Appendix B: Protocols, Ports and the API¶

Output and input protocols¶

Protocol	Transport	Typical use	In/Out
E1.31 (sACN)	UDP multicast/unicast	Ethernet pixel/DMX controllers	Out & In
DDP	UDP unicast	Efficient Ethernet pixel control (e.g. Falcon, WLED)	Out & In
ArtNet	UDP	Stage/DMX ecosystems	Out & In
KiNet	UDP	Color Kinetics gear	Out
DMX	Serial (USB)	DMX fixtures via USB dongle	Out
Pixelnet	Serial	Legacy pixel control	Out
Renard	Serial	Legacy DIY controllers	Out

Direct WS281x pixel strings and LED matrix panels are driven through a cape/hat rather than a network protocol (see Capes appendix).

Common network ports¶

Port	Protocol	Purpose
80	HTTP	FPP web UI and REST API
5568	E1.31 (sACN)	Streaming ACN lighting data
6454	ArtNet	ArtNet lighting data
4048	DDP	Distributed Display Protocol
32320 / 32328	FPP MultiSync	Player→remote sync and discovery
1883	MQTT	Broker connection (configurable)

(Ports for AES67 and Opus RTP audio streaming are configured on FPP Settings → Audio/Video.)

The FPP API¶

FPP exposes a REST/HTTP API on port 80 for status and control — starting and stopping playlists, reading status, setting channel data, controlling overlay models, and more. The interactive API help is available in the FPP UI (the api.php / API help page), and the same actions are available through Commands, MQTT and the Scheduler.

MQTT¶

When configured (FPP Settings → MQTT), FPP connects to an MQTT broker and both publishes status and subscribes to command topics under a configurable prefix, making it easy to integrate with home‑automation platforms such as Home Assistant or Node‑RED. See the FPP MQTT documentation for the full topic list.

Further resources¶

FPP GitHub: https://github.com/FalconChristmas/fpp
FPP releases/downloads: https://github.com/FalconChristmas/fpp/releases
xLights (sequencing): https://xlights.org
Community support: the FPP/xLights forums and Facebook groups.