NQPTP(8)                    System Manager's Manual                   NQPTP(8)

NAME
       nqptp - Not Quite PTP: PTP-based timing daemon for Apple AirPlay 2

SYNOPSIS
       nqptp [-V] [-v|-vv|-vvv] [-h]

DESCRIPTION
       nqptp is a daemon that monitors timing data from PTP (Precision Time
       Protocol) clocks. It is designed exclusively as a companion daemon to
       shairport-sync(1), which uses it to obtain the accurate timing
       information required for AirPlay 2 audio playback.

       nqptp must be running before shairport-sync is started with AirPlay 2
       support enabled. It communicates with shairport-sync via a shared
       memory interface and does not require any configuration file.

       Under normal operation, nqptp runs silently in the background. It is
       typically started at boot time via a service manager such as
       systemd(1).

OPTIONS
       -V     Print the version number and exit.

       -v     Enable verbose logging. Basic informational messages about
              timing sources and state changes are written to the system log.

       -vv    Enable more verbose logging. Additional detail about PTP clock
              selection and timing computations is included.

       -vvv   Enable very verbose logging. Full diagnostic output, including
              low-level PTP message handling. Intended for debugging only.

       -h     Print a brief help summary and exit.

SIGNALS
       SIGTERM
              Cleanly shut down the daemon, releasing the shared memory
              interface before exiting.

       SIGINT Cleanly shut down the daemon, equivalent to SIGTERM.

FILES
       /dev/shm/nqptp
              Shared memory segment used to pass timing data to
              shairport-sync(1).

NOTES
       nqptp listens on UDP port 319 and 320, the standard PTP event and
       general message ports. It therefore requires either
       CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE or root privileges in order to bind these ports.
       When running under systemd(1), the provided unit file grants the
       necessary capability without requiring the daemon to run as root.

       Only one instance of nqptp should be run at a time on a given host.

SEE ALSO
       shairport-sync(1), ptp4l(8), systemd(1)

BUGS
       Please report bugs at https://github.com/mikebrady/nqptp/issues.

AUTHORS
       nqptp was written by Mike Brady.

       This man page was originally written for the Debian package of nqptp by
       Chris Boot <bootc@debian.org>.

nqptp                             May 7, 2026                         NQPTP(8)