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Glitch supports a wide range of ROM and disc image formats across 14+ retro platforms. For cartridge-based systems, common formats include .nes, .sfc/.smc (SNES), .gb/.gbc (Game Boy), .gba (GBA), .gen/.md (Genesis), .n64/.z64/.v64 (N64), and .a26 (Atari 2600). For disc-based systems, Glitch supports .bin/.cue, .iso, .chd, and .pbp for PlayStation, Sega CD, TurboGrafx-CD, and Saturn. Compressed archives (.zip, .7z) are automatically extracted on import. Check the documentation for the full compatibility list by platform.

Stream latency is usually caused by one of three things: network congestion, encoder overhead, or display buffering. First, make sure both your server and client are on a wired Ethernet connection — Wi-Fi adds unpredictable latency. Second, try switching to hardware encoding (NVENC or VAAPI) in Server Settings → Transcoding, which offloads work from the CPU. Third, enable "Game Mode" on your TV or monitor to disable post-processing. On a good local network with hardware encoding, most users see under 30ms of total input lag.

Yes! Glitch Server runs entirely on your local hardware. Once installed, you can stream games to any device on your LAN without an internet connection. Features like cloud save sync, metadata scraping, and software updates require internet access, but core gameplay — launching, streaming, save states, and multiplayer on the same network — works completely offline. This is one of Glitch's core design principles: your games, your hardware, your rules.

Glitch Server supports both automatic and manual updates. By default, the server checks for updates on launch and notifies you in the web dashboard. You can apply the update with a single click from Settings → Updates. For Docker deployments, pull the latest image with docker pull glitch/server:latest and recreate the container. For CLI users, run glitch-server update. Update notes are always published on our GitHub Releases page and the Glitch blog.

Glitch Server uses port 3000 for the web UI and REST API by default, and UDP ports 10000–10100 for WebRTC media streams. If you want remote access outside your LAN, you'll also need to configure a TURN server or use Glitch's built-in relay (Glitch Pass feature). For Docker, make sure these ports are mapped in your docker-compose.yml. All ports are configurable via the GLITCH_PORT and GLITCH_RTC_PORT_RANGE environment variables.

Save states are stored in the /data/saves directory on your Glitch Server (or the path you configured in GLITCH_SAVES_PATH). You can back them up by simply copying this directory to an external drive or cloud storage. Glitch Pass subscribers also get automatic cloud sync — saves are encrypted and uploaded after every save action, and can be restored on any device signed into your account. For manual exports, go to Library → select a game → Save States → Export.