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Media

OpenAudioMc supports multiple file formats for your sounds, these are:
- Local audio (from plugins/OpenAudioMc/audio/ )
- Direct file links (mp3, ogg, wav, etc)
- SoundCloud
- YouTube

Local Audio

Patreon’s are able to play audio files through storing it in their plugins folder. File names can’t include spaces, but you use subdirectories. Simply prefix your source in a command with local: and we’ll automatically convert, optimize and upload the sources for you. Make sure that your server is compatible with RestDirect !

Example: /oa play @a local:themidnight-monsters.mp3 , which will be read from plugins/OpenAudioMc/audio/themidnight-monsters.mp3

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.

Playback Options

The OpenAudioMc audio format is what’s being used throughout the network. It contains the source, and a UNIX timestamp for when the command was executed. This is defined by the plugin and does NOT get changed anywhere further on in the process.

Other optional metadata included:
- fadeTime (number) : Time for the sound to fade in (in MS)
- id (text) : The ID that will be assigned to the sound. This can be used to stop one specific sound later.
- loop (true/false) : Decide whether the sound should restart after finishing or not. This will mean that the sound will keep playing until manually stopped.
- pickUp (true/false) : Decides if the sound should continue (AKA Sync) between sessions and players
- expirationTimeout (number) : The amount of time (in seconds) a sound should be kept for. Setting it to 120 will mean that the client will hear the sound, even if it connected after it started.
- volume (number) : A scaled volume level that will be used for the sound (so you can make sound effects quiet, etc)

All the optional tags should be included in the Play command as a JSON object with the spaces left out, so a fully decked out argument would look like

{fadeTime:1500,id:"station",loop:true,pickup:true,expirationTimeout:3600000,volume:50}

What to use when:

Source	Pros	Cons	Example usecase
Local Files	- Fast - Reliable - Scalable -Incredibly to use	- Currently exclusive to patreons - Requires 6.6 or higher	Users who just want to use the plugin, and not worry about infrastructure at all!
Direct MP3	- Reliable - Scalable	- Requires webserver - Requires maintenance	Best for usecases where timing and reliability is important. (like Ride, Areas, etc etc)
DropBox	- Fast - Easy to use - Free	- Url may need manual edits - Links may be blocked when used often	For general purpose audio hosting. (Same as Direct MP3 but on a smaller scale)
SoundCloud	- Stupidly Simple	- Not particularly fast - Some artists prohibit the use of their songs	Easy music sharing and playback. (Same as Direct MP3, but on a small scale)
YouTube	- Stupidly Simple	- Playback isn’t instant - Delay may cause timing issues	Simple area music, sound effects, dialogue, etc etc

Notes:
- YouTube videos need to be public and big videos might not work. It’s best to upload your own.
- Some soundcloud artists block their music from being played on third party sites like OpenAudioMc, if a soundcloud song fails to play, it’s most likely this. You are best off uploading it to your own account (but be sure to set it to public)

It is possible to add support for other sources as well. OpenAudioMc has a java api to add support for url manipulations. This means that there are add-on plugins like OpenAudioMc-Youtube to expand the feature set with an alternative youtube engine.