Media player is not playing

The Media player is not playing condition passes when the selected media player is not currently playing media. Use it when an automation should run only when audio or video is not actively in progress.

Use Media player is not playing to start a noisy appliance, begin cleaning, or run reminders only when a room is not actively being used for playback.

Using this condition from the user interface

If you prefer building automations visually, Home Assistant walks you through this condition step by step. You pick what to check, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To use Media player is not playing in an automation:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. In the And if section, select Add condition.
4. Select what you want to check. Under By target (see Targets), pick the media player you want to evaluate. You can also select an area, a floor, a device, or a label.
5. From the conditions shown for that target, select Media player is not playing.
6. Under Condition passes if (see Behavior), choose how multiple targeted media players should behave. The default is Any.
7. Under For at least, enter how long the media player must stay in a non-playing state before the condition passes. The default is 0.
8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Using this condition in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this condition as media_player.is_not_playing. A basic example looks like this:

condition: media_player.is_not_playing
target:
  entity_id: media_player.living_room_tv

This passes when the living room TV is not playing media.

To require all targeted media players to stay in a non-playing state for 15 minutes:

condition: media_player.is_not_playing
target:
  area_id: downstairs
options:
  behavior: all
  for: "00:15:00"

Options in YAML

Targets of the condition

This condition requires a target. The target is the object that Home Assistant will check. You can point the condition at a single entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more], a device, an area, a floor, or a label, and Home Assistant will evaluate every matching media_player entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific media_player entity, such as media_player.living_room.
• Device: every media_player entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every media_player entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every media_player entity on a floor.
• Label: every media_player entity that shares a label.

You can also select different target types in one condition. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same condition to check both of them at once.

Behavior with multiple targets

When you target more than one entity (or select an area, floor, or label that contains several), the Condition passes if option controls how the results combine:

• Any (default): the condition passes if at least one of the targeted entities matches. For example, if you check three smoke sensors and only one of them detects smoke, the condition still passes. This is useful for questions like “is there smoke anywhere in the house?”
• All: the condition passes only when every targeted entity matches. For example, if you check the same three smoke sensors, the condition passes only once all three report cleared. This is useful for “is the entire house safe now?” checks, so your automation does not send an all-clear while one room still has a reading.

Good to know

• This condition covers any non-playing state. If you only want to check for paused playback, use Media player is paused.
• Media players that are unavailable or unknown are skipped for Any and fail for All.
• If you need to confirm that playback is active, use Media player is playing.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Go to Settings > Automations & scenes, open an automation, and add this condition. Trigger the automation with and without the condition met, and watch whether it continues or stops.

More examples

Real scenarios where this condition gates an automation. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Automation: start the vacuum only when the TV is not playing

When everyone leaves home, start the vacuum only if the living room TV is not playing.

• Trigger: Person leaves home
• Condition: Media player is not playing
  • Target: Living room TV
• Action: Start vacuuming
  • Target: Robot vacuum

alias: "Start the vacuum only when the TV is not playing"
triggers:
  - trigger: zone
    entity_id: person.alex
    zone: zone.home
    event: leave
conditions:
  - condition: media_player.is_not_playing
    target:
      entity_id: media_player.living_room_tv
actions:
  - action: vacuum.start
    target:
      entity_id: vacuum.main_floor

Automation: open the blinds only when every player in the room is not playing

At sunrise, open the media room blinds only if every targeted media player is not playing.

• Trigger: Sun rises
• Condition: Media player is not playing
  • Target: Media room
  • Condition passes if: All
• Action: Open cover
  • Target: Media room blinds

alias: "Open the blinds only when the media room is quiet"
triggers:
  - trigger: sun
    event: sunrise
conditions:
  - condition: media_player.is_not_playing
    target:
      area_id: media_room
    options:
      behavior: all
actions:
  - action: cover.open_cover
    target:
      entity_id: cover.media_room_blinds

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the condition you’re using and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related conditions

These conditions work well alongside this one:

• Media player is playing: Tests if one or more media players are playing.

• Media player is paused: Tests if one or more media players are paused.