# \[SOLVED\] Only want Forced Subtitles

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Created:** [January 19, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499 "2017-01-19T11:40:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![paullittlefield](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/paullittlefield/32/86670_2.png) [@paullittlefield](https://forums.plex.tv/u/paullittlefield)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499/1 "2017-01-19T11:40:45Z")

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Hi Folks,

I know this is an often talked about topic but after looking through the various discussion and official Help support pages, I am still not getting it and I feel a bit silly.

All I want is…

**Forced Foreign Parts Only Subtitles**

…but I sometimes get no forced subtitles, and sometimes get all subtitles.

I do appreciate that this can be complex and people’s Plex set ups are varied.

So, what I was thinking about solving this in 2 stages…

1. Turn off all subtitles completely, and test on all devices and web player.
2. Turn on forced foreign only subtitles, and test on all devices and web player.

…how does that sound?

So, what settings do I need for #1 please?

Thanks,

Paully

Plex Pass Lifetime  
Plex Media Server 1.3.3.3148  
Ubuntu Server 16.04.1 LTS  
Plex for Android 5.3.4.759 (bc65af55)  
Plex Player for Samsung TV (2016)

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**Author:** ![MediaHorder](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mediahorder/32/160753_2.png) [@MediaHorder](https://forums.plex.tv/u/MediaHorder)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499/2 "2017-01-19T12:36:58Z")

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> @paullittlefield said:

You should just need correctly named subs and subs set to automatic in server / client.

I.E ‘Game of Thrones - S05E01 - EpisodeName.eng.forced.srt’

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**Author:** ![paullittlefield](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/paullittlefield/32/86670_2.png) [@paullittlefield](https://forums.plex.tv/u/paullittlefield)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499/3 "2017-01-25T16:00:49Z")

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OK, so I have acquired some ‘English - Foreign Parts Only’ subtitles and saved them as:-

```
`Inferno (2016).eng.forced.srt`

```

I have then changed the Plex Server settings as follows:-

Web App \> Settings \> Server \> Language \> Automatically select audio and subtitle tracks

![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/a/6/a67aed76bf926770182504e45ff725f9d8d78ed6.png)

I can also confirm that in the Web App Player and the Android App, the Subtitles option "English (SRT Forced) is now shown.

I shall report back tomorrow if it has worked.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![paullittlefield](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/paullittlefield/32/86670_2.png) [@paullittlefield](https://forums.plex.tv/u/paullittlefield)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499/4 "2017-01-26T17:44:26Z")

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OK, this worked. I can now mark this Question as SOLVED.

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**Author:** ![anon18523487](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@anon18523487](https://forums.plex.tv/u/anon18523487)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499/5 "2017-01-28T00:04:36Z")

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You had this as a discussion which doesn’t give you the option to select an answer. I’ve changed it and selected your earlier post as the answer. Let me know if you disagree.

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**Author:** ![paullittlefield](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/paullittlefield/32/86670_2.png) [@paullittlefield](https://forums.plex.tv/u/paullittlefield)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 12:27pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499/6 "2017-01-28T12:27:55Z")

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Yes, that’s fine.

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**Author:** ![JasonM](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/jasonm/32/82413_2.png) [@JasonM](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JasonM)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 2:01pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499/7 "2017-01-28T14:01:33Z")

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> @danjames92 said:
> 
> > @paullittlefield said:
> 
> You should just need correctly named subs and subs set to automatic in server / client.
> 
> I.E ‘Game of Thrones - S05E01 - EpisodeName.eng.forced.srt’

In addition, your audio stream, from within (in this example…) the file 'Game of Thrones - S05E01 - EpisodeName.xxx" would have to be coded as ‘English’ as well for the forced srt to work as intended. Otherwise, it assumes that the language of the file is ‘unknown’ and thus not force the sub.

For example, in this Mediainfo XML snippet:

```
 <track type="Audio">
<ID_String>2</ID_String>
<Format>AAC</Format>
<Format_Info>Advanced Audio Codec</Format_Info>
<Format_Profile>HE-AAC / LC</Format_Profile>
<CodecID>40</CodecID>
<Duration_String>1 h 56 min</Duration_String>
<BitRate_Mode_String>Variable</BitRate_Mode_String>
<BitRate_String>64.0 kb/s</BitRate_String>
<BitRate_Maximum_String>73.3 kb/s</BitRate_Maximum_String>
<Channel_s __String>2 channels</Channel_s__ String>
<ChannelPositions>Front: L R</ChannelPositions>
<SamplingRate_String>48.0 kHz / 24.0 kHz</SamplingRate_String>
<FrameRate_String>23.438 FPS (1024 spf)</FrameRate_String>
<Compression_Mode_String>Lossy</Compression_Mode_String>
<StreamSize_String>53.3 MiB (3%)</StreamSize_String>
<Language_String>English</Language_String>
<Encoded_Date>UTC 2012-01-27 18:15:24</Encoded_Date>
<Tagged_Date>UTC 2016-10-07 09:35:16</Tagged_Date>
</track>

```

You will see that the AAC encoded audio stream is encoded with the English language stream…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MediaHorder](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mediahorder/32/160753_2.png) [@MediaHorder](https://forums.plex.tv/u/MediaHorder)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499/8 "2017-01-28T16:31:46Z")

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> @JasonMeudt said:
> 
> > @danjames92 said:
> > 
> > > @paullittlefield said:
> > 
> > You should just need correctly named subs and subs set to automatic in server / client.
> > 
> > I.E ‘Game of Thrones - S05E01 - EpisodeName.eng.forced.srt’
> 
> In addition, your audio stream, from within (in this example…) the file 'Game of Thrones - S05E01 - EpisodeName.xxx" would have to be coded as ‘English’ as well for the forced srt to work as intended. Otherwise, it assumes that the language of the file is ‘unknown’ and thus not force the sub.
> 
> For example, in this Mediainfo XML snippet:
> 
> ```
> <track type="Audio">
> <ID_String>2</ID_String>
> <Format>AAC</Format>
> <Format_Info>Advanced Audio Codec</Format_Info>
> <Format_Profile>HE-AAC / LC</Format_Profile>
> <CodecID>40</CodecID>
> <Duration_String>1 h 56 min</Duration_String>
> <BitRate_Mode_String>Variable</BitRate_Mode_String>
> <BitRate_String>64.0 kb/s</BitRate_String>
> <BitRate_Maximum_String>73.3 kb/s</BitRate_Maximum_String>
> <Channel_s __String>2 channels</Channel_s__ String>
> <ChannelPositions>Front: L R</ChannelPositions>
> <SamplingRate_String>48.0 kHz / 24.0 kHz</SamplingRate_String>
> <FrameRate_String>23.438 FPS (1024 spf)</FrameRate_String>
> <Compression_Mode_String>Lossy</Compression_Mode_String>
> <StreamSize_String>53.3 MiB (3%)</StreamSize_String>
> <Language_String>English</Language_String>
> <Encoded_Date>UTC 2012-01-27 18:15:24</Encoded_Date>
> <Tagged_Date>UTC 2016-10-07 09:35:16</Tagged_Date>
> </track>
> 
> ```
> 
> You will see that the AAC encoded audio stream is encoded with the English language stream…

I don’t believe that’s true. It looks at the .eng. part to determine the language of the sub… it has always respected the forced afaik.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JasonM](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/jasonm/32/82413_2.png) [@JasonM](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JasonM)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499/9 "2017-01-29T01:10:22Z")

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> @danjames92 said:

> I don’t believe that’s true. It looks at the .eng. part to determine the language of the sub… it has always respected the forced afaik.

That is true… Having said that, if it cannot determine what language the audio stream is; ala “unknown”, then all bets are off…

In my example above, the Language\_Stream tag is set to “English”, but if that were not encoded into the audio stream, then Plex could not determine that English was the default language for this file, since there is no ‘default’ language selection within Plex.

This has been an issue for some time… An example post:

[https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/65558/default-language-for-video-with-single-audio-track-marked-as-unknown-language](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/65558/default-language-for-video-with-single-audio-track-marked-as-unknown-language)

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**Author:** ![kegobeer-plex](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/kegobeer-plex/32/17444_2.png) [@kegobeer-plex](https://forums.plex.tv/u/kegobeer-plex)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 1:24am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499/10 "2017-01-29T01:24:19Z")

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> @JasonMeudt said:  
> That is true… Having said that, if it cannot determine what language the audio stream is; ala “unknown”, then all bets are off…
> 
> In my example above, the Language\_Stream tag is set to “English”, but if that were not encoded into the audio stream, then Plex could not determine that English was the default language for this file, since there is no ‘default’ language selection within Plex.
> 
> This has been an issue for some time… An example post:
> 
> [https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/65558/default-language-for-video-with-single-audio-track-marked-as-unknown-language](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/65558/default-language-for-video-with-single-audio-track-marked-as-unknown-language)

When I put a forced subtitle file in with the movie it always shows up correctly. But when I use mkvmerge to insert the subtitles into the container I notice that they tend to show up as unknown. When I change the language to English everything works as intended.

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**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499/11 "2017-01-29T02:03:55Z")

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> @kegobeer-plex said:  
> When I put a forced subtitle file in with the movie it always shows up correctly. But when I use mkvmerge to insert the subtitles into the container I notice that they tend to show up as unknown. When I change the language to English everything works as intended.

Since a SRT file has no embedded language tag, this is to be expected.  
And the Plex manner to attach the language to the file name is not universally recognized, unfortunately.

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/solved-only-want-forced-subtitles/176499/12 "2020-01-07T22:36:57Z")

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