Create and edit config.json for your MCLite device
Device
Max 20 characters. Shows in status bar and in channel messages.
Fleet Devices 0
Identity Ed25519
Not yet generated
Not yet generated
Keys are generated locally in your browser. Share your public key with contacts.
RadioEU/UK Narrow
Tweaking parameters
100–1000 MHz
-9–22 dBm
Advanced parameters
Transport code region for repeater filtering. * = no filtering, #name = hashtag region.
Bytes per repeater fingerprint in packet path. Larger = fewer collisions in dense meshes, but more airtime per hop. Keep at 0 for compatibility with v1.10 and earlier peers.
How often to re-broadcast a flood advert. 0 = off (recommended) — the device still sends one advert on boot and you can advertise on demand from the Heard Adverts screen. Periodic flood adverts congest shared meshes, so if you must enable it (ad-hoc / SAR / private mesh) keep it high — minimum 60, e.g. 720 (12 h) like a repeater.
When on, the device leaves the public mesh for the offgrid settings chosen below and relays packets for other offgrid nodes. Use for camping, SAR, or any situation with no repeater infrastructure. Reboot to apply. You can also toggle this on-device from the admin screen.
The two official MeshCore clients disagree: the Android app puts offgrid on 869.945 MHz, MeshCore Open uses 869.000. Pick the one your group runs. Auto (the default) keeps MCLite's original behaviour: nearest of 433 / 869 / 918 derived from your normal frequency, with SF / BW / coding rate left as configured. That matches what stock MeshCore does, but it means two people whose normal regions differ still cannot hear each other offgrid, because a shared frequency is not a shared modem setting. MCLite 869.000 full also fixes SF / BW / coding rate, so everyone who picks it agrees on all of them — reliable between MCLite devices, not compatible with stock. TX power is never changed by a preset.
Offgrid radio: —
Leave a field on inherit to keep your normal setting for it. Setting only the frequency reproduces stock behaviour on a frequency of your choosing; setting all four makes a complete preset that works between devices with different normal regions. Frequency must be 150–960 MHz (what the SX1262 supports); SF, bandwidth and coding rate offer only values the radio accepts. The firmware ignores any out-of-range value and inherits your normal setting instead, rather than moving you somewhere you did not ask for.
WiFi
Network the device joins to check for and download firmware updates. Leave blank to keep WiFi off. You can also set this on-device (Admin → WiFi).
Stored in plain text in config.json (like the PIN) — treat the SD card as sensitive.
When on, the device checks GitHub for newer firmware on boot (over WiFi) and prompts you to install it. Requires a WiFi SSID above.
Contacts 0
Fleet contacts are auto-generated. Additional contacts can be added below.
Contacts are people you message directly. You'll need their public key — they share it from their device's identity screen.
Channels 0
Channels are group conversations. Hashtag channels derive encryption from the name (lowercase: a-z, 0-9, -). Private channels use a random key shared out-of-band. Public uses the well-known MeshCore key — readable by anyone on the network.
Room Servers 0
Room servers are community message boards — like a town square. The server's public key (64 hex) and password are shared out-of-band by whoever runs the room. Empty password = public room. Up to 8 rooms.
Display
/255
10–255
0–3600
Seconds of inactivity before the screen dims. Set to 0 to disable auto-dim.
/255
0–255
Set to 0 to turn screen off completely when inactive.
Turn keyboard backlight on/off with auto-dim.
/255
1–255
Shown on boot screen below version number. Max 32 characters.
Leave empty for English. Translation files (de, fr, it) are included in the export ZIP.
UI color palette. Also switchable on-device (Admin → Theme, reboots to apply). Custom palettes can be defined manually in config.json under display.themes and selected here by name — see the README.
Show the emoji picker in chat for composing emoji. Received emoji always render either way. Default on.
Render the emoji you can pick on the device (the chat picker and the reaction set) as full-colour glyphs. Every other emoji stays monochrome, so nothing goes blank. Colour glyphs use a fixed palette and do not follow the theme — turn this off for the plain monochrome look. Also switchable on-device (Admin → Display, reboots to apply). On by default.
T-Deck only. Off by default. When on, a gear icon appears at the left of the status bar and opens Admin — a touch alternative to the 0 key shortcut. Hidden if security.admin_enabled is off. T-Watch already reaches Admin via the side (PEK) button.
Show times as 1:45 PM instead of 13:45. Off by default. Applies to every time the device shows — status bar, chat timestamps, uptime, last charged and room sync — so nothing disagrees with anything else. This changes only how the time is displayed; what time it is comes from gps.timezone. Also switchable on the device under Settings → Display, with no reboot. On the T-Deck the longer clock leaves a little less room for a long device name in the status bar, which shortens with an ellipsis.
Debug aid, off by default. When on, capture the current screen to /screenshots/*.bmp on SD — T-Deck: Shift+$; T-Watch: double-press the side (PEK) button.
Debug aid, off by default. When on, show PSRAM/internal-RAM usage (P% R%) in the status bar and log it over serial. Useful for diagnosing memory pressure.
Messaging
10–10000
1–5
Quick-reply picker in chat (OK, Copy, Need help, etc.).
Allow muting individual chats by long-pressing them in the conversation list. Muted chats don't beep or wake the screen (SOS always does). Off by default.
Show a Share button in the chat header that re-broadcasts a contact's advert at zero hop, so a nearby device can add them from its Heard Adverts (no key typing). On by default.
Long-press a chat bubble to react with an emoji. Only MeshCore One and MCLite understand reactions — on any other MeshCore client a reaction arrives as an ordinary text message showing the emoji and an 8-character code. Off by default.
Show how many hops a received message took next to its time in chat (e.g. "x3", or "direct" when heard with no relays). Off by default.
Telemetry
Tap contact name in chat to see battery/location info.
Icons shown next to contacts on the conversation list.
Periodically re-request GPS from contacts who don't broadcast it, to keep their map markers fresh. Throttled and self-limiting; opt-in, off by default.
Sound
Master switch. Off = fully silent (no notifications, chime, or SOS sound) and the status-bar bell is hidden. On = sounds enabled; tap the bell to cycle volume (max / mute / mid).
Place notification.wav on SD root. Format: 16-bit PCM WAV, mono or stereo, max 3 seconds.
SOS Alert
Messages starting with this word trigger SOS alert (case-insensitive). Hold trackball 6s to send SOS to all contacts.
1–10
Place sos.wav on SD root. Format: 16-bit PCM WAV, mono or stereo. Falls back to built-in morse pattern.
GPS
Auto-DST: set and forget
Only used when no timezone selected
MGRS (Military Grid Reference) is used by SAR and emergency services.
How long to keep last GPS fix (60-7200s). After this, position is discarded.
60–7200
Broadcast your location in adverts so others see you on their map. Off by default; sent unencrypted to everyone in range. Choose Exact or a coarser grid for privacy (the reported point is snapped to that grid). Uses your live fix, or a last-known one within the max age above. Note: telemetry replies to authorized contacts and the in-chat GPS insert always use your exact position.
Battery
Send alert to contacts with Send SOS enabled when battery drops below the threshold.
%
5–50%
Security
Key Lock: hold trackball 1s to lock/unlock. PIN Lock: hold 1s to lock, enter PIN to unlock.
Automatically lock when display dims. Falls back if selected lock type isn't available.
PIN must be 4-8 alphanumeric characters
Used when Lock is set to PIN Lock. Letters and numbers, case-insensitive. Required on boot and after idle timeout.
Press 0 on home screen to view device info. Disable to hide admin access. With an Admin PIN set, pressing 0 (T-Deck) or the side button (T-Watch) asks for that PIN and re-enables admin.
Admin PIN must be 4-8 alphanumeric characters
4-8 characters, separate from the screen-lock PIN. Re-enables the Admin screen after it has been locked from the device. Leave empty for none — then a locked device can only be recovered by editing this file on the SD card. Stored in plain text, like the screen PIN.
Full = edit any setting on-device. Restricted = only brightness/auto-dim/dim/keyboard brightness and theme are editable; everything else is shown read-only. None = all settings read-only.
When hidden, the Companion group (WiFi / USB / Bluetooth) is removed from the admin screen. Services already enabled in config still run.
When on (default), contacts / channels / rooms can be added and removed on-device (Admin → Conversations); changes apply after a reboot. Turn off to keep those lists read-only on the device.
MCLite Config Tool — all data stays in your browser
Are you sure?
Share preset link
Pick which sidebar sections to share. Anyone opening the link in the MCLite Config Tool gets these settings pre-filled. The Device section (name, identity keys) and Security section (PIN, lock mode) are never included — those are per-device.
Include in preset
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Included in this preset
Preset applied
The shared link pre-filled the settings below. Review them, then add your identity (or use the auto-generated keypair) before exporting.
Next: set up your SD card
1. Unzip and copy all contents to the root of your SD card 2. Insert the SD card and power on