Skip to content

How to setup Custom Formats

So what's the best way to setup the Custom Profiles and which one to use with which scores?

There isn't a best setup, being that everyone has their own personal preferences. Some prefer high quality audio, others high quality video. Many prefer both.

Here I will try to explain with some personal used examples how to make the most use of Custom Formats that you can use to get an idea how to setup yours.

Attention

All the used scores and combination of Custom Formats in this Guide are tested to get the desired results and prevent download loops as much as possible.

From experience most of the time when people change scores or leave out certain CF that work together they end up with undesired results.

If you're unsure or have questions do not hesitate to ask for help on Discord

Discord chat


Basics

After you've added the Custom Formats, as explained in How to import Custom Formats. You will need to set it up in the quality Profile you want to use/prefer to make use of the Custom Formats.

Settings => Profiles

!cf-settings-profiles

Radarr Custom Formats can be set per profile and isn't global

Select the profile that you want to use/prefer.

!cf-quality-profiles

!cf-profile-selected

  1. Profile name.
  2. Allow upgrades. Radarr will stop upgrading quality once (3) is met.
  3. Upgrade until the selected quality.
  4. The Minimum Custom Format Score allowed to download. More Info
  5. Keep upgrading Custom Format until this score is reached. (setting this to 0 means no upgrades will happen based on Custom Formats)
  6. Your preferred language profile for your releases. (Original is recommended)

At the bottom in your chosen profile you will see the added Custom Formats where you can start setting up the scores.

Screenshot example - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

!cf-quality-profile-cf

Attention

These screenshots are just examples to show you how it should look and where you need to place the data that you need to add, they aren't always a 100% reflection of the actual data and not always 100% up to date with the actual data you need to add.

  • Always follow the data described in the guide.
  • If you got any questions or aren't sure just click the chat badge to join the Discord Channel where you can ask your questions directly.

Keep in mind Custom Formats are made to fine tune your Quality Profile.
Generally, quality trumps all

Custom formats are controlled by Quality Profiles.

  • The Upgrade Until score prevents upgrading once a release with this desired score has been downloaded.
  • A score of 0 results in the custom format being informational only.
  • The Minimum score requires releases to reach this threshold otherwise they will be rejected.
  • Custom formats that match with undesirable attributes should be given a negative score to lower their appeal.
  • Outright rejections should be given a negative score low enough that even if all of the other formats with positive scores were added, the score would still fall below the minimum.

Radarr current logic

Radarr current logic - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

As of 2021-11-06 the logic is as follows:

The Current logic on how downloads are compared is Quality Trumps All ‼

  1. Quality
  2. Custom Format Score
  3. Protocol
  4. Indexer Priority
  5. Indexer Flags
  6. Seeds/Peers (If Torrent)
  7. Age (If Usenet)
  8. Size

Source: Wiki Servarr

REPACKS and PROPERs are v2 of Qualities and thus rank above a non-repack of the same quality.

Settings => Media Management => File Management => Proper & Repacks Change to Do Not Prefer and use the Repack/Proper Custom Format


Examples

Here I will explain how to make the most use of Custom Formats and show you some personal examples that I'm using. You can use these to get an idea on how to setup your own.

All these examples make use of the Collection of Custom Formats

Attention

All the used scores and combination of Custom Formats in this Guide are tested to get the desired results and prevent download loops as much as possible.

From experience most of the time when people change scores or leave out certain CF that work together they end up with undesired results.

If you're unsure or have questions do not hesitate to ask for help on Discord

Discord chat


Releases you should avoid

This is a must have for every Quality Profile you use in my opinion. All these Custom Formats make sure you don't get Low Quality Releases.

Unwanted - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
BR-DISK -10000 ed38b889b31be83fda192888e2286d83
LQ -10000 90a6f9a284dff5103f6346090e6280c8
x265 (HD) ⚠ -10000 dc98083864ea246d05a42df0d05f81cc
3D -10000 b8cd450cbfa689c0259a01d9e29ba3d6

Breakdown and Why

  • BR-DISK : This is a custom format to help Radarr recognize & ignore BR-DISK (ISO's and Blu-ray folder structure) in addition to the standard BR-DISK quality.
  • LQ: A collection of known Low Quality groups that are often banned from the the top trackers because the lack of quality or other reasons.
  • x265 (HD): This blocks 720/1080p (HD) releases that are encoded in x265. - More info HERE.

    Don't use this together with x265 (no HDR/DV), Only ever include one of them ⚠

  • 3D: Is 3D still a thing for home use ?


Prefer Advanced Audio

Lets say you prefer HD audio (with object metadata)

In this example I have lossy Atmos over lossless DTS because the object metadata matters more to me over lossy vs lossless.

Audio - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

!HDR Formats Flowchart

Custom Format Score Trash ID
TrueHD ATMOS 5000 496f355514737f7d83bf7aa4d24f8169
DTS X 4500 2f22d89048b01681dde8afe203bf2e95
ATMOS (undefined) 3000 417804f7f2c4308c1f4c5d380d4c4475
DD+ ATMOS 3000 1af239278386be2919e1bcee0bde047e
TrueHD 2750 3cafb66171b47f226146a0770576870f
DTS-HD MA 2500 dcf3ec6938fa32445f590a4da84256cd
FLAC 2250 a570d4a0e56a2874b64e5bfa55202a1b
PCM 2250 e7c2fcae07cbada050a0af3357491d7b
DTS-HD HRA 2000 8e109e50e0a0b83a5098b056e13bf6db
DD+ 1750 185f1dd7264c4562b9022d963ac37424
DTS-ES 1500 f9f847ac70a0af62ea4a08280b859636
DTS 1250 1c1a4c5e823891c75bc50380a6866f73
AAC 1000 240770601cc226190c367ef59aba7463
DD 750 c2998bd0d90ed5621d8df281e839436e

Prefer HDR Formats

Lets say you prefer HDR Formats (HDR or Dolby Vision or Both)

Then we would use the following order:

HDR Formats - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

!HDR Formats Flowchart

Custom Format Score Trash ID
DV HDR10 1500 e23edd2482476e595fb990b12e7c609c
DV 1500 58d6a88f13e2db7f5059c41047876f00
DV HLG 1500 55d53828b9d81cbe20b02efd00aa0efd
DV SDR 1500 a3e19f8f627608af0211acd02bf89735
HDR10+ 600 b974a6cd08c1066250f1f177d7aa1225
HDR10 500 dfb86d5941bc9075d6af23b09c2aeecd
HDR 500 e61e28db95d22bedcadf030b8f156d96
HDR (undefined) 500 2a4d9069cc1fe3242ff9bdaebed239bb
PQ 500 08d6d8834ad9ec87b1dc7ec8148e7a1f
HLG 500 9364dd386c9b4a1100dde8264690add7

Hint

If you (or family members you share your collection with) have a setup that doesn't support Dolby Vision then it's best to add ALL the HDR Formats listed above (including ALL the DV ones (with and without HDR in it), It is important to also add the DV (WEBDL) Custom Format with a score of -10000


Attention

I also suggest to change the Propers and Repacks settings in Radarr ‼

Instructions can be found HERE


Prefer HQ Encodes

If you prefer HQ Encodes (Bluray-720/1080/2160p)

I suggest to first follow the Quality Settings (File Size). If you think the sizes are too big to your preference then stop reading and see if the other tutorials are helpful for you. ‼

For this Quality Profile we're going to make use of the following Custom Formats

Movie Versions - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
Hybrid 100 0f12c086e289cf966fa5948eac571f44
Remaster 25 570bc9ebecd92723d2d21500f4be314c
4K Remaster 25 eca37840c13c6ef2dd0262b141a5482f
Criterion Collection 25 e0c07d59beb37348e975a930d5e50319
Special Edition 25 957d0f44b592285f26449575e8b1167e
IMAX 800 eecf3a857724171f968a66cb5719e152
Unwanted - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
BR-DISK -10000 ed38b889b31be83fda192888e2286d83
LQ -10000 90a6f9a284dff5103f6346090e6280c8
x265 (HD) ⚠ -10000 dc98083864ea246d05a42df0d05f81cc
3D -10000 b8cd450cbfa689c0259a01d9e29ba3d6

Breakdown and Why

  • BR-DISK : This is a custom format to help Radarr recognize & ignore BR-DISK (ISO's and Blu-ray folder structure) in addition to the standard BR-DISK quality.
  • LQ: A collection of known Low Quality groups that are often banned from the the top trackers because the lack of quality or other reasons.
  • x265 (HD): This blocks 720/1080p (HD) releases that are encoded in x265. - More info HERE.

    Don't use this together with x265 (no HDR/DV), Only ever include one of them ⚠

  • 3D: Is 3D still a thing for home use ?

Misc - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
Repack/Proper 5 e7718d7a3ce595f289bfee26adc178f5
Repack2 6 ae43b294509409a6a13919dedd4764c4
Proper and Repacks - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

I also suggest to change the Propers and Repacks settings in Radarr

Media Management => File Management to Do Not Prefer and use the Repack/Proper Custom Format.

!cf-mm-propers-repacks-disable

This way you make sure the Custom Formats preferences will be used and not ignored.

HQ Release Groups - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
HD Bluray Tier 01 1800 ed27ebfef2f323e964fb1f61391bcb35
HD Bluray Tier 02 1750 c20c8647f2746a1f4c4262b0fbbeeeae
WEB Tier 01 1700 c20f169ef63c5f40c2def54abaf4438e
WEB Tier 02 1650 403816d65392c79236dcb6dd591aeda4
WEB Tier 03 1600 af94e0fe497124d1f9ce732069ec8c3b

- Don’t use HQ-xxx and Tiers together
- HD Bluray Tier 01-02 replaces HQ
- Web Tier 01-03 replaces HQ-WEBDL

I decided not to add Audio Advanced Custom Formats to the encodes profile, being with encodes I prefer higher video quality. If you also want HD audio formats I would suggest to go for the Remuxes.

Use the following main settings in your profile.

!cf-profile-encodes

Make sure you don't check the BR-DISK.

The reason why I didn't select the WEB-DL 720p is because you will hardly find any releases that aren't done as 1080p WEB-DL.

The following workflow logic will be applied:
  • It will download WEB-DL 1080p for the streaming movies you see more often lately.
  • It will upgrade till Bluray-1080p when available.
  • The downloaded media will be upgraded to any of the added Custom Formats until a score of 9999.

So why such a ridiculously high Upgrade Until Custom and not a score of 100?

Because I'm too lazy to calculate the maximum for every Quality Profile I use, and I want it to upgrade to the highest possible score anyway.

Tip

If you prefer 2160/4K encodes you might consider to change Upgrade Until Quality to Bluray-2160p and enable:

HDR Formats - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

!HDR Formats Flowchart

Custom Format Score Trash ID
DV HDR10 1500 e23edd2482476e595fb990b12e7c609c
DV 1500 58d6a88f13e2db7f5059c41047876f00
DV HLG 1500 55d53828b9d81cbe20b02efd00aa0efd
DV SDR 1500 a3e19f8f627608af0211acd02bf89735
HDR10+ 600 b974a6cd08c1066250f1f177d7aa1225
HDR10 500 dfb86d5941bc9075d6af23b09c2aeecd
HDR 500 e61e28db95d22bedcadf030b8f156d96
HDR (undefined) 500 2a4d9069cc1fe3242ff9bdaebed239bb
PQ 500 08d6d8834ad9ec87b1dc7ec8148e7a1f
HLG 500 9364dd386c9b4a1100dde8264690add7

Hint

If you (or family members you share your collection with) have a setup that doesn't support Dolby Vision then it's best to add ALL the HDR Formats listed above (including ALL the DV ones (with and without HDR in it), It is important to also add the DV (WEBDL) Custom Format with a score of -10000


Remux-1080p

If you prefer 1080p Remuxes (Remux-1080p)

I suggest to first follow the Quality Settings (File Size) If you think the sizes are too big to your preference then stop reading and see if the other tutorials are helpful to you. ‼

For this Quality Profile we're going to make use of the following Custom Formats

Audio - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

!HDR Formats Flowchart

Custom Format Score Trash ID
TrueHD ATMOS 5000 496f355514737f7d83bf7aa4d24f8169
DTS X 4500 2f22d89048b01681dde8afe203bf2e95
ATMOS (undefined) 3000 417804f7f2c4308c1f4c5d380d4c4475
DD+ ATMOS 3000 1af239278386be2919e1bcee0bde047e
TrueHD 2750 3cafb66171b47f226146a0770576870f
DTS-HD MA 2500 dcf3ec6938fa32445f590a4da84256cd
FLAC 2250 a570d4a0e56a2874b64e5bfa55202a1b
PCM 2250 e7c2fcae07cbada050a0af3357491d7b
DTS-HD HRA 2000 8e109e50e0a0b83a5098b056e13bf6db
DD+ 1750 185f1dd7264c4562b9022d963ac37424
DTS-ES 1500 f9f847ac70a0af62ea4a08280b859636
DTS 1250 1c1a4c5e823891c75bc50380a6866f73
AAC 1000 240770601cc226190c367ef59aba7463
DD 750 c2998bd0d90ed5621d8df281e839436e
Movie Versions - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
Hybrid 100 0f12c086e289cf966fa5948eac571f44
Remaster 25 570bc9ebecd92723d2d21500f4be314c
4K Remaster 25 eca37840c13c6ef2dd0262b141a5482f
Criterion Collection 25 e0c07d59beb37348e975a930d5e50319
Special Edition 25 957d0f44b592285f26449575e8b1167e
IMAX 800 eecf3a857724171f968a66cb5719e152
Unwanted - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
BR-DISK -10000 ed38b889b31be83fda192888e2286d83
LQ -10000 90a6f9a284dff5103f6346090e6280c8
x265 (HD) ⚠ -10000 dc98083864ea246d05a42df0d05f81cc
3D -10000 b8cd450cbfa689c0259a01d9e29ba3d6

Breakdown and Why

  • BR-DISK : This is a custom format to help Radarr recognize & ignore BR-DISK (ISO's and Blu-ray folder structure) in addition to the standard BR-DISK quality.
  • LQ: A collection of known Low Quality groups that are often banned from the the top trackers because the lack of quality or other reasons.
  • x265 (HD): This blocks 720/1080p (HD) releases that are encoded in x265. - More info HERE.

    Don't use this together with x265 (no HDR/DV), Only ever include one of them ⚠

  • 3D: Is 3D still a thing for home use ?

Misc - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
Repack/Proper 5 e7718d7a3ce595f289bfee26adc178f5
Repack2 6 ae43b294509409a6a13919dedd4764c4
Proper and Repacks - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

I also suggest to change the Propers and Repacks settings in Radarr

Media Management => File Management to Do Not Prefer and use the Repack/Proper Custom Format.

!cf-mm-propers-repacks-disable

This way you make sure the Custom Formats preferences will be used and not ignored.

HQ Release Groups - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
Remux Tier 01 1900 3a3ff47579026e76d6504ebea39390de
Remux Tier 02 1850 9f98181fe5a3fbeb0cc29340da2a468a
WEB Tier 01 1700 c20f169ef63c5f40c2def54abaf4438e
WEB Tier 02 1650 403816d65392c79236dcb6dd591aeda4
WEB Tier 03 1600 af94e0fe497124d1f9ce732069ec8c3b

- Don’t use HQ-xxx and Tiers together
- Remux Tier 01-02 replaces HQ-Remux
- Web Tier 01-03 replaces HQ-WEBDL

Use the following main settings in your profile.

!cf-profile-remux1080

Make sure you don't check the BR-DISK.

The reason why I didn't select the WEB-DL 720p is because you will hardly find any releases that aren't done as 1080p WEB-DL.

The following workflow logic will be applied:
  • It will download WEB-DL 1080p for the streaming movies you see more often lately.
  • It will upgrade till Remux-1080p when available.
  • The downloaded media will be upgraded to any of the added Custom Formats until a score of 9999.

So why such a ridiculously high Upgrade Until Custom and not a score of 500?

Because I'm too lazy to calculate the maximum for every Quality Profile I use, and I want it to upgrade to the highest possible score anyway.


Remux-2160p

If you prefer 2160p Remuxes (Remux-2160p)

I suggest to first follow the Quality Settings (File Size) If you think the sizes are too big to your preference then stop reading and see if the other tutorials are helpful to you. ‼

For this Quality Profile we're going to make use of the following Custom Formats

Audio - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

!HDR Formats Flowchart

Custom Format Score Trash ID
TrueHD ATMOS 5000 496f355514737f7d83bf7aa4d24f8169
DTS X 4500 2f22d89048b01681dde8afe203bf2e95
ATMOS (undefined) 3000 417804f7f2c4308c1f4c5d380d4c4475
DD+ ATMOS 3000 1af239278386be2919e1bcee0bde047e
TrueHD 2750 3cafb66171b47f226146a0770576870f
DTS-HD MA 2500 dcf3ec6938fa32445f590a4da84256cd
FLAC 2250 a570d4a0e56a2874b64e5bfa55202a1b
PCM 2250 e7c2fcae07cbada050a0af3357491d7b
DTS-HD HRA 2000 8e109e50e0a0b83a5098b056e13bf6db
DD+ 1750 185f1dd7264c4562b9022d963ac37424
DTS-ES 1500 f9f847ac70a0af62ea4a08280b859636
DTS 1250 1c1a4c5e823891c75bc50380a6866f73
AAC 1000 240770601cc226190c367ef59aba7463
DD 750 c2998bd0d90ed5621d8df281e839436e
HDR Formats - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

!HDR Formats Flowchart

Custom Format Score Trash ID
DV HDR10 1500 e23edd2482476e595fb990b12e7c609c
DV 1500 58d6a88f13e2db7f5059c41047876f00
DV HLG 1500 55d53828b9d81cbe20b02efd00aa0efd
DV SDR 1500 a3e19f8f627608af0211acd02bf89735
HDR10+ 600 b974a6cd08c1066250f1f177d7aa1225
HDR10 500 dfb86d5941bc9075d6af23b09c2aeecd
HDR 500 e61e28db95d22bedcadf030b8f156d96
HDR (undefined) 500 2a4d9069cc1fe3242ff9bdaebed239bb
PQ 500 08d6d8834ad9ec87b1dc7ec8148e7a1f
HLG 500 9364dd386c9b4a1100dde8264690add7

Hint

If you (or family members you share your collection with) have a setup that doesn't support Dolby Vision then it's best to add ALL the HDR Formats listed above (including ALL the DV ones (with and without HDR in it), It is important to also add the DV (WEBDL) Custom Format with a score of -10000

Movie Versions - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
Hybrid 100 0f12c086e289cf966fa5948eac571f44
Remaster 25 570bc9ebecd92723d2d21500f4be314c
4K Remaster 25 eca37840c13c6ef2dd0262b141a5482f
Criterion Collection 25 e0c07d59beb37348e975a930d5e50319
Special Edition 25 957d0f44b592285f26449575e8b1167e
IMAX 800 eecf3a857724171f968a66cb5719e152
Unwanted - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
BR-DISK -10000 ed38b889b31be83fda192888e2286d83
LQ -10000 90a6f9a284dff5103f6346090e6280c8
x265 (HD) ⚠ -10000 dc98083864ea246d05a42df0d05f81cc
3D -10000 b8cd450cbfa689c0259a01d9e29ba3d6

Breakdown and Why

  • BR-DISK : This is a custom format to help Radarr recognize & ignore BR-DISK (ISO's and Blu-ray folder structure) in addition to the standard BR-DISK quality.
  • LQ: A collection of known Low Quality groups that are often banned from the the top trackers because the lack of quality or other reasons.
  • x265 (HD): This blocks 720/1080p (HD) releases that are encoded in x265. - More info HERE.

    Don't use this together with x265 (no HDR/DV), Only ever include one of them ⚠

  • 3D: Is 3D still a thing for home use ?

Misc - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
Repack/Proper 5 e7718d7a3ce595f289bfee26adc178f5
Repack2 6 ae43b294509409a6a13919dedd4764c4
Proper and Repacks - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

I also suggest to change the Propers and Repacks settings in Radarr

Media Management => File Management to Do Not Prefer and use the Repack/Proper Custom Format.

!cf-mm-propers-repacks-disable

This way you make sure the Custom Formats preferences will be used and not ignored.

HQ Release Groups - [CLICK TO EXPAND]
Custom Format Score Trash ID
Remux Tier 01 1900 3a3ff47579026e76d6504ebea39390de
Remux Tier 02 1850 9f98181fe5a3fbeb0cc29340da2a468a
WEB Tier 01 1700 c20f169ef63c5f40c2def54abaf4438e
WEB Tier 02 1650 403816d65392c79236dcb6dd591aeda4
WEB Tier 03 1600 af94e0fe497124d1f9ce732069ec8c3b

- Don’t use HQ-xxx and Tiers together
- Remux Tier 01-02 replaces HQ-Remux
- Web Tier 01-03 replaces HQ-WEBDL

Use the following main settings in your profile.

!cf-profile-remux2160

Make sure you don't check the BR-DISK.

The following workflow logic will be applied:
  • It will download WEB-DL 2160p for the streaming movies you see more often lately.
  • It will upgrade to Remux-2160p when available.
  • The downloaded media will be upgraded to any of the added Custom Formats until a score of 9999.

So why such a ridiculously high Upgrade Until Custom and not a score of 500?

Because I'm too lazy to calculate the maximum for every Quality Profile I use, and I want it to upgrade to the highest possible score anyway.


FAQ & INFO

Proper and Repacks

Proper and Repacks - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

I also suggest to change the Propers and Repacks settings in Radarr

Media Management => File Management to Do Not Prefer and use the Repack/Proper Custom Format.

!cf-mm-propers-repacks-disable

This way you make sure the Custom Format preferences will be used instead.

Custom Formats to avoid certain releases

How to use a Custom Format to avoid certain releases? - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

For Custom Formats you really want to avoid, set it to something really low like -10000 and not something like -10. Being when you add a Custom Format what you prefer and you set it to something like +10 it could happen that for example the BR-DISK will be downloaded (-10)+(+10)=0 and if your Minimum Custom Format Score is set at 0.

Custom Formats with a score of 0

What do Custom Formats with a score of 0 do? - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

All Custom Formats with a score of 0 are pure informational and don't do anything.

Minimum Custom Format Score

Minimum Custom Format Score - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Some people suggest not to use negative scores for your Custom Formats and set this option to a higher score then 0.

The reason why I don't prefer/use this is because you could limit yourself when some new groups or whatever will be released.

Also it makes it much more clear what you prefer and what you want to avoid.

Audio Channels

Audio Channels - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Personally I wouldn't add the audio channels Custom Formats being you could limit yourself in the amount of releases you're able to get. Only use this if you got specific reasons that you need them.

Using it with any kind of Remuxes Quality Profile is useless in my opinion being that 99% of all remuxes are multi audio anyway. You can get better scores using the Audio Advanced Custom Formats.

Avoid using the x264/x265 Custom Format

Avoid using the x264/x265 Custom Format - [CLICK TO EXPAND]

Avoid using the x264/x265 Custom Format with a score if possible, it's smarter to use the x265 (HD) Custom Format.

Something like 95% of video files are x264 and have much better direct play support. If you have more than a of couple users, you will notice much more transcoding.

Use x265 only for 4k releases and the x265 (HD) makes sure you still get the x265 releases.

Thanks

A big Thanks to rg9400 for providing me with info needed to create the Tips section.


Questions or Suggestions?

If you have questions or suggestions click the chat badge to join the Discord Support Channel where you can ask your questions directly and get live support.

Discord chat


Last update: October 6, 2022 19:28:45