Setting up cccam.cfg in 2026: a complete guide

If you have already installed CCcam or OScam on your receiver and are now looking at an empty configuration file — this article is for you. The filecccam.cfg 2026 remains in the same format as it was several years ago, but the firmware has changed, paths have diverged, and many old templates from the internet no longer work correctly. Let's break everything down: syntax, paths, parameters, and typical pitfalls.

What is cccam.cfg and where is it located

Purpose of the cccam.cfg file

CCcam.cfg is the main configuration file for the CCcam daemon. It describes everything: which servers to connect to, which cards to share, on which port to listen for incoming connections, how to limit hops and sharing chains. Without a correctly filled file, the emulator simply does not know what to do.

The format is simple — text, one directive per line. But the devil is in the details: case, encoding, delimiters — all of this affects whether the emulator reads the line or silently ignores it.

Standard paths for location

The path to the file depends on the firmware and version of the emulator. Here are the current options:

• /var/etc/CCcam.cfg — Enigma2 (OpenPLi, OpenATV, OpenVision)
• /etc/CCcam.cfg — old Dream firmware, some Gemini builds
• /usr/keys/CCcam.cfg — Neutrino and some custom builds
• /etc/cccam/CCcam.cfg — a number of distributions for Linux x86

On Enigma2 receivers, most often/var/etc/CCcam.cfg. If the file is not where the emulator expects it, it simply starts with an empty configuration and does not give any error — this is a common reason for "unexplained" behavior.

File permissions and encoding

Two points that are often overlooked. The first — permissions. The file must be readable by the user under which CCcam is running. The standard is644:

chmod 644 /var/etc/CCcam.cfg

The second — encoding. The file must be inUTF-8 without BOM or in plain ASCII. If saved via Notepad on Windows with the "UTF-8 with BOM" checkbox checked — the emulator will not recognize the first line and may ignore the entire file. Use Notepad++, nano, or any editor with explicit control over encoding.

And also: line endings. The format must be Unix (LF), not Windows (CRLF). A file with CRLF on an Enigma2 receiver is often read incorrectly — lines C: and F: are simply not parsed. You can check and fix it with the commanddos2unix /var/etc/CCcam.cfg.

The file name is case-sensitive.cccam.cfg andCCcam.cfg are different files from the perspective of Linux. If the emulator is looking forCCcam.cfg, and the file is namedcccam.cfg — it will not find it.

Basic syntax and main configuration lines

Line C: connection to the server (client)

LineC: describes the connection of your receiver to an external CCcam server. Format:

C: hostname port username password [nodeid] [hop] [ignore]

Specific example:

C: server.example.com 15000 myuser mypassword

Fields in order:

• hostname — domain name or IP of the server
• port — TCP port on which the server listens (set by the server owner)
• username — login issued upon registration
• password — account password

Optional parameters after the password:

• nodeid — unique node identifier in the form of a 14-digit hex number. If not specified, it is generated automatically. Two clients with the same nodeid cause a conflict — the server drops one of the connections.
• hop — hop depth limit for cards from this server (0 = no limits)
• ignore — list of CAIDs to ignore, separated by commas

The line must start with a capital letterC, a colon, and a space.c: in lowercase — does not work.

Line N: connection via newcamd protocol

For servers operating under the newcamd protocol (used in Newcs, some OScam configurations), the syntax is different:

N: hostname port username password deskey

Example:

N: server.example.com 15050 myuser mypass 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14

deskey — this is 14 bytes in hex separated by spaces. Without a correct deskey, the newcamd protocol will not work — this is a mandatory parameter, not optional. The key is issued along with the connection data.

Line F: setting up your own server (sharing)

If you are not only a client but also sharing cards with other users, lineF::

F: username password [nodeid] [hop] [shares]

Example:

F: client1 clientpassword 0 1

This describes the client account that you allow to connect to your server. The parameters hop and shares limit what exactly and to what depth this client can access. The port on which incoming connections are accepted is set by the directiveSERVER LISTEN PORT.

Comments and service parameters

Comment lines start with the symbol#:

# This is a comment, CCcam ignores it

Empty lines are allowed and ignored. Main global parameters are written in the formPARAMETER : value or simplyPARAMETER value depending on the version of CCcam. For example:

SERVER LISTEN PORT : 15000

The directive register is uppercase. The lowercase variant may not be recognized in older versions of the emulator.

Performance and security parameters

Settings hop, maxhops, and uphops

Hop (hop) is the number of "retransmissions" of the ECM request to the card. If you have a direct connection to the server with the card — this is hop 1. If the server itself is a client of another server — hop 2, and so on.

The more hops, the higher the latency. In practice, hop 3 and above already creates noticeable delays when switching channels. Hop 5+ is almost always unstable operation.

Key directives:

• MAX HOPS : 2 — maximum depth of hops accepted from external servers
• RESHARE : 1 — whether to allow retransmission of received cards further (1 = yes, 0 = no)
• UPHOPS : 1 — hop limit when transmitting cards "up" the chain

Cyclic connection is a separate problem. If server A is connected to server B, and B is connected back to A with allowed reshare, the ECM request starts to circulate and overloads both servers. This is not a hypothetical situation — it regularly happens with careless configuration. Solution:RESHARE : 0 or explicit indicationIGNORE_RESHARE_ON_CARDSERVERS.

Parameters PID, FREEZE, EXTAU

Several useful directives that are rarely mentioned:

• FREEZE TIME : 10 — how many seconds to wait for an ECM response before considering the channel "frozen". By default, it is usually 5-10 seconds.
• EXTENDED AU : 1 — enable extended automatic update (Extended Automatic Update). Necessary if the card requires periodic key synchronization.
• SAVEINITIALS : 1 — save the initial state of the cards at startup.

The FREEZE parameter is especially important with an unstable connection. If the server sometimes responds slowly, increasing the FREEZE TIME to 15-20 seconds reduces the number of false "freezes".

WEBINFO LISTEN PORT and web interface

CCcam raises the web interface on port16001 by default. Through it, you can view the list of connected clients, cards and servers, current ECM responses, and connection statuses.

Directive:

WEBINFO LISTEN PORT : 16001

The interface is available athttp://[receiver-ip]:16001. The login and password are set separately — if not set, the interface is open to the entire local network. On some receivers, port 16001 may conflict with another service (for example, the web interface of the firmware itself). In this case, change the port to any free one, for example, 16002.

The CCcam telnet interface listens on port 16000 by default. You can connect using the commandtelnet [ip] 16000 — there, commands for real-time status viewing are available.

Access restriction and overload protection

Several directives for load control:

• MAX CONNECTIONS PER USER : 2 — limits the number of simultaneous connections from one F account:
• CONNECT WAIT : 3 — delay in seconds between reconnection attempts to server C:
• CONNECT RETRY : 30 — interval for retry attempts when the connection fails

To protect the web interface from external access, close port 16001 on the firewall. On Enigma2, this is done through the built-in firewall of the firmware or with the command iptables:

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 16001 -s 192.168.1.0/24 -j ACCEPT

This allows access only from the local network 192.168.1.x and blocks everything else.

Transition to OScam: parameter matching

Differences between cccam.cfg and oscam.server

In 2026, many are moving from CCcam to OScam — and this is a reasonable decision. OScam is actively developed, supports more protocols and cards, and is more flexible in configuration. CCcam has not been updated as an independent daemon for a long time.

But the architecture of the configuration is fundamentally different. In CCcam, one file does everything. In OScam, the configuration is divided:

• /etc/oscam/oscam.conf — global settings (analogous to global directives in CCcam)
• /etc/oscam/oscam.server — servers/readers (analogous to lines C: and N:)
• /etc/oscam/oscam.user — users (analogous to lines F:)
• /etc/oscam/oscam.dvbapi — decoder settings

CCcam protocol emulation in OScam

OScam can connect to CCcam servers through built-in protocol emulation. This is done inoscam.server via reader withprotocol = cccam.

The parametercccmaxhops in the reader section limits the hop depth when receiving a share from the CCcam server — analogous to hop in the C: line of the cccam.cfg file.

Inoscam.conf in the section[cccam] you can set the port and parameters for incoming CCcam connections if OScam is used as a server for CCcam clients.

Migration of C: lines to the reader section of OScam

CCcam line:

C: server.example.com 15000 myuser mypassword

Turns into a section inoscam.server:

[reader]

Each C: line from cccam.cfg becomes a separate section[reader]. If you had 3 C: lines — there will be 3 reader sections. The parameterlabel is an arbitrary name for identifying the reader in the logs and the OScam web interface.

The N: (newcamd) line in OScam looks similar, but withprotocol = newcamd and an additional parameterkey for deskey.

Diagnostics and solving typical errors

Server does not connect: check port and firewall

The first step is to check if the server port is accessible at all. The quickest way directly from the receiver:

telnet server.example.com 15000

If the connection hangs or gives "Connection refused" — the problem is at the network level: incorrect address/port, firewall on the server or at the provider blocks the connection. If telnet connects — we look for the problem in authentication or parameters.

Check if CCcam is running and on which port it is listening:

netstat -tlnp | grep CCcam

If CCcam is not in the list of processes — it is not running. Start it manually:

/usr/bin/CCcam&

There is a connection, but no picture (ECM/FTA)

This is the most common and most confusing situation. The web interface shows "connected", but the channels do not open.

The reasons can vary:

• The server is connected, but it has no valid cards for the required CAID/provider. Network-level connection and the presence of working shares are two different things.
• The hop is limited too strictly: the card is present, but at hop 3, and you haveMAX HOPS : 2.
• The CAID of the required channel is not in the list that the server distributes.
• The receiver's tuner receives the signal, but DVBApi does not pass ECM requests to the emulator — the problem lies in the configuration of the decryption itself, not in cccam.cfg.

To diagnose ECM responses, check the logs. In CCcam, logging can be enabled with the directive:

DEBUG : 1

After restarting in/tmp/cccam.log all ECM requests and their responses will be visible. Lines like "ECM from client X, answer: CW found" mean that the share has been received. "No answer" or "Card not found" — the server cannot service the request.

Nodeid errors and duplicate connections

If two C: lines or two clients have the same nodeid — the server will terminate one of the connections. In the logs, this appears as periodic reconnects without an apparent reason.

Solution: remove explicitly defined nodeids from the C: lines and let CCcam generate them automatically. Or ensure that all nodeids are unique — each should be a 14-digit hex number, not matching others.

A similar problem arises when running multiple instances of CCcam simultaneously. Check:

ps aux | grep -i cccam

If there are two CCcam processes in the list — one is extra. Kill all and restart.

Analyzing CCcam logs and telnet commands

The CCcam telnet interface (port 16000) supports several commands for real-time diagnostics. After connecting viatelnet [ip] 16000 the following are available:

• l — list of connected servers (C: lines) and their status
• c — list of connected clients (F: lines)
• s — list of available cards and their CAID
• e — current ECM requests

In the web interface on port 16001, the same information is presented in a browser view. The pagehttp://[ip]:16001/ shows a summary status — connected servers, cards, clients, and ECM statistics. This is the fastest way to understand what is happening without digging through the logs.

When working withcccam.cfg 2026 on modern firmware, I recommend keeping logging enabled at least during the initial setup. After everything is working stably — turn off DEBUG, turn off logging, as this reduces the load on the receiver's flash memory.

And finally: if you are transferring the configuration from an old receiver or using a config from the examples of 2019-2022 — check the syntax. Some old parameters have changed format or have been removed in the current versions of the emulator. A workingcccam.cfg 2026 is not just a file with the necessary connection data, but also correct syntax for the version of the emulator that you have installed.