Meshtastic Power Settings Reference

The Power configuration section in Meshtastic controls sleep modes, charge management, and power-related behavior. These settings are critical for battery and solar-powered deployments. 

 Accessing Power Settings 
 In the app: Radio Config → Power 
Via CLI: meshtastic --get power 

 Is Power Saving Enabled 
 meshtastic --set power.is_power_saving true 
 When enabled, the node aggressively reduces power consumption by sleeping the radio between receive windows. This is appropriate for CLIENT role nodes that send and receive messages periodically but don't need to relay for others. 
 Do NOT enable for Router/Repeater nodes - power saving puts the radio to sleep, which means the node cannot relay packets for others. Router and Repeater nodes must keep the radio awake continuously. 

 On Battery Discharge Values 
 These settings configure what the node reports for battery state-of-charge at different voltage levels. The defaults work for LiPo batteries; they need adjustment for LiFePO4: 
 
 Setting LiPo default LiFePO4 adjustment 
 
 on_battery_shutdown_after_secs 0 (disabled) Set to 60-300 for auto-shutdown at critical voltage 
 adc_multiplier_override 0 (auto) May need tuning per board for accurate LiFePO4 voltage reading 
 
 

 Sleep Configuration 
 For ESP32-based nodes, Meshtastic can use deep sleep between transmissions to dramatically reduce power consumption: 
 # Enable sleep mode (CLIENT nodes only)
meshtastic --set power.is_power_saving true

# Mesh SDS (Super Deep Sleep) timeout - seconds of no activity before very deep sleep
meshtastic --set power.mesh_sds_timeout_secs 3600

# SDS sleep duration - how long to stay in super deep sleep
meshtastic --set power.sds_secs 3600

# Minimum wake time - stay awake at least this long after waking
meshtastic --set power.min_wake_secs 10 

 Screen and BT Power 
 # Screen timeout (0 = always off)
meshtastic --set display.screen_on_secs 30

# Bluetooth enable/disable
meshtastic --set bluetooth.enabled true

# BLE pairing mode (random PIN or fixed PIN)
meshtastic --set bluetooth.mode RANDOM_PIN 

 Power Consumption by Role 
 
 Role Sleep mode Typical current (ESP32) Typical current (nRF52840) 
 
 CLIENT with power saving Yes 5-15 mA average 1-3 mA average 
 CLIENT without power saving No 35-55 mA 8-15 mA 
 ROUTER / REPEATER No (radio always on) 40-60 mA 10-18 mA 
 Any role, OLED on Varies +15-20 mA +15-20 mA 
 Any role, WiFi enabled Varies +60-150 mA peak N/A 
 
 

 Practical Power Optimization Checklist 
 
 Set role correctly: CLIENT with power saving for personal nodes; ROUTER for fixed repeaters 
 Set screen timeout to 30 seconds or disable ( screen_on_secs 0 ) 
 Disable Bluetooth when using WiFi connection 
 Disable WiFi when using Bluetooth (ESP32 only: WiFi and BT share antenna, simultaneous use increases power) 
 Set position broadcast to 30+ minutes for fixed nodes 
 Set telemetry broadcast to 15-30 minutes 
 Reduce TX power to minimum needed for coverage 
 Use nRF52840 hardware over ESP32 for 4-5x better battery life on the same battery