Adding games & ROMs

Leaf reads your library from a set of clearly named folders on the SD card. Drop files into the right folder and they show up in the launcher; there’s no database to manage by hand. You can fill the folders by putting the SD card in your computer, or over Wi-Fi with the Central Scrutinizer app (see Features → Apps).

Folder layout

At the root of the SD card you’ll find these user-facing folders:

Roms/<SYSTEM>/      your game files, one folder per system
Images/<SYSTEM>/    box art, matching each game's filename
Saves/              in-game saves
States/             save states
BIOS/               BIOS files some systems need (see BIOS & cores)

Roms/<SYSTEM>/ - put each game in the folder for its system, e.g. Roms/SNES/Chrono Trigger.sfc or Roms/GBA/Metroid Fusion.gba. Games can sit loose in the system folder or tucked into subfolders (a folder per game, or your own grouping) - Leaf scans down into them, so Roms/PSX/Final Fantasy VII/Final Fantasy VII.cue works just as well.
Images/<SYSTEM>/ - put box art next to the matching system folder, named to match the game. For Roms/SNES/Chrono Trigger.sfc, use Images/SNES/Chrono Trigger.png.
Saves/ and States/ - created and managed for you as you play. See Playing games for how in-game saves and save states work.

System folders

Each console gets one Roms/ subfolder, grouped by maker below - one folder per system, not one per emulator. Different emulators or compatibility modes for the same console are a Core choice (see Options below), not separate folders.

Folder names are not case-sensitive, and most systems accept a few aliases (Roms/NES, Roms/FC, and Roms/FAMICOM all land in the same place), so the name shown is just the recommended one. Older alias folders keep working if you already have them, but new games and box art should go in the recommended folder.

Nintendo

Folder	System
`NES`	Nintendo Entertainment System
`FDS`	Famicom Disk System
`SNES`	Super Nintendo / Super Famicom
`N64`	Nintendo 64
`GB` / `GBC` / `GBA`	Game Boy / Color / Advance
`NDS`	Nintendo DS
`VB`	Virtual Boy
`GW`	Game & Watch

Sega

Folder	System
`MS`	Master System
`GG`	Game Gear
`GENESIS`	Genesis / Mega Drive
`SEGACD`	Sega CD
`32X`	Sega 32X
`SATURN`	Saturn
`DC`	Dreamcast
`ATOMISWAVE`	Atomiswave
`NAOMI`	Sega Naomi, Naomi GD-ROM, and Naomi 2

NEC

Folder	System
`PCE`	PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
`PCECD`	PC Engine CD / TurboGrafx-CD
`PC98`	NEC PC-98

SNK

Folder	System
`NEOGEO`	Neo Geo - home (AES) and arcade (MVS) share this folder; needs a BIOS, see below
`NGP` / `NGPC`	Neo Geo Pocket / Color

Sony

Folder	System
`PSX`	PlayStation
`PSP`	PlayStation Portable

Atari

Folder	System
`ATARI2600`	Atari 2600
`A7800`	Atari 7800
`LYNX`	Atari Lynx

Commodore

Folder	System
`AMIGA`	Amiga (OCS/ECS/AGA, CDTV, and CD32)

Other

Folder	System
`WS` / `WSC`	WonderSwan / Color
`COLECO`	ColecoVision
`VECTREX`	Vectrex
`PICO8`	Pico-8
`DOS`	MS-DOS
`EASYRPG`	EasyRPG (RPG Maker 2000/2003)
`ARCADE`	Arcade (FBNeo, recommended for most arcade sets; Neo Geo sets go in `NEOGEO`)
`PORTS`	Ports (native game ports)

Advanced arcade users can also use Roms/MAME/ for MAME 03+ zipped ROM sets. Use that only when your set is built for that core; otherwise put arcade games in Roms/ARCADE/. The one exception is Neo Geo: FinalBurn Neo runs those too, but they belong in Roms/NEOGEO/ so they get their own system in the launcher.

Naomi, Naomi GD-ROM, and Naomi 2 are one system in Leaf. Put content from all three hardware families in Roms/NAOMI/; do not create separate GD-ROM or Naomi 2 folders. Their BIOS archives stay separate by hardware generation: BIOS/dc/naomi.zip serves base Naomi and Naomi GD-ROM, while BIOS/dc/naomi2.zip serves Naomi 2.

Supported game formats

These are the accepted game-file formats per folder:

Folder	Supported formats	Notes
`NES`	`.fds`, `.nes`, `.unf`, `.unif`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`FDS`	`.fds`, `.nes`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`SNES`	`.bs`, `.bsx`, `.dx2`, `.fig`, `.gd3`, `.gd7`, `.sfc`, `.smc`, `.st`, `.swc`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`N64`	`.n64`, `.v64`, `.z64`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`GB`	`.bin`, `.dmg`, `.gb`, `.gbc`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`GBC`	`.bin`, `.dmg`, `.gb`, `.gbc`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`GBA`	`.bin`, `.gba`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`NDS`	`.nds`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`VB`	`.vb`, `.vboy`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`GW`	`.mgw`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`MS`	`.32x`, `.68k`, `.bin`, `.chd`, `.gen`, `.iso`, `.md`, `.smd`, `.sms`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`GG`	`.bin`, `.gg`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`GENESIS`	`.32x`, `.68k`, `.bin`, `.chd`, `.gen`, `.iso`, `.md`, `.smd`, `.sms`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`SEGACD`	`.chd`, `.cue`, `.iso`, `.7z`, `.zip`, `.m3u`
`32X`	`.32x`, `.68k`, `.bin`, `.chd`, `.gen`, `.iso`, `.md`, `.smd`, `.sms`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`SATURN`	`.ccd`, `.chd`, `.cue`, `.iso`, `.mds`, `.zip`, `.m3u`	Standalone supports direct `.ccd`, `.chd`, `.cue`, `.iso`, and `.mds`; `.zip` and `.m3u` use RetroArch only
`DC`	`.cdi`, `.chd`, `.cue`, `.dat`, `.gdi`, `.iso`, `.m3u`	`.zip` is not accepted directly
`ATOMISWAVE`	`.cdi`, `.chd`, `.cue`, `.dat`, `.gdi`, `.iso`, `.zip`, `.m3u`	Keep zipped sets at their original shortnames
`NAOMI`	`.cdi`, `.chd`, `.cue`, `.dat`, `.gdi`, `.iso`, `.zip`, `.m3u`	Keep zipped sets at their original shortnames
`PCE`	`.ccd`, `.chd`, `.cue`, `.img`, `.iso`, `.pce`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`PCECD`	`.ccd`, `.chd`, `.cue`, `.img`, `.iso`, `.m3u`	`.zip` is not accepted directly
`PC98`	`.2hd`, `.88d`, `.98d`, `.cmd`, `.d88`, `.d98`, `.dup`, `.fdd`, `.fdi`, `.hdd`, `.hdi`, `.hdm`, `.hdn`, `.nhd`, `.tfd`, `.thd`, `.xdf`, `.zip`	Use `.cmd` when multiple images must be mounted together
`NEOGEO`	`.7z`, `.zip`	`neocd.zip`, `neocdz.zip`, and `neogeo.zip` are BIOS/ignored as games
`NGP`	`.ngc`, `.ngp`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`NGPC`	`.ngc`, `.ngp`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`PSX`	`.cbn`, `.chd`, `.cue`, `.img`, `.iso`, `.mdf`, `.pbp`, `.toc`, `.m3u`	`.zip` is not accepted directly
`PSP`	`.chd`, `.cso`, `.iso`, `.pbp`	`.zip` is not accepted directly
`ATARI2600`	`.a26`, `.bin`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`A7800`	`.a78`, `.bin`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`LYNX`	`.lnx`, `.zip`
`AMIGA`	`.adf`, `.adz`, `.dms`, `.fdi`, `.raw`, `.hdf`, `.hdz`, `.lha`, `.cue`, `.ccd`, `.chd`, `.nrg`, `.mds`, `.iso`, `.uae`, `.rp9`, `.zip`, `.7z`, `.m3u`	One folder covers OCS/ECS, AGA, CDTV, and CD32
`WS`	`.pc2`, `.ws`, `.wsc`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`WSC`	`.pc2`, `.ws`, `.wsc`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`COLECO`	`.bin`, `.col`, `.rom`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`VECTREX`	`.bin`, `.vec`, `.7z`, `.zip`
`PICO8`	`.p8`, `.png`
`DOS`	`.bat`, `.com`, `.conf`, `.dosz`, `.exe`, `.ima`, `.img`, `.ins`, `.iso`, `.jrc`, `.tc`, `.vhd`, `.zip`, `.m3u`, `.m3u8`
`EASYRPG`	`.easyrpg`, `.ldb`, `.zip`	`RPG_RT.ldb` is the expected project entry file
`ARCADE`	`.zip`	`neocd.zip`, `neocdz.zip`, and `neogeo.zip` are BIOS/ignored as games
`PORTS`	`.sh`
`MAME`	`.zip`	Optional advanced folder for MAME 03+ sets

Naomi and Atomiswave arcade sets

A .zip in either of these folders is a MAME/Flycast ROM set, not a generic compressed game. Its filename before .zip is a machine-readable game ID. Do not replace that shortname with the friendly title: Flycast will not identify the game. Leaf shows the friendly title automatically, so doa2m.zip appears as Dead or Alive 2 Millennium without changing the file on disk.

On the SD card, a cartridge example keeps its set archive alongside the matching BIOS:

Roms/NAOMI/doa2m.zip
BIOS/dc/naomi.zip

A Naomi GD-ROM set uses its shortname ZIP as the launchable entry and keeps the CHD in a same-shortname subfolder:

Roms/NAOMI/ikaruga.zip
Roms/NAOMI/ikaruga/gdl-0010.chd
BIOS/dc/naomi.zip

Launch ikaruga.zip, not the CHD. Split sets may also require their parent ZIP. Keep every archive, parent, subfolder, and media filename exactly as supplied by a compatible MAME/Flycast set. Renaming an incompatible dump does not convert it into a compatible set.

For a wider title-to-shortname lookup, Flycast’s upstream Naomi compatibility list includes a romset column. Its compatibility results were collected against an older core, so use the names as a lookup aid rather than a Leaf compatibility guarantee.

PC-98 games that need multiple disks at startup

Some PC-98 software expects Disk A in the first floppy drive and Disk B in the second drive immediately at startup. Launching Disk A by itself can produce a Not ready message. Keep the images together and add a UTF-8 .cmd file in the same folder, for example:

Dragon Knight 4 Special Disk.cmd
Dragon Knight 4 Special Disk (Disk 1 of 2)(Disk A).fdd
Dragon Knight 4 Special Disk (Disk 2 of 2)(Disk B).fdd

The .cmd file contains one line. Quote every filename that contains spaces:

np2kai "Dragon Knight 4 Special Disk (Disk 1 of 2)(Disk A).fdd" "Dragon Knight 4 Special Disk (Disk 2 of 2)(Disk B).fdd"

The first floppy image is mounted in FDD1 and the second in FDD2. Launch the .cmd entry from Jawaka; Jawaka hides the disk files referenced by that command so the game appears only once. Unreferenced images remain visible as normal. Use RetroArch’s Disc Control later if the software asks for another disk.

Amiga games, archives, and multiple disks

Keep every supported Amiga family in Roms/AMIGA/: A500/OCS, A600/ECS, A1200/A4000/AGA, CDTV, and CD32 do not use separate public folders. PUAE chooses the machine model from the content type and familiar path tags such as AGA, CDTV, or CD32. For example, include CDTV in the filename or a parent-folder name when CD content must boot as CDTV rather than the normal CD32 default.

Leaf passes individual game .zip and .7z archives to PUAE intact. If you download a large collection ZIP containing many per-game ZIPs, unpack the outer collection once on your computer and copy only the individual game archives to Roms/AMIGA/. Do not unpack a preinstalled WHDLoad .lha; launch the LHA directly. Writes made inside a temporarily extracted ZIP are not repacked, so use an uncompressed disk image, a dedicated save disk, or a WHDLoad LHA when a game must write persistent data.

For a multi-disk game, create a text .m3u file with one disk per line and launch that playlist. Leaf shows the M3U as the game and hides its referenced members, including entries with friendly labels such as Disk 1.adf|Game Disk or ZIP members such as Game.zip#Disk 1.adf. PUAE also understands #SAVEDISK:Label in an M3U. Change media with RetroArch’s Disc Control menu.

Leaf deliberately does not list .ipf, loose .slave, or loose .info files. IPF needs a separately packaged CAPSIMG library that this release does not ship; preinstalled WHDLoad games should remain in .lha archives.

A system appears in the launcher once its emulator core is available on the device. If a folder’s system isn’t showing up, its core may not be installed; see BIOS & cores.

A second SD card

The Pocket 1 has two microSD slots. The card Leaf boots from is the Primary; a card in the second slot is picked up automatically as an extra Secondary source of games.

Give the second card the same folder layout as the first - Roms/<SYSTEM>/, Images/<SYSTEM>/, and so on at its root. Leaf merges both cards into one library, so a system’s games from either card appear together under that one system, and you don’t need to browse per card.

You can add or remove the second card while the device is running: Leaf notices the change and rescans on its own. Before pulling it out, use Settings → System → SD Cards so nothing is mid-write.

Removing the second card doesn’t throw away anything Leaf knows about its games. Those games become temporarily unavailable and disappear from the lists, but their favorites, recents, playtime, artwork, and per-game settings are kept. Put the card back and the same entries return. That also holds if the two cards change places or content moves between them, because Leaf identifies a game by its card and its path within that card rather than by wherever it happened to be mounted.

Box art

You can add box art two ways: drop it in yourself, or let Leaf fetch it.

Add it yourself. Name each image to match its game file (same name, image extension) and place it in Images/<SYSTEM>/. For Roms/SNES/Chrono Trigger.sfc, use Images/SNES/Chrono Trigger.png. Leaf pairs them up automatically and shows the art in the game list.

Let Leaf fetch it. Leaf can download box art from ScreenScraper.fr. Sign in once under Settings → Games → Accounts → ScreenScraper.fr, then start a scrape. For a single game, press X on it and choose Scrape Artwork. To do whole systems at once (or every system), use Settings → Games → Scrape Artwork, which lists All Systems plus each system with its missing-art count. Fetched art lands in Images/<SYSTEM>/ exactly as if you had added it by hand, and appears in the list as soon as each download finishes. Which image type and region it picks is set under Settings → Games (Artwork Priority and Region Priority).

PC-98, Atomiswave, and the complete Naomi family are supported by live scraping. For a Naomi title, Leaf tries the base Naomi catalog first, then Naomi GD-ROM, then Naomi 2. It computes the game hash once and stops as soon as the correct family matches; no extra setup is needed. Artwork still lands at Images/<SYSTEM>/<game-name>.png, including Images/NAOMI/ for every Naomi family.

A Naomi miss can query all three family catalogs, so scraping a large unmatched Naomi set can use more of ScreenScraper’s daily request allowance than a single-catalog system.

Amiga scraping follows the same pattern. Leaf tries the general Amiga catalog, then AGA, CDTV, and CD32, stopping on the first match. You keep one Images/AMIGA/ artwork folder and do not need to choose the hardware family by hand.

Press X on a game or a system in the launcher to open its Options menu. This is where per-item actions live, so they stay out of the main list:

Display Name - rename how the game or system shows in the launcher.
Core - choose which emulator core runs this game or system, when more than one is available.
Saturn BIOS - appears only when YabaSanshiro Standalone is the emulator in force. Choose Default, HLE, or one of your own BIOS files. See Saturn BIOS selection.
Performance - set a per-game or per-system performance profile that overrides the global default.
Scrape Artwork - on a game, fetch and replace its box art. While that scrape is queued the row reads Cancel Scraping. To scrape a whole system or every system at once, use Settings → Games → Scrape Artwork instead.
Reset Overrides - clear the custom name, core, performance, and Saturn BIOS settings you set above.

Scraping runs in the background, so you can leave the menu, keep browsing, or even play a game while art downloads.

Multi-disc games

Leaf handles multi-disc games (PlayStation, Sega CD, and the like) for you. Name the disc files with the usual (Disc 1), (Disc 2) tags, drop them in the system folder - loose or in a subfolder of their own - and Leaf groups them into a single .m3u playlist automatically. The game then shows up once instead of once per disc, and RetroArch reads that playlist to swap discs from its in-game menu.

Prefer to manage it yourself? Add your own .m3u listing the disc files and Leaf uses it as-is - it never overwrites a playlist you made by hand.

Arcade names

Arcade ROMs are named by their short internal ID (mslug, 1942, sf2ce) rather than the full title. Leaf recognizes these for arcade and Neo Geo sets and shows the friendly name instead, so mslug reads as Metal Slug and your arcade list looks like the rest of your library. There’s nothing to switch on; it happens as your games are scanned.

To override a name, drop a map.txt in that system’s folder (for example Roms/ARCADE/map.txt) with one romname = Your Title line per game - the romname is the zip’s name without its extension. Your entries win over the built-in list.

BIOS-dependent systems

Some systems need a BIOS file you provide yourself (Neo Geo, for example, needs neogeo.zip in BIOS/). Arcade games are also picky about ROM-set versions. See BIOS & cores for the details.