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title, parent, nav_order, last_updated, description, aliases
| title | parent | nav_order | last_updated | description | aliases | |||
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| Settings — Modules & Admin | User Guide | 8 | 2026-08-30 | Configure optional feature modules (MQTT, telemetry, canned messages, TAK, and more) and perform device administration. |
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Settings — Modules & Admin
Configure optional feature modules and perform device administration. Modules extend Meshtastic with specialized capabilities — each can be independently enabled or disabled.
💡 Tip: You only need to enable the modules you actually use. Disabling unused modules reduces airtime, saves battery, and simplifies your configuration. A module you expect can be missing for three reasons: your node's role does not enable it, your firmware is older than the release that added it, or the firmware build excludes it for this hardware.
Module settings use a card-based layout with toggle switches, dropdowns, text fields, and sliders:
Module Configuration
Every module lives under Settings → Module configuration.
⚠️ Important: Saving a module screen restarts the radio — the button reads Save & restart, and the radio is unreachable for a few seconds afterwards. External Notification and Mesh Beacon are the exceptions: their button reads Save, and the radio may still restart for some changes.
MQTT Module
Bridges mesh messages to and from an MQTT broker for internet connectivity. This is how you extend your mesh beyond radio range or integrate with home automation systems.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| Activar el MQTT | Toggle MQTT bridge |
| Dirección del Servidor MQTT | MQTT broker address |
| Usuario | Authentication username |
| Contraseña | Authentication password |
| Permitir Encripción | Encrypt MQTT payloads |
| Salida JSON activada | Publish and consume MQTT messages as JSON. Marked deprecated in the protobuf schema, but it is still the only toggle for this behavior and the firmware still honors it |
| TLS activado | Use secure connection |
| Tema raíz | Base MQTT topic path |
| Compartir Internet a la Radio | Let a connected phone carry the node's MQTT traffic, instead of the node reaching the broker itself |
| MQTT proxy on this phone | The phone-side half of Proxy to client enabled: whether this phone acts as that relay. See MQTT |
| Reportar Posición | Publish position to the public map — see the Map reporting group that follows |
Turning Map reporting on reveals a consent card headed Consent to Share Unencrypted Node Data via MQTT, with an I agree. switch under it. The rest of the card does not exist on screen until you agree:
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| Estoy de acuerdo. | Explicit consent to transmit your node data, including an approximate position, unencrypted. Map reporting does not start without it |
| Precision slider | The slider has no label of its own. It sets how coarsely your position is published, from 12 to 15; the line beneath reads ± the resulting distance, in your own units |
| Tiempo entre Reportes de Posición (en Segundos) | How often to report. A dropdown of fixed intervals from 1 hour to 72 hours — nothing shorter is offered |
See MQTT for a detailed usage guide including encryption, privacy, and broker setup.
Serial Module
Enables serial port communication for external device integrations (GPS modules, sensors, or custom hardware). When enabled, the node's serial port can send and receive protobuf or text data, allowing external microcontrollers or computers to interact with the mesh.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| Comunicación serial activada | Activate serial communication |
| Eco activado | Echo received serial data back |
| Modo serial | Which protocol the port speaks — Default, Simple, Proto, Text message, NMEA, CalTopo, WS85 weather station, VE.Direct, MeshSolar config, Log, or Log (text only) |
| RX / TX | GPIO pins for the serial connection |
| Tasa de baudios por segundo | Port speed |
| Tiempo agotado | How long to wait before considering an incoming message complete |
| Sobreescribir el puerto serie de la consola | Take over the port the debug console normally uses |
External Notification Module
Controls buzzer, LED, or vibration alerts on your radio hardware. Useful for devices that need to physically signal when a message arrives — particularly helpful for unattended or outdoor installations.
There are two independent triggers — an incoming message, and a received bell character — and each can drive the LED, the buzzer and the vibration motor separately, giving six toggles.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| Notificaciones externas activadas | Master toggle for the module |
| Alert message LED / buzzer / vibra | Which outputs fire on an incoming message |
| Alert bell LED / buzzer / vibra | Which outputs fire on a received bell character |
| Salida LED (pin GPIO) | Pin the LED is wired to |
| LED de salida activo en alto | Whether the LED pin is active high or low |
| Salida buzzer (pin GPIO) | Pin the buzzer is wired to |
| Salida vibratoria (pin GPIO) | Pin the vibration motor is wired to |
| Utilizar buzzer PWM | Drive the buzzer with PWM, which allows tones rather than a single pitch |
| Utilizar el Buzzer como uno I2S | Send the alert through an I2S audio output instead |
| Duración en las salidas (milisegundos) | How long a single alert lasts |
| Keep repeating the alert for this long until it is acknowledged. 0 disables nagging | |
| Tono de notificación | The tone played on a PWM buzzer, in RTTTL. Can be imported from a file |
Store & Forward Module
Buffers messages for nodes that were temporarily offline, then replays them when those nodes reconnect. Essential for meshes where nodes go in and out of range regularly — ensures messages aren't lost during brief disconnections.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| Descargar y reenviar activado | Activate store and forward |
| Pulso de vida | Periodically announce this node's store-and-forward capability |
| Número de registros | Maximum stored messages |
| Historial máximo devuelto | Max messages to replay |
| History return window | Time window for replay |
| Servidor | Act as a store-and-forward server for the mesh (requires ample memory, e.g. ESP32 with PSRAM) |
💡 Tip: Store and Forward works best on nodes with ample memory (ESP32 with PSRAM). Router nodes are ideal candidates since they're typically always-on.
Range Test Module
⚠️ Warning: Range Test only works on a secured primary channel. As long as your primary channel still uses the default channel key, the interval and CSV controls stay disabled — you can still switch an already-enabled module off — and saving force-disables the module if the channel has reverted to public.
Automated range testing tool for evaluating link quality between nodes. When enabled, the node periodically transmits test messages with incrementing counters. A receiver node logs these messages, allowing you to walk or drive away and later analyze at what distance messages stopped arriving.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| Test de alcance activado | Activate range testing |
| Periodo entre los mensajes del transmisor (segundos) | Time between test transmissions, chosen from a dropdown of fixed intervals |
| Guardar el .CSV en el almacenamiento (Esp32) | Log received test data to the radio's own filesystem. ESP32 hardware only |
Telemetry Module
Controls what telemetry data your node shares with the mesh. Telemetry includes device health (battery, uptime) and environmental sensor data (temperature, humidity, pressure).
Each of the four metric groups has its own enable toggle and its own interval, so you can report battery health often and sensors rarely.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| Enviar telemetría del dispositivo | Master toggle for device metrics. Only shown on firmware 2.7.12 and newer |
| Intervalo actualización de métricas del dispositivo | How often to report battery, uptime and channel utilization |
| Módulo para las medidas del entorno activado | Report the attached environment sensors |
| Intervalo actualización de métricas del entorno | How often to report them |
| Mostrar las medidas del entorno en la | Also show these readings on the device's own display |
| Grados Fahrenheit para la temperatura ambiente | Use °F on the device's display. This is the radio's screen only — the app follows your phone's locale, see Units & Locale |
| Módulo para la medición de la calidad del aire activado | Report particulate and CO₂ sensor data |
| Intervalo actualización de métricas calidad del aire | How often to report them |
| Módulo de medidas eléctricas activado | Report the per-channel voltage and current readings |
| Intervalo de actualización de métricas de energía | How often to report them |
| Medidas eléctricas en pantalla | Also show power readings on the device's display |
See Telemetry & Sensors for supported sensors and configuration recommendations.
Canned Message Module
Pre-configured messages accessible from the radio's physical buttons (for radios with rotary encoders, keypads, or similar input hardware). Define a list of quick-send messages that can be transmitted without a phone connected — ideal for field use.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| ⚠️ Deprecated in the protobuf schema | |
| Mensajes | Newline-separated list of messages |
| Mandar campana 🔔 | Send a bell character alongside the message, so a receiving node's External Notification module can sound |
| Encoder Número 1 Activado | Use a rotary encoder as the input device |
| GPIO pin for rotary encoder A / B / Press port | The three pins the encoder is wired to |
| Generate input event on Press / CW / CCW | Which key event each encoder action produces |
| Arriba/Abajo/Seleccionar Activado | A separate, simpler input scheme using up/down/select buttons rather than an encoder |
| ⚠️ Deprecated in the protobuf schema |
Audio Module
Codec2 audio support for low-bandwidth voice communication over the mesh. This is an experimental feature that encodes voice into very small data packets using the Codec2 codec.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| CODEC 2 activado | Activate audio module |
| Frecuencia de Muestreo CODEC2 | Audio quality/bandwidth tradeoff |
| Pin PTT | GPIO pin for the push-to-talk button |
| Selecionar palabras I2S | GPIO pin for I2S WS |
| Entrada de datos I2S | GPIO pin for I2S DIN |
| Salida de datos I2S | GPIO pin for I2S DOUT |
| Reloj del I2S | GPIO pin for the I2S bit clock |
ℹ️ Note: Audio requires specific hardware (I2S microphone and speaker). Voice quality is very low-bandwidth — think "understandable radio voice," not phone-call quality.
Remote Hardware Module
GPIO control over the mesh network. Allows a remote node to read or write GPIO pins on another node — useful for activating relays, reading switches, or controlling external hardware from a distance.
⚠️ Warning: Turning on Allow undefined pin access gives remote nodes access to all GPIO pins, which could interfere with the radio's own hardware. Turn it on only on dedicated GPIO nodes.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| Hardware remoto activado | Activate remote GPIO access |
| Permitir el acceso sin un pin definido | Allow access to any GPIO pin (security risk) |
| Pines disponibles | Up to 4 GPIO pins this node exposes for remote read/write |
Neighbor Info Module
Broadcasts information about directly heard neighbors, enabling mesh topology mapping. Each enabled node periodically shares a list of the other nodes it can hear and their signal quality.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| Información de Vecinos | Activate neighbor broadcasting |
| Intervalo de refresco (segundos) | How often to broadcast neighbor list |
| Transmitir en LoRa | Also broadcast neighbor info over LoRa, not just MQTT/phone. Unavailable on a channel using the default key and name |
See Local Mesh Discovery for how to use neighbor data for mesh topology exploration.
Ambient Lighting Module
Controls onboard NeoPixel or other addressable RGB LEDs on supported hardware. Can be used for visual status indicators, notification lights, or decorative effects.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| Estado de led | Turn the LED on or off |
| Intensidad | LED current limit (0–31) |
| Red / Green / Blue | Individual color channel values (0–255) |
Detection Sensor Module
Turns your node into a motion or door sensor alert system. When a GPIO pin detects a state change (motion detected, door opened), the node broadcasts an alert message over the mesh.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| Sensor detector activado | Activate detection sensor |
| Pin GPIO para monitorizar | GPIO pin connected to sensor |
| Tipo de detección para activar | How the pin's state maps to a detection event (e.g. active high/low, edge-triggered) |
| Utilizar el modo de entrada PULL_UP | Enable the pin's internal pull-up resistor |
| Tiempo mínimo de transmisión (segundos) | Minimum time between alert broadcasts |
| Periodo entre transmisión de estado (segundos) | Periodic state broadcast interval |
| Mandar la campana con el mensaje de alerta | Include bell character in alerts |
| Mote | Custom name for this sensor |
Paxcounter Module
People counter using Wi-Fi and BLE probe requests. Counts nearby devices by passively listening for probe requests that phones and laptops emit when scanning for networks. Available only on ESP32 devices.
| Setting | Descripción |
|---|---|
| Activar el Contador de Paquetes | Activate people counting |
| Intervalo de refresco (segundos) | How often to report counts |
| Wi-Fi RSSI threshold | Ignore Wi-Fi probes weaker than this, so distant devices are not counted (defaults to −80 dBm) |
| BLE RSSI threshold | The same cut-off for BLE advertisements (defaults to −80 dBm) |
💡 Tip: Paxcounter is useful for estimating foot traffic at trailheads, event venues, or other locations. Counts are approximate — one person may carry multiple devices.
Status Message Module
The status message has no module screen. It is edited with the rest of the node's identity, on Settings — Radio & User.
Mesh Beacon Module
Broadcasts an invitation to your mesh, and receives invitations from others. The entry appears only on radios running firmware 2.8.0 or newer. See Local Mesh Discovery for the full walkthrough.
TAK Module
Team Awareness Kit integration for interoperability with ATAK and WinTAK. Two things have to be
true before the entry appears in the module list: the radio runs firmware 2.8.0 or newer, and its
Device Role on Settings → Device configuration → Device is set to TAK or TAK_TRACKER.
See TAK Integration for detailed setup and usage.
Administración
Administración remota
Remotely configure nodes that share your admin key:
- Select the target node in the node list.
- Navigate to Settings for that node.
- Modify configuration.
- Tap Save — changes are sent over the mesh.
⚠️ Important: Requires an admin key configured on both your node and the target node.
Device Actions
Settings → Administration holds five one-shot actions, each behind a confirmation dialog:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Set time | Sends your phone's clock to the radio |
| Reiniciar | Restarts the radio |
| Apagar | Powers the radio down |
| Restablecer los valores de fábrica | Returns every setting to its factory default |
| Reinicio de NodeDB | Clears the radio's node database. This dialog carries a Preserve Favorites? switch |
⚠️ Warning: Factory reset erases all settings, channels, and keys, and cannot be undone. Before you reset, use Export configuration to save the radio's settings and Backup Keys on the Security screen to save its keys, so you can put both back afterwards.
Hacer copia de seguridad y restaurar
Settings → Backup & Restore writes the connected radio's whole configuration to a file with Export configuration, and reads a saved file back in with Import configuration. Export before a factory reset, or to copy one radio's setup onto another. The section is shown for your own radio only, not over remote admin.
Avanzado
Settings → Advanced collects the tools that read or rewrite local state, and is likewise shown for your own radio only: Firmware Update on OTA-capable hardware, Clean Node Database, TAK Server, Local Mesh Discovery, and the Debug Panel.
Limpiar nodos de la base de datos
Prunes nodes from your node database — from the app's copy and from the radio's own, so this is not a display-only cleanup. The two filters combine rather than acting separately; the screen puts it as Selections are additive.
- Clean up nodes last seen older than N days — always applied. The slider runs from 7 days to 365 and starts at 30; with Clean up only unknown nodes turned on, its floor drops to 0.
- Clean up only unknown nodes — narrows the same purge to nodes that never sent their user info. The age limit still applies on top of it.
The screen lists the nodes queued for deletion as you move the filters. Clean Now carries the purge out, after one more confirmation, and it cannot be undone. Favorited nodes, ignored nodes, and nodes with a public key heard in the last seven days are never removed, whatever the filters say — that is why the queued list can be shorter than you expect.
Panel de depuración
Opens the Packets and App logs tabs for viewing, filtering, and exporting diagnostic output. See Debug Logs for the full walkthrough.
App Settings
Two easy-to-miss entries on the Settings screen configure the app rather than the radio, and appear only when your own node is selected:
- Node Layout — how much detail each row of the node list shows.
- Message Filter — hides incoming messages that contain words you list. With no words configured it does nothing.
Acerca de
Settings → About carries the app's own identity rather than the radio's:
Three sections:
- What is Meshtastic? — a short description of the project.
- Apps — opens with Need Hardware?, a rotating carousel of popular devices that links out to where to buy one. It also lists the GitHub repository, the running app version, and Acknowledgements (see the next section).
- Project information — links to the website and to this documentation.
Agradecimientos
Reached from About, this lists every open-source library the app ships, with its license, generated at build time by AboutLibraries. It was previously called the license screen.
Troubleshooting Remote Admin
- "No response from target node" — the target may be out of range, offline, or have a mismatched admin key. Verify the admin key matches on both nodes.
- Changes not applying — some settings require a reboot to take effect. Try the Reboot action after saving.
- Can't see remote settings — ensure your node has the admin key for the target node. The admin channel is configured automatically when an admin key is set.
Related Topics
- Settings — Radio & User — core radio and user profile settings
- Module configuration reference — detailed module docs on meshtastic.org
- FAQ — common questions on meshtastic.org



