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Playlist Formats

Playlist Guide

Everything you need to know about the M3U and M3U8 playlist formats compatible with OTT Player.

Supported Formats

M3U

Standard multimedia playlist format. It is a plain text file containing stream URLs along with metadata such as channel name, logo, and group. Extension: .m3u

M3U8

UTF-8 encoded version of the M3U format. Functions identically to M3U but guarantees compatibility with special characters and accented letters. Extension: .m3u8

M3U File Structure

An M3U file begins with the #EXTM3U directive followed by channel entries. Each channel has two lines: an #EXTINF directive with the metadata, and the stream URL.

#EXTM3U

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="channel1.us" tvg-name="Channel 1 HD" tvg-logo="https://example.com/logos/channel1.png" group-title="Sports",Channel 1 HD
http://server.example.com:8080/live/user/key/channel1.ts

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="channel2.us" tvg-name="Channel 2" tvg-logo="https://example.com/logos/channel2.png" group-title="Movies",Channel 2
http://server.example.com:8080/live/user/key/channel2.ts

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="channel3.us" tvg-name="Channel 3 FHD" tvg-logo="https://example.com/logos/channel3.png" group-title="News",Channel 3 FHD
http://server.example.com:8080/live/user/key/channel3.ts

Supported Attributes

The #EXTINF directive supports the following attributes:

tvg-name

Channel name that will be displayed in the EPG guide and in the channel list.

tvg-name="ESPN HD"
tvg-logo

URL of the channel logo image. PNG or JPG images of up to 256x256px are recommended.

tvg-logo="https://example.com/logos/espn.png"
tvg-id

Unique channel identifier for associating it with the EPG guide (XMLTV). Must match the channel ID in the EPG source.

tvg-id="ESPN.us"
group-title

Name of the group or category the channel belongs to. Used to organize channels by category.

group-title="Sports"

Add Playlist by URL

  1. 1Log in to your OTT Player account.
  2. 2Go to the "Playlists" section in the administration panel.
  3. 3Click "Add Playlist".
  4. 4Select the "URL" option as the source type.
  5. 5Enter the full URL of your M3U/M3U8 playlist (it must be a direct link, not a web page).
  6. 6Assign a name to the playlist.
  7. 7Click "Save". The system will download and process the playlist automatically.
  8. 8If the URL updates periodically, the changes will be reflected on the next sync.

Upload an M3U File

  1. 1Log in to your OTT Player account.
  2. 2Go to the "Playlists" section in the administration panel.
  3. 3Click "Add Playlist".
  4. 4Select the "Upload file" option.
  5. 5Click "Choose file" and select your M3U or M3U8 file from your computer.
  6. 6Assign a name to the playlist.
  7. 7Click "Save". The system will process the file and display the channels found.
  8. 8To update the playlist, you will need to upload a new file manually.

Best Practices

  • Use direct URLs (no redirects) to avoid loading issues on devices.
  • Prefer HTTPS over HTTP for better security and compatibility.
  • Organize your channels by groups (group-title) for easier navigation.
  • Include logos (tvg-logo) for a better visual experience in the channel list.
  • Assign a tvg-id to each channel so the EPG guide works correctly.
  • Keep your playlist up to date — if using a URL, periodically verify that the link is still active.
  • Avoid excessively large playlists (more than 5,000 channels) as they can cause slowdowns on devices with limited resources.
  • Verify that your streams use codecs compatible with your devices (H.264/H.265 are the most universal).