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NAME

       pulse-daemon.conf - PulseAudio daemon configuration file

SYNOPSIS

       ~/.pulse/daemon.conf

       /etc/pulse/daemon.conf

DESCRIPTION

       The  PulseAudio sound server reads configuration directives from a file
       ~/.pulse/daemon.conf on startup and when that file doesn’t  exist  from
       /etc/pulse/daemon.conf.  Please  note  that  the  server  also  reads a
       configuration script on startup default.pa which also contains  runtime
       configuration directives.

       The configuration file is a simple collection of variable declarations.
       If the configuration file parser encounters either ; or  #  it  ignores
       the rest of the line until its end.

       For  the settings that take a boolean argument the values true, yes, on
       and 1 are equivalent, resp. false, no, off, 0.

GENERAL DIRECTIVES

       daemonize=  Daemonize after startup. Takes a boolean value, defaults to
       "no". The --daemonize command line option takes precedence.

       fail= Fail to start up if any of the directives  in  the  configuration
       script  default.pa  fail.  Takes a boolean argument, defaults to "yes".
       The --fail command line option takes precedence.

       allow-module-loading= Allow/disallow module loading after startup. This
       is  a  security  feature  that  if  dsabled  makes sure that no further
       modules  may  be  loaded  into  the  PulseAudio  server  after  startup
       completed.  It  is  recommended to disable this when system-instance is
       enabled. Please note that  certain  features  like  automatic  hot-plug
       support  will  not  work  if  this  option  is enabled. Takes a boolean
       argument, defaults to yes. The --disallow-module-loading  command  line
       option takes precedence.

       allow-exit= Allow/disallow exit on user request. Defaults to yes.

       resample-method= The resampling algorithm to use. Use one of  src-sinc-
       best-quality,   src-sinc-medium-quality,   src-sinc-fastest,  src-zero-
       order-hold, src-linear, trivial, speex-float-N, speex-fixed-N,  ffmpeg.
       See  the  documentation  of  libsamplerate  for  an explanation for the
       different src- methods. The method trivial is the most basic  algorithm
       implemented.  If  you’re tight on CPU consider using this. On the other
       hand it has the worst quality of them all. The Speex resamplers take an
       integer  quality  setting in the range 0..9 (bad...good). They exist in
       two flavours: fixed and float. The former uses fixed point numbers, the
       latter relies on floating point numbers. On most desktop CPUs the float
       point resmampler is a lot faster, and it also  offers  slightly  better
       quality. See the output of dump-resample-methods for a complete list of
       all available resamplers. Defaults to  speex-float-3.  The  --resample-
       method  command  line  option  takes precedence. Note that some modules
       overwrite or allow overwriting of the resampler to use.

       enable-remixing=  If  disabled  never  upmix  or  downmix  channels  to
       different  channel maps. Instead, do a simple name-based matching only.
       Defaults to yes.

       enable-lfe-remixing= if disabeld when upmixing or downmixing ignore LFE
       channels.  When this option is dsabled the output LFE channel will only
       get a signal when an input LFE channel is  available  as  well.  If  no
       input LFE channel is available the output LFE channel will always be 0.
       If no output LFE channel is available  the  signal  on  the  input  LFE
       channel will be ignored. Defaults to no.

       use-pid-file= Create a PID file in  /tmp/pulse-$USER/pid.  Of  this  is
       enabled  you  may  use  commands  like  --kill  or  --check. If you are
       planning to start more than one PulseAudio process per user, you better
       disable  this  option since it effectively disables multiple instances.
       Takes a boolean argument, defaults to yes. The  --no-cpu-limit  command
       line option takes precedence.

       cpu-limit= If disabled do not install the CPU  load  limiter,  even  on
       platforms   where   it   is  supported.  This  option  is  useful  when
       debugging/profiling PulseAudio to disable disturbing  SIGXCPU  signals.
       Takes  a  boolean  argument, defaults to no. The --no-cpu-limit command
       line argument takes precedence.

       system-instance= Run the daemon as system-wide instance, requires  root
       priviliges.  Takes  a  boolean  argument,  defaults to no. The --system
       command line argument takes precedence.

       enable-shm= Enable data transfer  via  POSIX  shared  memory.  Takes  a
       boolean  argument,  defaults  to  yes.  The  --disable-shm command line
       argument takes precedence.

       shm-size-bytes= Sets the shared memory segment size for the daemon,  in
       bytes.  If  left  unspecified  or  is  set to 0 it will default to some
       system-specific default, usually 64 MiB. Please note that usually there
       is  no  need  to change this value, unless you are running an OS kernel
       that does not do memory overcommit.

       lock-memory= Locks the entire PulseAudio  process  into  memory.  While
       this might increase drop-out safety when used in conjunction with real-
       time scheduling this takes away a lot of memory  from  other  processes
       and might hence considerably slow down your system. Defaults to no.

       flat-volumes= Enable ’flat’ volumes, i.e. where possible let  the  sink
       volume  equal the maximum of the volumes of the inputs connected to it.
       Takes a boolean argument, defaults to yes.

SCHEDULING

       high-priority= Renice the  daemon  after  startup  to  become  a  high-
       priority  process.  This a good idea if you experience drop-outs during
       playback. However, this is a certain security  issue,  since  it  works
       when  called  SUID  root  only, or RLIMIT_NICE is used. root is dropped
       immediately after gaining  the  nice  level  on  startup,  thus  it  is
       presumably  safe.  See  pulseaudio(1)  for  more  information.  Takes a
       boolean argument, defaults to "yes". The --high-priority  command  line
       option takes precedence.

       realtime-scheduling= Try to acquire SCHED_FIFO scheduling  for  the  IO
       threads.  The same security concerns as mentioned above apply. However,
       if PA enters an endless  loop,  realtime  scheduling  causes  a  system
       lockup.  Thus,  realtime  scheduling  should only be enabled on trusted
       machines for now. Please not that only the IO threads of PulseAudio are
       made  real-time.  The  controlling  thread is left a normally scheduled
       thread. Thus enabling  the  high-priority  option  is  orthogonal.  See
       pulseaudio(1)  for more information. Takes a boolean argument, defaults
       to "yes". The --realtime command line option takes precedence.

       realtime-priority= The  realtime  priority  to  acquire,  if  realtime-
       scheduling  is  enabled.  Note: JACK uses 10 by default, 9 for clients.
       Thus it is recommended to choose the  PulseAudio  real-time  priorities
       lower.  Some  PulseAudio threads might choose a priority a little lower
       or higher than the specified value. Defaults to "5".

       nice-level= The nice level to acquire for the daemon, if  high-priority
       is  enabled.  Note:  on  some  distributions  X11  uses -10 by default.
       Defaults to -11.

IDLE TIMES

       exit-idle-time= Terminate the daemon after the  last  client  quit  and
       this  time  in  seconds  passed.  Use  a negative value to disable this
       feature. Defaults to 20. The --exit-idle-time command line option takes
       precedence.

       scache-idle-time= Unload autoloaded sample cache  entries  after  being
       idle  for  this time in seconds. Defaults to 20. The --scache-idle-time
       command line option takes precedence.

PATHS

       dl-search-path= The path  were  to  look  for  dynamic  shared  objects
       (DSOs/plugins). You may specify more than one path seperated by colons.
       The default path depends on compile time settings. The --dl-search-path
       command line option takes precedence.

       default-script-file= The default configuration  script  file  to  load.
       Specify  an  empty  string  for  not loading a default script file. The
       default behaviour is to load ~/.pulse/default.pa, and if that file does
       not   exist   fall   back   to   the   system  wide  installed  version
       /etc/pulse/default.pa.  If   run   in   system-wide   mode   the   file
       /etc/pulse/system.pa  is  used  instead. If -n is passed on the command
       line or default-script-file=  is  disabled  the  default  configuration
       script is ignored.

       load-default-script-file= Load the default configuration script file as
       specified in default-script-file=. Defaults to yes.

LOGGING

       log-target= The default log target. Use either stderr, syslog or  auto.
       The  latter  is  equivalent  to  sylog  in  case  daemonize is enabled,
       otherwise to stderr. Defaults to auto. The  --log-target  command  line
       option takes precedence.

       log-level= Log level, one of debug, info, notice, warning,  error.  Log
       messages  with  a  lower  log level than specified here are not logged.
       Defaults  to  notice.  The  --log-level  command  line   option   takes
       precedence. The -v command line option might alter this setting.

       log-meta= With each logged message log the code  location  the  message
       was generated from. Defaults to no.

       log-time= With  each  logged  messages  log  the  relative  time  since
       startup. Defaults to no.

       log-backtrace= When greater than 0, with each logged message log a code
       stack trace up the the specified number of stack frames. Defaults to 0.

RESOURCE LIMITS

       See getrlimit(2) for more information. Set to -1  if  PulseAudio  shall
       not  touch the resource limit. Not all resource limits are available on
       all operating systems.

       rlimit-as Defaults to -1.

       rlimit-rss Defaults to -1.

       rlimit-core Defaults to -1.

       rlimit-data Defaults to -1.

       rlimit-fsize Defaults to -1.

       rlimit-nofile Defaults to 256.

       rlimit-stack Defaults to -1.

       rlimit-nproc Defaults to -1.

       rlimit-locks Defaults to -1.

       rlimit-sigpending Defaults to -1.

       rlimit-msgqueue Defaults to -1.

       rlimit-memlock Defaults to 16 KiB. Please note  that  the  JACK  client
       libraries may require more locked memory.

       rlimit-nice Defaults to 31. Please make  sure  that  the  default  nice
       level  as  configured  with  nice-level fits in this resource limit, if
       high-priority is enabled.

       rlimit-rtprio Defaults to 9. Please make sure that  the  default  real-
       time  priority level as configured with realtime-priority= fits in this
       resource limit, if realtime-scheduling  is  enabled.  The  JACK  client
       libraries require a real-time prority of 9 by default.

       rlimit-rttime Defaults to 1000000.

DEFAULT DEVICE SETTINGS

       Most drivers try to open the audio device with these settings and  then
       fall back to lower settings. The default settings are CD quality: 16bit
       native endian, 2 channels, 44100 Hz sampling.

       default-sample-format= The default sampling format. Specify one of  u8,
       s16le, s16be, s24le, s24be, s24-32le, s24-32be, s32le, s32be float32le,
       float32be, ulaw, alaw. Depending  on  the  endianess  of  the  CPU  the
       formats  s16ne,  s16re, s24ne, s24re, s24-32ne, s24-32re, s32ne, s32re,
       float32ne, float32re (for native, resp. reverse endian)  are  available
       as aliases.

       default-sample-rate= The default sample frequency.

       default-sample-channels The default number of channels.

       default-channel-map The default channel map.

DEFAULT FRAGMENT SETTINGS

       Some hardware drivers  require  the  hardware  playback  buffer  to  be
       subdivided  into  several  fragments.  It  is  possible to change these
       buffer metrics for machines with high  scheduling  latencies.  Not  all
       possible  values  that  may  be  configured  here  are available in all
       hardware. The driver will to find the nearest setting supported. Modern
       drivers that support timer-based scheduling ignore these options.

       default-fragments= The default number of fragments. Defaults to 4.

       default-fragment-size-msec=The  duration of a single fragment. Defaults
       to 25ms (i.e. the total buffer is thus 100ms long).

AUTHORS

       The  PulseAudio  Developers  <mzchyfrnhqvb  (at)  0pointer  (dot) net>;
       PulseAudio is available from http://pulseaudio.org/

SEE ALSO

       pulse-client.conf(5), default.pa(5), pulseaudio(1), pacmd(1)