# Video calls on self-hosted Mattermost Mattermost restricts camera video to direct messages. Mattermore fixes that in the client rather than the licence, though it is not browser-tested yet. Source: https://mattermore.dev/video-calls Project: Mattermore, a fork of Mattermost. https://github.com/dennisklappe/mattermore --- Mattermost can already send camera video. It just refuses to show it to more than one person at a time. That restriction is not a licence check, it is a limitation in the client user interface, and Mattermore fixes it in AGPL code. Video remains experimental upstream, and Mattermore does not change that. ## What upstream Mattermost video calls do today The calls plugin has a setting called `EnableVideo`. Upstream describes it as "Enable video calls in DMs (Experimental)" and ships it off by default. Turn it on and camera video works, but only inside a direct message between two people. Two things follow from that, and they are easy to conflate: 1. Video is experimental. Upstream says so, and it is accurate. 2. Video is restricted to DMs. A separate fact with a separate cause. The second one is what Mattermore addresses. ## The DM restriction is not a licence check Group calls are gated by a licence check in `server/enterprise/license.go`, and the way past it is an environment variable that Mattermost itself ships. That is covered on [group calls](/group-calls). Video is different. There is no licence check to satisfy. The restriction is in the web application, in `webapp/src/components/expanded_view/component.tsx`. At lines 919 and 964, the source carries the same comment twice: > Here we are assuming this only renders in a DM which is the case right now The component acts on that assumption. It reads `otherSessions[0]`, the first remote participant and only the first, and it holds a single `otherVideoStream`. With one variable for one remote stream, a second remote camera has nowhere to go. The interface was written for exactly two people, and the DM restriction is the honest consequence of that. ## The transport already carries every participant The server side never needed changing. Every remote track arriving at the client is tagged with a `sender_id` in a `TrackInfo` object, which is exactly what you need to keep several video streams apart and attach each to the right participant. The client receives that and discards it, because the single-stream component has no use for it. That is the whole gap. The media path can carry many cameras. The renderer was built for one. ## What Mattermore changes for group video Mattermore does two things, both in AGPL-licensed code: - Maps incoming video streams by sender instead of collapsing them into one variable, using the `sender_id` the transport already provides. - Renders a participant grid instead of a single remote tile, and removes the restriction that limited video to direct messages. The intended result is mattermost group video on a self-hosted server: cameras on in a channel call, several people visible at once, and screen sharing behaving as it does upstream. Intended is the honest word, and the next section explains why. Because Mattermore keeps the plugin id `com.mattermost.calls`, it is a drop-in replacement for the stock plugin and reversible at any point. It requires self-hosted Mattermost v11.0 or later. It does not work on Mattermost Cloud, which allows neither plugin uploads nor custom environment variables. See [install](/install) for the steps. ## Be clear about maturity Video is experimental upstream. Mattermore removes the DM restriction and fixes the renderer. It does not make the feature mature, and claiming otherwise would be dishonest. There is a sharper caveat on top of that one. The group video change is written and has never been run in a browser. The per-sender stream map and the participant grid are both in the tree; nobody has yet had three cameras in one channel call and watched what came out. Everything else on this site marked as working was verified on a running server, and this was not, so treat group video as code rather than a feature until the [roadmap](/roadmap) says otherwise. Practically: pilot mattermost camera video call usage with a small group before rolling it out to an organisation, and treat audio as the reliable path. Audio plus screen sharing is the well-trodden configuration. Camera video is newer ground on both sides of the fork. ## Capacity and bandwidth Video is considerably more bandwidth-intensive than audio. Each additional camera adds an outbound stream for every other participant, and that scales faster than the participant count does. The roughly 50 participant ceiling applies to a single server and is an audio figure. A call with cameras on will meet practical limits well before it, in server CPU, in server uplink and in each client's downlink. Plan **mattermost video conferencing self hosted** capacity around your real meeting sizes, not around the maximum. Network requirements are the same as for audio: UDP 8443 reachable from clients, TCP 8443 as a fallback, and media that does not traverse your reverse proxy. If video fails while audio works, start with the firewall, then [troubleshooting](/troubleshooting). ## Related pages - [Group calls](/group-calls): the licence side of the story. - [Install](/install) and [configuration](/configuration): setup, and where `EnableVideo` lives. - [Licensing](/licensing): why modifying only AGPL code is the line that matters. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does Mattermost have video calls? Yes, but limited. The calls plugin supports camera video through the `EnableVideo` setting, described upstream as experimental and off by default, and upstream restricts it to direct messages. ### How do I enable video calls in Mattermost? Turn on `EnableVideo` in the calls plugin settings. On stock Mattermost that gives you camera video in DMs only. With Mattermore installed on a self-hosted server it also works in group calls. ### Why is Mattermost video only available in DMs? Because the client was written for it. The expanded view component reads a single remote session and holds a single video stream, with source comments noting the assumption that it only renders in a DM. ### Can Mattermost do group video calls? Not upstream. Mattermore maps streams by sender, renders a participant grid and removes the DM restriction, all in AGPL code. That change is written but has not been run in a browser yet, so it is not something we will call working. ### Is Mattermost video calling stable enough for production? Video is experimental upstream, and Mattermore does not change that. Audio with screen sharing is the dependable configuration. Pilot video with a small group first. ### How many people can be on a Mattermost video call? Roughly 50 participants per call on a single server is the audio ceiling. Cameras push you into practical limits sooner, so treat that number as an upper bound rather than a target. ### Does Mattermost video work on Mattermost Cloud? Mattermore does not. It needs plugin uploads and a custom environment variable, neither of which Cloud allows. You need self-hosted Mattermost v11.0 or later.