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Power Settings

Overview​

Power settings on a Meshtastic device can be set like other user-define settings with the --set command see (see Meshtastic-python). Some of these options are implicit in other commands. For example, when you set the device to router mode using is_router true, it is implied that deep sleep is disabled and we want to constantly listen for messages. Below is a list of all user-definable settings and the acceptable values that these settings can use.

For a description and more information on what exactly all of these mean, please refer to Power Management State Machine

Settings​

SettingAcceptable ValuesDefault
charge_currentMAUnset, MA100, MA190, MA280, MA360, MA450, MA550, MA630, MA700, MA780, MA880, MA960, MA1000, MA1080, MA1160, MA1240, MA1320:MAUnset
is_always_poweredtrue, falsefalse
is_low_powertrue, falsefalse
is_routertrue, falsefalse
ls_secsinteger (seconds)0
mesh_sds_timeout_secsinteger (seconds)0
min_wake_secsinteger (seconds)0
on_battery_shutdown_after_secsinteger (seconds)0
phone_timeout_secsinteger (seconds)0
screen_on_secsinteger (seconds)0
sds_secsinteger (seconds)0
wait_bluetooth_secsinteger (seconds)0
note

When you change the following settings to 0 they assume the following defaults:

  • ls_secs: 1 hour
  • mesh_sds_timeout_secs: 2 hours
  • min_wake_secs: 10 seconds
  • phone_timeout_secs: 15 minutes
  • screen_on_secs: 1 minute
  • sds_secs: 1 year
  • wait_bluetooth_secs: 1 minute

charge_current​

Sets the current of the battery charger.

Specify charge_current​

Unset charge current
meshtastic --set  charge_current MAUnset
Set charge current
meshtastic --set  charge_current MA100

is_always_powered​

Circumvents the logic block for determining whether the device is powered or not. Useful for devices with finicky ADC issues on the battery sense pins.

Enable/Disable is_always_powered​

Enable is_always_powered
meshtastic --set is_always_powered true
Disable is_always_powered
meshtastic --set is_always_powered false

is_low_power​

If set, we are powered from a low-current source (i.e. solar), so even if it looks like we have power flowing in we should try to minimize power consumption as much as possible.

note

You do not need to set this if you've set is_router (it is implied in that case).

Enable/Disable is_low_power​

Enable is_low_power
meshtastic --set is_low_power true
Disable is_low_power
meshtastic --set is_low_power false

is_router​

Are we operating as a router. Changes behavior in the following ways: The device will only sleep for critically low battery level (i.e. always tries to stay alive for the mesh) In the future routing decisions will preferentially route packets through nodes with this attribute (because assumed good line of sight).

Enable/Disable is_router​

Enable is_router
meshtastic --set is_router true
Disable is_router
meshtastic --set is_router false

ls_secs​

Power management state machine option. See the power page for details. 0 for default of 3600.

Configure ls_secs​

Set ls_secs to default (1 hour/3600 seconds)
meshtastic --set ls_secs 0
Set ls_secs to 120 seconds
meshtastic --set ls_secs 120

mesh_sds_timeout_secs​

Power management state machine option. See the power page for details. 0 for default of two hours, use the MAXUINT or 4294967295 to disable.

Configure mesh_sds_timeout_secs​

Set mesh_sds_timeout_secs to default (2 hour/7200 seconds)
meshtastic --set mesh_sds_timeout_secs 0
Set mesh_sds_timeout_secs to 120 seconds
meshtastic --set mesh_sds_timeout_secs 120
Disable mesh_sds_timeout_secs (using MAXUINT)
meshtastic --set mesh_sds_timeout_secs 4294967295

min_wake_secs​

Power management state machine option. See the power pagefor details. 0 for default of 10 seconds.

Configure min_wake_secs​

Set min_wake_secs to default (10 seconds)
meshtastic --set min_wake_secs 0
Set min_wake_secs to 120 seconds
meshtastic --set min_wake_secs 120

on_battery_shutdown_after_secs​

If non-zero, the device will fully power off this many seconds after external power is removed.

Enable/Disable on_battery_shutdown_after_secs​

Disable on_battery_shutdown_after_secs
meshtastic --set on_battery_shutdown_after_secs 0
Set device to shutdown after 120 seconds on battery
meshtastic --set on_battery_shutdown_after_secs 120

phone_timeout_secs​

Power management state machine option. See the power page for details. 0 for default of 15 minutes.

Configure phone_timeout_secs​

Set phone_timeout_secs to default (15 minutes)
meshtastic --set phone_timeout_secs 0
Set phone_timeout_secs to 120 seconds
meshtastic --set phone_timeout_secs 120

screen_on_secs​

Power management state machine option. See the power page for details. 0 for default of one minute.

Configure screen_on_secs​

Set screen_on_secs to default (1 minute)
meshtastic --set screen_on_secs 0
Set screen_on_secs to 120 seconds
meshtastic --set screen_on_secs 120

sds_secs​

Power management state machine option. See the power page for details. 0 for default of one year.

Configure sds_secs​

Set sds_secs to default (1 year)
meshtastic --set sds_secs 0
Set sds_secs to 120 seconds
meshtastic --set sds_secs 120

wait_bluetooth_secs​

Wait number of seconds for Bluetooth - Power management state machine option. See the power page for details. 0 for default of 1 minute.

Configure wait_bluetooth_secs​

Set wait_bluetooth_secs to default (60 seconds)
meshtastic --set wait_bluetooth_secs 0
Set wait_bluetooth_secs to 120 seconds
meshtastic --set wait_bluetooth_secs 120