RetroArch settings

RetroArch has hundreds of settings of its own, and Leaf lets you change nearly all of them. This page explains where those settings live, when a change is written down, and why a handful of them go back to Leaf’s values every time you launch something.

You do not need any of this to play games. Read it if a setting you changed did not stick.

One shared base configuration

Leaf keeps a single RetroArch configuration and shares it across every game and the RetroArch app tile. It lives on your primary SD card at:

.umrk/mlp1/retroarch/retroarch.cfg

Turn on rewind while playing a Mega Drive game and the next Game Boy game starts with rewind on, unless a configuration override changes it. Core options, input remaps, and overrides have their own files; the shared config is the starting point for each session.

Aspect ratio and a few others are exceptions. See Settings Leaf owns below.

The per-launch working copy

Every time RetroArch starts, Leaf builds it a fresh working copy in temporary storage, named after the process that owns it:

/tmp/jawaka-runtime/retroarch-current-1234.cfg

RetroArch reads and writes that file for the length of the session. When it exits, Leaf copies your changes back into the shared config above and deletes the working copy.

A new number in that filename on every launch is normal. It is not a sign that anything failed to save. The file is temporary, and the number is just the process ID. The file Leaf actually keeps is retroarch.cfg.

When your changes are saved

Leaf turns on RetroArch’s Save Configuration on Quit, so your changes are saved when RetroArch quits normally. You do not have to save by hand:

• Exit a game through MENU → Save & Quit, or
• in the RetroArch app tile, use Main Menu → Quit RetroArch.

Leaf hides the Configuration File menu. Quit normally to save the shared configuration; see Alternate configurations.

My changes disappeared after powering off

Pulling the power while RetroArch is running cannot be made safe. A hard power cut, such as holding the power button until the device dies or letting the battery run flat, stops the device before anything in memory reaches the card. Settings changed in that session may be lost.

Leaf’s own Power Off and Reboot handle the RetroArch app tile properly: they ask RetroArch to quit, wait for it to save, and copy the config back before the device goes down. If RetroArch hangs or the write fails, those changes may not be saved. A failed copy leaves the previous shared config intact; check for an error when you next return to the launcher.

A running game is different. Powering off or restarting with a game open stops its process without the app tile’s graceful quit sequence. Settings changed during that session can be lost, and so can recent in-game progress: RetroArch writes a game’s save data when the game closes, so a game that never gets to close may not have written it yet.

Leave a game with MENU → Save & Quit before powering off. That closes the game through the normal save-and-quit sequence. A core must support the kind of save you are using, and the SD card must be writable.

Settings Leaf owns

A small number of RetroArch settings are set by Leaf on every launch. If you change one of these in RetroArch’s menus it will apply for the rest of that session and then return to Leaf’s value the next time you start a game.

This is deliberate. Each one is either wired to a Leaf setting that would otherwise disagree with it, or it is part of how Leaf talks to RetroArch at all.

What Leaf owns	Why, and where to change it instead
Save, save-state, system, and screenshot folders; per-core save sorting	Leaf decides where saves and states live, including for games on a second SD card.
Core and core-info folders, controller autoconfig folder	Set from the installed core and Leaf’s packaged controller profiles.
Save-on-exit, the network command port, and pause-when-inactive	How Leaf saves your settings and drives RetroArch’s menu, save states, and clean quit. Turning these off would break the in-game menu.
Audio device, driver, latency, and block size	Choose the output in Settings → Display & Sound. Leaf fixes the driver and buffering values.
Video driver, graphics context, threaded video	The working renderer for this device.
Refresh rate, black frame insertion	Settings → Display & Sound.
Aspect ratio, force aspect, integer scaling	Pinned to the core’s own aspect with integer scaling off. There is no Leaf setting for these; see Aspect ratio and integer scaling below.
Menu driver, menu scale, menu theme, OK/Cancel button order, load-content animation	Device-appropriate defaults; OK/Cancel is matched to the console’s own button layout.
Menu language	Settings → General → Language.
Autoconfig and config-override notifications	Suppressed so Leaf’s own messages are not buried.
Configuration File menu	Hidden. See Alternate configurations below.
Quit hotkey	Unbound. Quit through Leaf’s in-game menu. The Hotkey Enable modifier is yours to change and defaults to MENU.
Automatic shader preset directory and loading	Leaf fixes the automatic-preset directory and enables shader loading on each launch. Remove an unwanted saved preset at its scope; disabling Video Shaders lasts only for the session.
Player count and per-player controller order	Set from the controllers connected at launch. See Controllers.
Save-state compression and thumbnails	Compression is off and thumbnails are on for Leaf’s state browser.
Recording driver, preset, quality, and output folder	Settings → Controls & Feedback → In-game Shortcuts → Recording controls whether recording is enabled; Leaf fixes the remaining values. See Recording.
Firmware check, built-in image viewer and media player, dummy core on shutdown	Device compatibility.
RetroAchievements enablement, account, password, and token	Settings → Accounts. Leaf hands these to RetroArch per session and keeps your password off the SD card.

Settings outside this list, including rewind, run-ahead, overlays, cheats, per-core options, and input remaps, are yours and persist normally. Shaders are a separate case: a shader can be active for only the current session, while an automatic shader preset has its own game, folder, core, and global precedence. See RetroArch shaders for how to save and remove those presets.

Aspect ratio and integer scaling

Leaf pins RetroArch’s aspect ratio to Core provided, leaves Force Aspect Ratio on, and leaves Integer Scale off, on every launch. Unlike the other rows in the table above, these are not wired to a Leaf setting: there is nothing in Display & Sound or anywhere else in Leaf that changes them. Turning Integer Scale on in Settings → Video → Scaling works for the rest of that session and is back off the next time you start a game.

If you want integer scaling for crisp pixels, save it as a per-core override. Overrides are loaded after Leaf’s values and win, so they survive relaunches:

1. Start a game on the core you want it for.
2. MENU → RetroArch Settings, then Settings → Video → Scaling, and turn Integer Scale on.
3. Back out to RetroArch’s Quick Menu and choose Overrides → Save Core Overrides.

The setting now applies every time you play anything on that core. Save Game Overrides and Save Content Directory Overrides in the same menu do the same thing for one game or one folder. The files are kept on your primary card under .umrk/mlp1/retroarch/.config/retroarch/config/<Core Name>/, and Remove Core Overrides in that menu deletes the one in use.

One thing to know before you do this: while an override is loaded, RetroArch stops writing the shared config on exit. That is RetroArch’s own behaviour, and it protects the shared config from absorbing the override’s values. Other RetroArch settings you change during a session on that core will not persist, so make your ordinary settings changes first and save the override afterwards.

Alternate configurations

RetroArch can normally keep several configuration files and switch between them from its Configuration File menu. Leaf does not support that, and hides the menu.

The reason is that Save Main Configuration and Load Configuration point RetroArch at a different file. Leaf would go on copying back the one it handed RetroArch at launch, so the session’s changes would look saved and then vanish. Rather than leave a menu that quietly loses work, Leaf removes it and saves your changes automatically on exit instead.

This is only about whole alternate config files. The per-core overrides described above are a different mechanism and still work.

If an older Leaf version left an alternate config on your card under .umrk/mlp1/retroarch/.config/retroarch/, it is ignored. Leaf will not import it for you, because picking the right one among several is guesswork and the wrong pick would overwrite the settings you are using. Copy values across by hand if you need them.

Reset the RetroArch config

Settings → General → Reset RetroArch Config replaces the shared config with Leaf’s packaged defaults.

This erases the settings kept in that file, including the active shader setting, rewind, overlays, and the rest of RetroArch’s own menus. It does not remove automatic shader preset files, so a saved game, folder, core, or global preset can apply again after the reset. Use RetroArch shaders to remove those presets. Configuration overrides, per-core options, and input remaps are stored in separate files and are not erased. Remove a configuration override through Quick Menu → Overrides if you want to clear it too. Your games, saves, and save states are untouched. Use this when RetroArch is misbehaving and you would rather start clean than find the setting that caused it. See Troubleshooting.

A setting still won’t stick

1. Check the table above. If Leaf owns it, change it from the Leaf setting named there instead. For aspect ratio and integer scaling there is no Leaf setting - save a core override instead, as described in Aspect ratio and integer scaling.
2. Quit properly with MENU → Save & Quit, or use Quit RetroArch in the app tile. Do not power off from inside RetroArch.
3. Check whether a core, folder, or game override is loaded. It can replace the shared value and prevents RetroArch from saving the shared config on exit.
4. If none of these explains it, report which setting changed and exactly how you left RetroArch.