Custom RTMP Server
If your streaming destination isn’t one of the built-in presets, you can configure a custom RTMP endpoint manually. This works with any RTMP-compatible ingest server — self-hosted servers, cloud services, CDNs, or niche platforms.
Configuring pMix.studio
- Open the output settings and tap Live Streaming
- Under Add Destination, tap Custom RTMP
- Enter the RTMP URL (e.g.,
rtmp://your-server.com/live) - Enter the Stream Key (appended to the URL as the stream name)
- Configure video and audio settings to match your server’s requirements:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Resolution | Match your server’s expected input |
| Frame rate | 30 or 60 fps |
| Video codec | H.264 (broadest compatibility) or H.265 |
| Bitrate | Depends on your server and upload bandwidth |
| Keyframe interval | 2 seconds (standard for most ingest servers) |
| Audio | AAC, 128 kbps |
Custom RTMP defaults to VBR rate control. Built-in platform destinations default to CBR, which is what those services expect, and Twitch’s bitrate is clamped to what it accepts.
Common use cases
- Self-hosted RTMP servers — Nginx with RTMP module, MediaMTX, Owncast
- Cloud ingest — AWS MediaLive, Azure Media Services, Wowza
- CDN ingest — Cloudflare Stream, Mux, Fastly
- Corporate platforms — Internal streaming solutions with RTMP endpoints
When a stream drops
Streaming reconnects on its own, and tells you why it dropped rather than swallowing the reason. Two behaviours worth knowing about:
- A stream that fails twice in seconds keeps trying. It used to stop dead with “check your stream key”, which is exactly wrong when the real cause is a flaky uplink. Repeated fast failures now back off progressively instead of giving up.
- If your upload can’t keep up, you get warned before the connection is dropped. pMix doesn’t silently reduce your bitrate — it tells you, so you can decide. If the connection does go down for that reason, it redials quickly rather than waiting out the usual backoff.
Correcting a stream key mid-show
If you went live with the wrong key, fix it in the destination editor while the stream is still retrying. The corrected key is used on the next reconnect attempt — you don’t have to stop and start over.
Restart cooldown
Some platforms refuse a new stream for a while after the last one ended. pMix knows this and holds off, showing how long is left. The hold is scaled to how the previous session actually ended, and if you’re sure the platform is ready, START NOW overrides it.
Tips
- Test the connection before going live by streaming briefly and checking the server logs
- RTMPS (RTMP over TLS) — If your server requires encrypted connections, use an
rtmps://URL - H.265 — Custom servers may support H.265 for better compression; check your server’s codec support
- Authentication — Some servers require the stream key in the URL path rather than as a separate field; consult your server’s documentation