Basic Playback

Playing local files, URLs, streams, DVDs, and more

Synopsis

mpv [options] [file|URL|PLAYLIST|-]
mpv [options] files

Command-line arguments starting with - are interpreted as options. Everything else is treated as a filename or URL. Options require a parameter in the form --option=value. Flag options use --flag (equivalent to --flag=yes) or --no-flag (equivalent to --flag=no).

Playing local files

Pass one or more file paths directly to mpv:

mpv video.mkv
mpv /path/to/movie.mp4
mpv "filename with spaces.mkv"

To play multiple files sequentially, list them all on the command line. mpv adds them to an internal playlist and plays each in order:

mpv episode1.mkv episode2.mkv episode3.mkv

Prefix relative paths that begin with - using ./ to prevent mpv from interpreting them as options. For example, use ./file.mkv instead of -file.mkv.

Reading from stdin

Use - as the filename to read media data from stdin:

mpv -

This also works with piped input:

cat file.mkv | mpv -
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -f matroska - | mpv -

Using - as the filename disables console controls, which makes it suitable for playing data piped to stdin.

Use -- to stop mpv from interpreting subsequent arguments as options — useful if you need to play a file that starts with a -:

mpv -- -oddly-named-file.mkv

Playing URLs and streams

mpv accepts HTTP and HTTPS URLs directly:

mpv https://example.com/video.mp4

For YouTube and other sites, mpv integrates with yt-dlp (or youtube-dl) automatically when you pass an http(s):// URL that points to a supported site:

mpv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Force yt-dlp processing for any URL using the ytdl:// prefix:

mpv ytdl://dQw4w9WgXcQ

Special protocols

DVD — dvd://

Play a DVD disc or ISO image. Without a title number, mpv auto-selects the longest title. DVD menus are not supported.

mpv dvd://                        # play the longest title
mpv dvd://2                       # play title 2
mpv dvd:// --dvd-device=/dev/sr0  # specify the drive
mpv dvd:// --dvd-device=movie.iso # play from an ISO file

dvdnav:// is an alias for dvd://.

Blu-ray — bd://

Play a Blu-ray disc or ISO image. Requires libbluray. Since libbluray 1.0.1, ISO files are supported via --bluray-device.

mpv bd://                              # play the default playlist
mpv bd://longest                       # play the longest playlist
mpv bd://1                             # play playlist index 1
mpv bd:// --bluray-device=/dev/sr0
mpv bd:// --bluray-device=movie.iso

bluray:// is an alias for bd://.

CD audio — cdda://

Play an audio CD. Navigate tracks using chapter seek keys (Page Up / Page Down).

mpv cdda://                         # play the whole disc
mpv cdda:// --start=#4 --end=#6     # play tracks 4 and 5, then exit

FFmpeg protocols — lavf://

Pass a string directly to FFmpeg’s libavformat:

mpv lavf://v4l2:/dev/video0

libavdevice inputs — av://

Use libavdevice demuxers. type is the demuxer name and options is the pseudo-filename:

mpv av://v4l2:/dev/video0 --profile=low-latency --untimed

avdevice:// is an alias.

File descriptor — fd://

Read from an arbitrary file descriptor. Similar to piping to stdin, but uses the specified descriptor number:

mpv fd://3

Use fdclose://3 to automatically close the descriptor after use.

Samba shares — smb://

Play files from a Samba/SMB network share. Requires FFmpeg built with SMB support:

mpv smb://server/share/video.mkv

Image sequences — mf://

Play a series of images as a video:

mpv mf://frame*.png          # glob pattern
mpv mf://image-%d.jpg        # printf pattern (image-1.jpg, image-2.jpg, …)
mpv mf://@list.txt           # text file with one path per line

Essential playback options

Seeking

# Seek to a specific time on start
mpv --start=01:30:00 movie.mkv

# Seek to 50% through the file
mpv --start=50% movie.mkv

# Seek to chapter 2
mpv --start='#2' movie.mkv

# Play from 30s to 40s, then exit
mpv --start=30 --end=40 clip.mkv

# Play 10 seconds starting at 3:20 before the end
mpv --start=-3:20 --length=10 movie.mkv

Speed and volume

# Play at 1.5× speed
mpv --speed=1.5 movie.mkv

# Play at half speed
mpv --speed=0.5 movie.mkv

# Set starting volume (0–100, default varies)
mpv --volume=80 movie.mkv

Looping

# Loop a single file forever
mpv --loop video.mkv
mpv --loop=inf video.mkv

# Loop a single file 3 times
mpv --loop=3 video.mkv

# Loop the entire playlist forever
mpv --loop-playlist file1.mkv file2.mkv

# Loop the playlist 5 times
mpv --loop-playlist=5 file1.mkv file2.mkv

--loop (alias for --loop-file) counts the number of additional seeks to the beginning, not the total number of playthroughs. --loop=1 plays the file twice. --loop-playlist counts full playthroughs, so --loop-playlist=2 plays the list twice.

Screenshots

# Set the screenshot format (jpg, png, webp, jxl, avif)
mpv --screenshot-format=png movie.mkv

During playback, press s to take a screenshot including subtitles, or S to take one without subtitles. Screenshots are saved as mpv-shotNNNN.<ext> in the working directory (or the desktop in pseudo-GUI mode).

Per-file options

When playing multiple files you can apply options to a subset using --{ and --} markers:

# --sub-file only applies to file2.mkv and file3.mkv
mpv file1.mkv --\{ --sub-file=subs.srt file2.mkv file3.mkv --\} file4.mkv