) seeks. Precise seeks decode from the previous keyframe to the exact target, which is slower but frame-accurate.

Value	Behavior
no	Never use precise seeks
absolute	Precise seeks only for absolute positions (e.g. chapter seeks)
default	Like absolute, plus precise seeks in audio-only cases
yes	Always use precise seeks

mpv --hr-seek=yes file.mkv    # always frame-accurate seeking
mpv --hr-seek=no file.mkv     # always snap to keyframes (fastest)

--hr-seek-framedrop · yes|no · default: "yes"

Allow the decoder to drop frames before the seek target during precise seeks. Enabling this makes precise seeks faster, but can cause issues with filters that modify timestamps or generate new frames (e.g. deinterlacers).

Playlist and idle behavior

--shuffle · flag

Play files in random order when multiple files or a playlist is given.

mpv --shuffle *.mp4

--keep-open · yes|no|always · default: "no"

Do not exit when reaching the end of the last file in the playlist. Instead, pause the player.

Value	Behavior
no	Exit normally at end of playlist (default)
yes	Pause instead of exiting when the last file ends
always	Pause at the end of every file, including mid-playlist

mpv --keep-open=yes file.mkv    # stay open after playback ends

--idle · yes|no|once · default: "no"

Keep mpv running (waiting for input) even when there are no files to play.

Value	Behavior
no	Exit when playlist is empty (default)
yes	Wait indefinitely for input commands
once	Wait at startup, but exit once the first playlist finishes

Primarily useful when controlling mpv via IPC or input commands.

mpv --idle --input-ipc-server=/tmp/mpv.sock   # daemonized with IPC control

Common recipes

Start at a timestamp

mpv --start=1:23:45 long-movie.mkv

Playlist options

--playlist-start · auto|index · default: "auto"

Set which playlist entry to start from. 0 is the first entry. auto lets the resume mechanism decide.

mpv playlist.m3u --playlist-start=5   # start from the 6th entry

--playlist · filename

Load and play files from a playlist file. Supports common playlist formats; unknown formats are treated as newline-separated file lists.

Only use --playlist with playlist files you trust. Since mpv 0.31.0, the same security checks apply as for directly-played playlist files. For untrusted sources, avoid this option entirely.