Etched: Hosted Audio

Etched Hosted Audio lets you play music and sounds from your own HTTPS server through Etched, then saves a copy on each player’s client so the same file doesn’t need downloading every time.

The first time someone hears a track, playback starts after an initial buffer while the rest downloads. Once the download finishes, future plays use the local copy, including after restarting Minecraft.

No music is included with the mod.

Requirements

• Etched 5.1.0+

Install the addon on each player’s client, alongside Etched. Your Minecraft server doesn’t need the addon. Audio hosting is handled by a separate HTTPS web server, which can run on the same machine as your Minecraft server.

Getting started

1. Host your audio files

Put your MP3, OGG or WAV files on an HTTPS web server. Each file needs a direct link, such as:

https://audio.example.com/audio/song-v1.ogg

The link should play or download the audio in a browser. A sharing page won’t work.

2. Configure the client

Open Mods → Etched Hosted Audio → Config.

Enter your audio folder’s URL, including the trailing slash:

https://audio.example.com/audio/

Set your preferred cache size, save, then restart Minecraft. The default is 512 MiB.

Configure the folder once—you don’t need to list every song. Files added under that folder later work without another configuration or modpack update. Pack authors can include this setting for their players.

3. Make an Etched disc

Use Etched’s Etching Table as usual, entering the complete file URL:

https://audio.example.com/audio/song-v1.ogg

Include the filename and its extension. Play the disc normally, and the addon handles downloading and caching.

Managing the cache

The Config screen shows the number of completed downloads, their size and any pending downloads.

Clear unused cached audio removes files that aren’t in use. Playing tracks and active downloads are kept. Removed tracks will download again the next time they’re played.

Older unused files are also removed automatically when the cache needs space.

A few things to know

• Hosted files must be MP3, OGG or WAV, provide Content-Length and be no larger than 100 MiB.
• Each player downloads and keeps their own copy.
• Offline playback requires a completed download that is still in the cache.
• Live radio streams aren’t cached.
• Use a new filename when replacing a track, such as song-v2.ogg, then update the disc’s URL.
• Existing Etched items, artwork and metadata are preserved. SoundCloud discs aren’t automatically switched to hosted files.
• Supported public SoundCloud streams also get fallback handling and ordinary AAC HLS decoding. Encrypted and restricted streams remain unsupported.

Please host only audio you own or have permission to distribute.

Built for Etched by Moonflower Studio and contributors.