Updated: 4 November 2026 · Applies to: MPlayer and MEncoder 1.5 on Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04, Debian 13, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux 9 and 10 (RPM Fusion); mpv and FFmpeg as alternatives
MPlayer is a classic command-line media player, and MEncoder its companion for converting video. Both still work and are packaged, but development has slowed: version 1.5 is the latest. For playback, mpv (a maintained fork) is the modern choice, and for converting, FFmpeg does everything MEncoder did and more. Below are the install steps for both options.
Install MPlayer and MEncoder
apt install mplayer mencoder # Ubuntu, Debian
On AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux they come from RPM Fusion, which needs EPEL and the CRB repository:
dnf install epel-release dnf config-manager --set-enabled crb dnf install --nogpgcheck https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/el/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm dnf install mplayer mencoder
Use them
mplayer video.mp4 # play (q quits, space pauses) mplayer -vo null -ao null -identify -frames 0 video.mp4 # show format details only mencoder input.avi -o output.avi -ovc lavc -oac mp3lame # convert with MEncoder
On a server without a screen, -vo null skips the video output, which is useful for playing audio streams or checking files.
Modern alternatives
mpv for playback: apt install mpv, or on AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux dnf install mpv from EPEL.
mpv video.mp4 mpv --no-video https://stream.example.com/radio.mp3 # play an internet radio stream
FFmpeg for converting and inspecting: see how to install FFmpeg on Linux. The MEncoder example above becomes:
ffmpeg -i input.avi -c:v libx264 -c:a aac output.mp4 ffprobe -hide_banner video.mp4
Official documentation: MPlayer documentation and mpv manual.
