Audio & Video Configuration

Audio and video settings control the quality and performance of your stream. Sunshine supports multiple hardware encoders (NVIDIA, AMD, Intel) and software encoding.

Audio Configuration

audio_sink

string

default:"Default audio device"

The name of the audio sink used for audio loopback.

Windows
Linux (PulseAudio)
Linux (PipeWire)
macOS

Use the included tool to find audio device names:

%ProgramFiles%\Sunshine\tools\audio-info.exe

Example:

audio_sink = Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)

For devices with identical names, use the Device ID instead.

Find audio sink names:

pacmd list-sinks | grep "name:"

Example:

audio_sink = alsa_output.pci-0000_09_00.3.analog-stereo

Find audio sink names:

pactl info | grep Source
# If Source doesn't work, try:
pactl info | grep Sink

Sunshine can only access microphones on macOS. To stream system audio, use:

Example:

audio_sink = BlackHole 2ch

virtual_sink

string

default:"None"

A virtual audio device that allows streaming audio while muting speakers.Virtual Audio Options:

Steam Streaming Speakers (all platforms) - requires Steam installation
Virtual Audio Cable (Windows/macOS)

virtual_sink = Steam Streaming Speakers

stream_audio

boolean

default:"enabled"

Whether to stream audio. Disable for headless displays used as second monitors.

stream_audio = disabled

install_steam_audio_drivers

boolean

default:"enabled"

Install Steam Streaming Speakers driver (if Steam is installed) for surround sound and host audio muting.

Windows only

install_steam_audio_drivers = enabled

Display Selection

adapter_name

string

default:"Default video card"

Select the video card to use for encoding.

Windows
Linux (VA-API)

Use the included tool to find adapter names:

%ProgramFiles%\Sunshine\tools\dxgi-info.exe

Example:

adapter_name = Radeon RX 580 Series

List VA-API capable devices:

ls /dev/dri/renderD*

# Check device capabilities
vainfo --display drm --device /dev/dri/renderD129 | \
  grep -E "((VAProfileH264High|VAProfileHEVCMain|VAProfileHEVCMain10).*VAEntrypointEncSlice)|Driver version"

Example:

adapter_name = /dev/dri/renderD128

Device must support at minimum: VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointEncSlice

output_name

string

default:"Default display"

Select the display to stream.Check Sunshine logs during startup to see detected displays and their IDs.

Windows
Linux/macOS

Use the device_id value from startup logs:

output_name = {daeac860-f4db-5208-b1f5-cf59444fb768}

Use the numeric id value from startup logs:

output_name = 0

Video Encoder Selection

encoder

string

default:"Auto"

Force a specific encoder. Sunshine uses the first available encoder by default.Options:

nvenc - NVIDIA graphics cards
quicksync - Intel graphics cards
amdvce - AMD graphics cards
vaapi - VA-API (AMD, Intel on Linux)
software - CPU encoding

encoder = nvenc

capture

string

default:"Auto"

Force a specific screen capture method.Options:

nvfbc - NVIDIA Frame Buffer Capture (Linux, fastest for NVIDIA)
wlr - Wayland/wlroots compositors (Linux)
kms - DRM/KMS kernel capture (Linux, requires cap_sys_admin)
x11 - XCB capture (FreeBSD/Linux, slowest)
ddx - DirectX Desktop Duplication (Windows)
wgc - Windows.Graphics.Capture (Windows, beta, not compatible with service)

capture = ddx

Video Quality

max_bitrate

number

default:"0"

Maximum bitrate in Kbps. Set to 0 to always use the bitrate requested by Moonlight.

max_bitrate = 5000

minimum_fps_target

number

default:"0"

Lowest effective framerate for bandwidth optimization.

0 - Use half the stream’s FPS as minimum
1-1000 - Specify custom value

minimum_fps_target = 30

number

default:"28"

Quantization Parameter for devices without Constant Bit Rate support.

Higher values = more compression but lower quality

qp = 28

Video Codec Support

hevc_mode

number

default:"0"

Allow HEVC (H.265) video streams.Options:

0 - Auto-detect based on encoder capabilities (recommended)
1 - Disable HEVC
2 - Enable HEVC Main profile
3 - Enable HEVC Main and Main10 (HDR)

HEVC is more CPU-intensive with software encoding

hevc_mode = 2

av1_mode

number

default:"0"

Allow AV1 video streams.Options:

0 - Auto-detect based on encoder capabilities (recommended)
1 - Disable AV1
2 - Enable AV1 Main 8-bit
3 - Enable AV1 Main 8-bit and 10-bit (HDR)

AV1 is more CPU-intensive with software encoding

av1_mode = 2

NVIDIA NVENC Settings

NVENC Encoder Options

nvenc_preset

number

default:"1"

Performance preset (1=fastest, 7=slowest). Higher presets improve compression at the cost of latency.

nvenc_preset = 1

nvenc_twopass

string

default:"quarter_res"

Enable two-pass encoding for better bitrate distribution.

disabled - One pass (fastest)
quarter_res - Two passes, first at quarter resolution
full_res - Two passes, first at full resolution

nvenc_twopass = quarter_res

nvenc_spatial_aq

boolean

default:"disabled"

Assign higher QP to flat regions. Recommended for low bitrate streaming.

nvenc_spatial_aq = enabled

nvenc_h264_cavlc

boolean

default:"disabled"

Use CAVLC entropy coding instead of CABAC. Requires 10% more bitrate but faster software decoding.

nvenc_h264_cavlc = disabled

Intel QuickSync Settings

QuickSync Encoder Options

qsv_preset

string

default:"medium"

Encoder preset.Options: veryfast, faster, fast, medium, slow, slower, veryslow

qsv_preset = medium

qsv_coder

string

default:"auto"

Entropy encoding for H.264.

auto - Let FFmpeg decide
cabac - Better quality
cavlc - Faster decode

qsv_coder = auto

AMD AMF Settings

AMD Encoder Options

amd_usage

string

default:"ultralowlatency"

Encoder usage profile.

transcoding - Slowest, highest quality
webcam - Slow
lowlatency_high_quality - Fast
lowlatency - Faster
ultralowlatency - Fastest

amd_usage = ultralowlatency

amd_rc

string

default:"vbr_latency"

Rate control mode.

cqp - Constant QP
cbr - Constant bitrate
vbr_latency - Variable bitrate, latency constrained
vbr_peak - Variable bitrate, peak constrained

amd_rc = vbr_latency

amd_quality

string

default:"balanced"

Quality profile.Options: speed, balanced, quality

amd_quality = balanced

amd_vbaq

boolean

default:"enabled"

Variance Based Adaptive Quantization for improved visual quality.

amd_vbaq = enabled

Software Encoder Settings

Software Encoder Options

sw_preset

string

default:"superfast"

Encoder preset. Slower presets provide better compression.Options: ultrafast, superfast, veryfast, faster, fast, medium, slow, slower, veryslow

sw_preset = superfast

sw_tune

string

default:"zerolatency"

Tuning preset.

film - High quality movie content
animation - Cartoons
grain - Old grainy film
stillimage - Slideshow content
fastdecode - Faster decoding
zerolatency - Low-latency streaming

sw_tune = zerolatency

Windows Display Configuration

The following settings apply to Windows only

Windows Display Options

dd_configuration_option

string

default:"disabled"

Mandatory verification and configuration for display devices.

disabled - No additional configuration
verify_only - Verify display is active
ensure_active - Activate if inactive
ensure_primary - Activate and make primary
ensure_only_display - Activate and disable others

dd_configuration_option = ensure_only_display

dd_resolution_option

string

default:"auto"

Resolution configuration.

disabled - No configuration
auto - Use client resolution
manual - Use manual resolution (requires dd_manual_resolution)

Requires “Optimize game settings” enabled in Moonlight

dd_resolution_option = auto

dd_hdr_option

string

default:"auto"

HDR configuration.

disabled - No HDR configuration
auto - Match client HDR state

dd_hdr_option = auto

Get Started

Installation

Configuration

Guides

Deployment

Audio & Video Configuration

Audio Configuration

Display Selection

Video Encoder Selection

Video Quality

Video Codec Support

NVIDIA NVENC Settings

Intel QuickSync Settings

AMD AMF Settings

Software Encoder Settings

Windows Display Configuration

Next Steps

Input Configuration

Network Settings

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Installation

Configuration

Guides

Deployment

​Audio Configuration

​Display Selection

​Video Encoder Selection

​Video Quality

​Video Codec Support

​NVIDIA NVENC Settings

​Intel QuickSync Settings

​AMD AMF Settings

​Software Encoder Settings

​Windows Display Configuration

​Next Steps

Input Configuration

Network Settings

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Audio Configuration

Display Selection

Video Encoder Selection

Video Quality

Video Codec Support

NVIDIA NVENC Settings

Intel QuickSync Settings

AMD AMF Settings

Software Encoder Settings

Windows Display Configuration

Next Steps