Media sources
A "Media Source" is a descriptor of where one or more media files are located. When a command or system calls for a "source" or "media source" input, it is expecting you to provide a valid media source like one of the ones described below.
Supported sources
OpenAudioMc has built in support for a variety of media sources, each with their own use-cases.
| Service | Format | Usecase | Limitations | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Media uploaded into your OpenAudioMc account | Files in your account should be prefixed with files:. For example, if I wanted to play beats.mp3 from my account, I would need to use files:beats.mp3 | Easiest to use and well integrated into the service, best suited for core playback and important files. | Storage in your OpenAudioMc account is limited (200MB in the free tier, 10GB+ for patreons) | |
| Public uploads to SoundCloud.com | Soundcloud song links can be used directly like this example. | For quick & free uploads, great when taking requests or letting users provide their own media. | SoundCloud artists can choose whether their music is allowed on third party apps. This is why some major artists/record labels won't be playable through OpenAudioMc. | |
| Music from your own webserver/CDN | Must be a full web url, e.g. https://mydomain.com/folder/file.mp3 | Using your own CDN gives flexibility, removes storage constraints, and gives you direct control of your media. | Your CDN does need to meet a few specific requirements to work nicely (please see the list below) | |
| OpenAudioMc Playlists | Must be prefixed by list:, directly followed by the ID/name of your playlist (e.g. list:spawn_music | Use playlists when you want to randomly pick from a list of sources to create variants, or chain multiple songs together | OpenAudioMc playlists still need other sources inside them. Please check the Playlist Documentation for a full guide. | |
| OpenAudioMc Alias | An alias is a shortcut to another media source. They are always prefixed with a:, followed by their name. E.g. a:spawn_song | An alias is great for media sources with a long file name or URL, that you can't remember easily. Please check the alias docs for details |
Random media and Playlists
You might want to shake things up a little every once in a while by assigning random sounds to a region, command or
whatever. You can simply do this by stringing multiple sources in a JSON array, so you'd enter something like
["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oddp32TODKs","https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBCLsnxNd4Y"] instead of your singular
source. The client will choose a random sound from the list when the media is requested to start.
Randomized media with looping tags will reselect their source every time they loop, functioning like a playlist.
Requirements for selfhosted media
If you are hosting your own media files on your own webserver or CDN, there are a few requirements to ensure compatibility with OpenAudioMc:
- CORS headers: Your server must provide appropriate CORS headers to allow cross-origin requests from OpenAudioMc
clients. At minimum, the
Access-Control-Allow-Originheader should be set to*or to the specific domains used by OpenAudioMc. - Supported formats: OpenAudioMc primarily supports common audio formats such as MP3 and OGG. Ensure your media files are in a compatible format.
- Direct file access: The URLs provided must point directly to the audio files and not to HTML pages or redirects.
- Stable hosting: Ensure that your server or CDN is reliable and can handle the expected traffic, especially during peak usage times.
- HTTPS: It is recommended to serve your media files over HTTPS to ensure secure connections and compatibility with modern browsers.
- Bandwidth considerations: Be aware of the bandwidth usage that may result from streaming audio files to multiple users simultaneously.
- File size limits: Try limiting yourself to files under 50MB to ensure smooth playback on lower-spec clients.
- Partial content support: Your server should support HTTP Range requests to allow for efficient streaming and seeking within audio files. You may need to enable this manually depending on your server software.