TL;DR: Stop running a Jellyfin server. MPV can directly play anything from your NAS, stream YouTube ad-free, handle literally every codec, and is infinitely customizable. It’s like vim for video.

Why I ditched my Jellyfin setup

I used to run Jellyfin on my NAS. Transcoding, web interface, the works. Then I realized… why am I running a whole server stack when MPV can just directly play files from my NAS with zero setup?

What MPV Actually Is

MPV is a command-line video player that plays literally everything. But it’s way more than that - it’s a video engine you can build workflows around.

The Basics That Blow Minds

Direct NAS streaming (zero server needed):

mpv smb://192.168.1.100/media/movies/whatever.mkv
mpv nfs://nas.local/shows/season1/*

No transcoding. No server. No web interface overhead. Just direct file access with perfect quality and zero latency.

YouTube (and 1000+ sites) with ZERO ads:

brew install yt-dlp
mpv "https://youtube.com/watch?v..."

That’s it. Ad-free YouTube in your video player with all your custom keybinds. Works with Twitch, Vimeo, Twitter, Reddit, literally hundreds of sites via yt-dlp.

Play entire directories:

mpv /Volumes/NAS/shows/BreakingBad/Season1/*

Boom. Instant binge session. Space bar skips to next episode. No library scanning, no metadata scraping, just files.

Workflows That Changed My Life

1. The “Watch Anywhere” Setup

Mount your NAS shares in Finder (or /etc/fstab for auto-mount). Now MPV treats your entire media library like local files. Add this to your shell config:

alias play="mpv"
alias tv="mpv /Volumes/NAS/shows/"
alias movies="mpv /Volumes/NAS/movies/"

2. YouTube as Your Streaming Service

alias yt="mpv"
alias ytm="mpv --no-video"  # audio only for music

Now:

  • yt "youtube-url" = instant ad-free playback
  • ytm "youtube-playlist" = whole playlists as audio
  • Keep your YouTube history/recommendations in browser, watch in MPV

3. Picture-in-Picture for Anything

Add ontop=yes to config, resize window small = instant PiP for any video source while you work. Works with live streams, security cameras, whatever.

4. The “No Plex Shares Needed” Share

Send someone an SMB/NFS share to your media. They install MPV. They can now browse and play your media library like it’s local. No Plex accounts, no streaming limits, no transcoding quality loss.

5. Live Stream Monitoring

mpv http://192.168.1.50:8080/stream.m3u8

Home security cameras, baby monitors, anything streaming HLS/RTMP = instant monitoring with keybind controls.

Customization That Makes Jellyfin Look Basic

My Config (vim-style keybinds + YouTube controls)

Saved as ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf:

input-default-bindings=no

> add speed 0.1
< add speed -0.1
j seek -10
k cycle pause
l seek 10
LEFT seek -5
RIGHT seek 5
UP add volume 5
DOWN add volume -5
. frame-step
, frame-back-step

m cycle mute
f cycle fullscreen
s cycle sub
a cycle audio
0 seek 0 absolute-percent
1 seek 10 absolute-percent
2 seek 20 absolute-percent
3 seek 30 absolute-percent
4 seek 40 absolute-percent
5 seek 50 absolute-percent
6 seek 60 absolute-percent
7 seek 70 absolute-percent
8 seek 80 absolute-percent
9 seek 90 absolute-percent

[ add speed -0.25
] add speed 0.25
SPACE cycle pause
ESC set fullscreen no

i script-binding stats/display-stats
S screenshot video

profile=gpu-hq
scale=ewa_lanczossharp
cscale=ewa_lanczossharp
hwdec=auto-safe
vo=gpu

screenshot-format=png
screenshot-png-compression=9
screenshot-directory=~/Downloads

cache=yes
demuxer-max-bytes=150M

osd-level=1
osd-duration=2000
save-position-on-quit=yes
keep-open=yes
alang=jpn,jp,eng,en
slang=eng,en

ytdl-format=bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best

Profiles for Different Content

[anime]
profile-desc="Anime settings"
deband=yes

[lowpower]
profile-desc="Laptop battery mode"
profile=fast
hwdec=yes

Use with: mpv --profile=anime episode.mkv

Scripts That Make It Insane

MPV supports Lua/JS scripts. Drop them in ~/.config/mpv/scripts/ and they just work.

Must-have scripts:

  1. sponsorblock - Auto-skips YouTube sponsors/intros/outros

    curl -o ~/.config/mpv/scripts/sponsorblock.lua \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/po5/mpv_sponsorblock/master/sponsorblock.lua

  2. quality-menu - Change YouTube quality on the fly

  3. autosubsync - Auto-fixes subtitle timing

  4. playlistmanager - Visual playlist editor

  5. mpv-discordRPC - Show what you’re watching on Discord

Advanced Workflows

Watch Parties (Syncplay)

Install syncplay, point it at MPV, now you and friends watch your NAS content together in perfect sync. No Plex share limits, no quality loss.

Audio Streaming

ytm "youtube-playlist-url"
# or
mpv --no-video /Volumes/NAS/music/*

No GUI needed. Terminal command plays audio, you use keybinds (k=pause, j/l=skip, etc). Or just minimize and use as background music player.

For GUI: IINA (Mac) is literally just MPV with a pretty interface and uses your MPV config.

Frame-by-Frame Analysis

Built-in keybinds (. and , in my config) step forward/back frame-by-frame. Perfect for animation analysis, sports breakdown, debugging video issues.

Automated Workflows

# Watch anything in clipboard
mpv $(pbpaste)

# Random episode
mpv "$(find /Volumes/NAS/shows -name "*.mkv" | shuf -n1)"

# Continue last watched (auto position restore)
mpv /Volumes/NAS/shows/CurrentShow/*

Why This Beats Jellyfin For Me

Pros:

  • Zero server maintenance
  • No transcoding = perfect quality
  • Plays literally any codec without setup
  • Way faster (direct file access)
  • Keyboard-driven workflow
  • Works offline/online seamlessly
  • Infinitely scriptable
  • Cross-platform (Linux/Mac/Windows)

Cons:

  • No pretty web UI (I consider this a pro)
  • No user management (just use OS permissions)
  • No watch tracking (unless you script it)
  • No mobile app (VLC on phone + SMB works though)

Who This Is For

  • You’re comfortable with terminal/config files
  • You want maximum quality (no transcoding ever)
  • You prefer keyboard controls
  • You value simplicity over features
  • You already have a NAS/file server
  • You want YouTube ad-free without browser extensions

Getting Started

# macOS
brew install mpv yt-dlp

# Linux
sudo apt install mpv yt-dlp

# Windows
scoop install mpv yt-dlp

Create config at:

  • Mac/Linux: ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf
  • Windows: %APPDATA%/mpv/mpv.conf

Mount your NAS shares, point MPV at files. Done.

Resources

EDIT: Holy shit, didn’t expect this response. Common questions:

Q: But I need to share with family who aren’t technical A: IINA (Mac) or mpv.net (Windows) give them a normal GUI that uses MPV underneath. Or just… teach them? play movie.mkv isn’t rocket science.

Q: What about mobile? A: VLC on phone + SMB share to your NAS. Or just use MPV on desktop/laptop like a civilized person.

Q: No watch history tracking? A: save-position-on-quit=yes remembers position per file. For tracking across devices, write a simple script or just… remember what you watched?

Q: This sounds like gatekeeping A: It’s literally a config file. If you can set up Jellyfin, you can handle this.

  • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    251·
    4 days ago

    So, let me get this straight - you’re saying using command line to play video instead of a gui?

    Tell me, how does one do this on a TV? On an iPad? Phone?

    Your excitement for command line belies an experience of nothing but GUI, so it’s something of a novelty to use command line.

    Dude, get ahold of yourself. I probably wrote more command line stuff before you were born than you’ve ever thought of - I’m not going backwards.

    (As a clue, wrote my first Fortran program before PC’s were even a thought at IBM).

    Fuck cli except for managing systems. Even then quite often gui is faster by orders of magnitude, mostly to kickoff scripts to do what I need. GUI was a godsend, and Xerox Parc’s efforts created a common GUI language for us, thankfully was embraced. I refuse to go backwards.

    And forcibly teach non-technical people to use CLI?

    You are exactly the type of person that Saturday Night Live lampooned decades ago.

      • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
        12·
        4 days ago

        You’re missing the point - he’s elevating cli above all else, which you don’t have on TV or mobile.

        Yes, I know there are media clients, I’ve used them all. And that screenshot is hideous - compare it to Jellyfin on mobile, which looks just like Netflix used to.

        Besides, he’s not doing anything different than running a “server stack” (which isn’t accurate, he’s still running a server, the device hosting the media services, even if they’re native to the OS).

        Xerox Parc didn’t invest millions in the 60’s and 70’s because CLI was so great.

        We don’t use CLI on our microwaves, toasters ovens, tv’s clocks, lights, etc, for a reason.

        • RheumatoidArthritis@mander.xyzEnglish
          15·
          4 days ago

          I agree with you on the CLI part. I tried Jellyfin once and it’s basically the same as browsing directories with movies in a file manager, for which you don’t need the whole heavyweight software stack.

          I know Jellyfin also has transcoding and probably some even more exotic stuff, but even my phone can play full HD from SMB without transcoding, so I have no use case for these extra features.

  • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
    10·
    4 days ago

    Btw, the proper place to mount filesystems is either /media or /mnt. I wouldn’t create a directory called /Volumes in Linux. And pay attention, these are case-sensitive and most (not all) system directories have agreed on using lower-case letters only. And “volume” is kind of a Windows and MacOS-term anyway, I rarely see Linux-people refer to media and filesystems that way.

  • chrash0@lemmy.worldEnglish
    34·
    4 days ago

    i mean… sure. some neat tricks in here i wasn’t aware of, but asking my mom to open the terminal… i mean it’s not rocket science but that doesn’t make it accessible. all the scripting and stuff that you’re talking; that stuff comes in the Jellyfin box. honestly, it might be worth it to have both if you have users that aren’t comfortable in the terminal

  • CoyoteFacts@piefed.caEnglish
    23·
    4 days ago

    I just want to note that Jellyfin MPV Shim exists and can do most of this MPV stuff while still getting the benefits of Jellyfin. You’re putting a lot of emphasis on Plex-specific limitations (which Jellyfin doesn’t have obviously) and transcoding (which is a FEATURE to stopgap an improper media player setup, not a limitation of Jellyfin).

    Pretty much every single “Pro” is not exclusive to pure MPV vs. Jellyfin MPV Shim, which mainly leaves you with the cons. Also as another commenter said, I set my Jellyfin up so that my friends and family can use it, and that’s its primary value to me. I feel like a lot of this post should be re-oriented towards MPV as a great media player, not against Jellyfin as a media platform.

  • sonofearth@lemmy.worldEnglish
    91·
    4 days ago

    You are technically right but as a human who just wants to watch “The Devil Wear’s Prada” after a long day at work it would be too frustrating.

    You have to go through more clicks and more typing to play your media on MPV. On the other hand I can just use my remote to browse through my Jellyfin library after just opening an app.

  • RightEdofer@lemmy.caEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    This reads like an AI generated influencer fever dream. Insane1! MPV is a good project but I recently ended up not using it because Jellyfin for video has so many more features- kind of apples to oranges. I can’t imagine an MPV setup would ever approach a Jellyfin/Infuse setup - especially for non-technical family members. I ended up going Navidrome for music because of outside network access and the ability to download music offline which MPV can’t really do to my knowledge.

  • Melmi@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    11·
    4 days ago

    The UX just isn’t there for MPV. Jellyfin isn’t always ideal but it gives an interface roughly on par with a streaming service. Why should I replace that with a tool like MPV? I don’t need keyboard controls, I watch from my couch. It seems like all downsides to me.

    • EccTM@lemmy.mlEnglish
      1·
      4 days ago

      I use this custom UI called uosc with MPV and its pretty decent.

      Definitely agree that mpv isn’t a jellyfin replacement though.

  • flightyhobler@lemmy.worldEnglish
    301·
    4 days ago

    Q: But I need to share with family who aren’t technical A: IINA (Mac) or mpv.net (Windows) give them a normal GUI that uses MPV underneath. Or just… teach them? play movie.mkv isn’t rocket science.

    LoL . You’re completely out of touch with reality

  • net00@lemmy.todayEnglish
    11·
    4 days ago

    I use a very similar setup, and with a custom UI mpv looks even better. Even on mobile I use an app with libmpv backend which plays my NAS media and anything I throw at it. Also, the ability to smoothly scrub video, especially on touchscreens is a very rare treasure among video players but mpv handles it with no struggle…

    I guess jellyfin is for those who want a netflix experience with movie posters, descriptions, and lots of QoL

  • cardbord_box@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    31·
    4 days ago

    Great writeup! You are correct that the skeleton is there in a “unix philosophy” manner. Depending on preferences and use cases, it could be perfectly functional.

    When I was first getting my media server going I experimented with a more minimal solution like this. Eventually I went with jellyfin and kodi as a client on some devices. I like all the structure. Jellyfin is a bit of a drag to use due to bloat. Kodi is lighter on the client end.

    I shared my files via SMB on the local network. First used VLC player to watch on mobile. It’s robust. There is also an android MPV player available if you wish. If you have a lot of media it gets tiresome to navigate throug with either of those. Nova Video Player does some of stuff you’d normally offload to a server like remembering what you’ve already watched. So that was good, but then instead of having the bloat on the server, you have bloat on the phone, which is less convenient. I disagree that consuming media solely via a PC is civilized. It’s tolerable in certain situations.

    If you have other people to share with who aren’t inclined this way, it’s kind of a jerk move to force them to accommodate this aesthetic preference. Even if not wanting to run jellyfin there are sleeker media serving solutions available for a middle ground. If it’s just for yourself and other kindred spirits, then no reason not to indulge in the minimalism to whatever degree you find satisfying.

  • _cryptagion [he/him]@anarchist.nexusEnglish
    42·
    4 days ago

    wut the fuck. I use Jellyfin because I don’t want to have to do shit by hand. I fucking click the grab button in Jellyseer and then press play. if I wanted harder than that, I wouldn’t bother setting up a media server in the first place.

  • curbstickle@anarchist.nexusEnglish
    71·
    4 days ago

    There is a whole lot to jellyfin that mpv doesnt cover.

    I’m glad youre enjoying the setup, but its hardly a replacement for jellyfin in the vast majority of cases.