False "maximum streaming limit" on a single Apple TV device (limit = 1)

[steve_tv 1]

Hi all,

I'm running Emby Server 4.9.3.0 on Linux. I share my library with several users and I have Max simultaneous streams set to 1 per user.

One user keeps getting "Your account exceeded the maximum streaming limit set by your Emby Server Administrator", but he only ever uses a single Apple TV (Emby for Apple TV 2.0.6). I checked and his device ID only ever connects from one single IP — he is definitely not streaming anywhere else at the same time.

Looking at the server log, I think the app is tripping its own limit. During a single movie, the Apple TV app repeatedly reports "Playback stopped" and then keeps sending progress events and re-adds the same play session to the same session container, and eventually starts a new PlaySessionId for the same title. The content is being transcoded (ContainerNotSupported / ContainerBitrateExceedsLimit), so a server-side transcode is still finishing when the next session registers. Server-wide I also see more play sessions added than removed (53 vs 49), so some sessions aren't being released cleanly.

My guess is that with the limit at 1 there's zero headroom, so the brief overlap between the not-yet-released old stream and the new one is counted as 2 and rejected.

My questions:

• Is this the expected cause of a false "limit exceeded" for a user on a single device?
• Is there any server-side setting to add a small tolerance/grace to the simultaneous-stream check, or to make a stopped session/transcode release immediately, so I can keep the limit at 1 without these false positives?

Relevant log excerpt (session IDs shortened, server IP removed) below. Full log attached.Thanks!
 

2026-07-13 15:45:18.467  SessionManager: Adding playSession 86430611... to session 337b0590...
2026-07-13 15:45:18.929  SessionManager: Playback start reported by app Emby for Apple TV 2.0.6 (3) on Apple TV playing <title>. PlaySessionId: 86430611...  IsPaused: False
      ... normal playback for ~25 min ...
2026-07-13 16:10:39.973  SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Apple TV 2.0.6 (3) ... PlaySessionId: 86430611...
2026-07-13 16:10:39.974  SessionManager: Removed playSession 86430611... from session 337b0590...
2026-07-13 16:12:17.094  SessionManager: Adding  playSession 86430611... to session 337b0590...      <-- same play session re-added
2026-07-13 16:13:36.796  SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Apple TV 2.0.6 (3) ... PlaySessionId: 86430611...
2026-07-13 16:13:36.797  SessionManager: Removed playSession 86430611... from session 337b0590...
2026-07-13 16:13:38.484  SessionManager: Adding  playSession 86430611... to session 337b0590...      <-- re-added again
2026-07-13 16:14:00.465  SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Apple TV 2.0.6 (3) ... PlaySessionId: 86430611...
2026-07-13 16:14:00.850  SessionManager: Removed playSession 86430611... from session 337b0590...
2026-07-13 16:14:03.005  SessionManager: Playback start  reported by app Emby for Apple TV 2.0.6 (3) ... PlaySessionId: 0e78ef8c...   <-- NEW PlaySessionId, same title/position
2026-07-13 16:39:53.203  SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Apple TV 2.0.6 (3) ... PlaySessionId: 0e78ef8c...

Same device across the whole log: 977 requests, all from ONE source IP.
Transcode reasons for this device: ContainerBitrateExceedsLimit, ContainerNotSupported, DirectPlayError.
Server-wide: playSession "Adding" = 53  vs  "Removed" = 49.

 

[steve_tv 1]

Can't edit previous message; 

I'm focusing on the Apple TV because its log is the cleanest to follow, but I see the same false limit errors on Chromecast and on some smart TVs too. In fact the log shows several play sessions that were opened and never closed on those clients — added 53 play sessions vs only 49 removed over the day. A few examples below: a Chromecast that played and then went silent for ~20 min with no "stop" and was never removed, plus LG and Samsung sessions that reported a start and then nothing, and one orphaned session that was added without any playback at all. If these lingering sessions still count toward the stream limit, that would explain why the "limit exceeded" error isn't specific to the Apple TV.

 

--- Chromecast: played, then went silent, never closed ---
2026-07-13 16:28:28.449  SessionManager: Adding playSession PS... to session SESS...
2026-07-13 16:28:30.635  SessionManager: Playback start    reported by Emby for Chromecast 2.1.0 on Chromecast playing <title>. PlaySessionId: e19a58ec...
2026-07-13 17:17:58.737  SessionManager: Playback progress reported by Emby for Chromecast 2.1.0 on Chromecast playing <title>. PlaySessionId: e19a58ec...
      --> log ends 17:37:14, no "Playback stopped" and no "Removed playSession" for this id (~19 min silent)

--- LG Smart TV: start reported, then no progress, never closed ---
2026-07-13 17:10:34.937  SessionManager: Adding playSession PS... to session SESS...
2026-07-13 17:10:37.230  SessionManager: Playback start reported by Emby for LG 1.0.50 on LG Smart TV playing <title>. PlaySessionId: 30709c98...
      --> no further progress, no stop, no "Removed" by end of log

--- Samsung Smart TV: start reported, then no progress, never closed ---
2026-07-13 17:02:30.150  SessionManager: Adding playSession PS... to session SESS...
2026-07-13 17:02:35.602  SessionManager: Playback start reported by Emby for Samsung 2.2.8 on Samsung Smart TV playing <title>. PlaySessionId: 67a53a0b...
      --> no further progress, no stop, no "Removed" by end of log

--- Orphaned session: added, but no playback ever started, never removed ---
2026-07-13 16:14:33.362  SessionManager: Adding playSession PS... to session SESS...
      --> no "Playback start", no "Playback stopped", no "Removed" anywhere in the log

I also attach full log, the AppleTV user is  @User09 

embyServer (2).txt