MPD Server

Control Nuclear from any MPD client.

Nuclear includes a built-in MPD-compatible server. If you already use tools like mpc, ncmpcpp, mpDris2, or any other MPD client, you can use them with Nuclear and control playback.

Nuclear supports the subset of the protocol needed for playback control, queue management, and real-time notifications. Library browsing and stored playlists are not yet supported.

Enable the server

1. Open Nuclear, then go to Settings, then Integrations.

2. Toggle Enable MPD Server on.

3. The server starts on 127.0.0.1:6600 (localhost only). If port 6600 is taken, it tries 6601, 6602, and so on up to 6609.

4. The MPD Server URL field below the toggle shows the bound address. Click the copy button to grab it.

Connect a client

If Nuclear was able to bind to port 6600, which is the default port for this protocol, all tools will see it out of the box. Example with mpc:

mpc

If Nuclear got port 6600, mpc connects with no configuration:

mpc status

If Nuclear bound to a different port (check the settings field), set the MPD_HOST and MPD_PORT environment variables:

export MPD_HOST=127.0.0.1
export MPD_PORT=6601
mpc status

ncmpcpp

Other clients

Supported commands

Status and metadata

Command	Description
status	Volume, playback state, repeat/random/single mode, queue length, current song position, elapsed/duration.
currentsong	Title, artist, album, position, and duration of the current track.
playlistinfo	List all queue items, a single position, or a range.

Playback

Command	Description
play [POS]	Resume playback, or jump to a queue position.
pause [0|1]	Pause, resume, or toggle.
stop	Stop playback.
next	Skip to the next track.
previous	Go back to the previous track.
seek SONGPOS TIME	Seek to TIME seconds in the song at queue position SONGPOS. Jumps to that position if it differs from the current one.
seekid SONGID TIME	Same as seek (song IDs equal queue positions).
seekcur TIME	Seek within the current song. TIME can be absolute (30), or relative (+10, -5).

Queue

Command	Description
delete [POS|START:END]	Remove a song by position, or a range of songs.
deleteid SONGID	Remove a song by ID (same as position).
move FROM TO	Move a song from one position to another.
clear	Clear the queue.

Volume

Command	Description
setvol VOL	Set volume (0-100). Values outside the range are clamped.
getvol	Get current volume.

Playback options

Command	Description
repeat 0|1	Enable or disable repeat mode.
random 0|1	Enable or disable shuffle.
single 0|1	Enable repeat-one (1) or turn it off (0).

Idle and notifications

Command	Description
idle [SUBSYSTEM ...]	Block until one of the listed subsystems changes. If no subsystems are given, listen for all. Responds with changed: <subsystem> lines.
noidle	Cancel a pending idle and return to the command loop.

Supported subsystems:

Subsystem	Fires when
player	Playback state changes (play/pause/stop) or the current track changes.
playlist	The queue contents change (tracks added, removed, or reordered).
mixer	Volume changes.
options	Repeat, random, or single mode changes.

idle is what lets MPD clients like ncmpcpp update in real time without polling. Most polybar/waybar/eww MPD modules also rely on it.

Connection

Command	Description
ping	Test the connection.
close	Close the connection.
password	Accepted but ignored (no authentication).

Command lists

The server supports command_list_begin, command_list_ok_begin, and command_list_end for batching multiple commands. idle is not allowed inside command lists.