---
updatedAt: 2026-09-10T09:15:51.000Z
agentTools:
  siteIndex: https://docs.jwplayer.com/llms.txt
  projectIndex: https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/llms.txt
---

# Playback

These API calls are used to retrieve and change the current playback state of the player.

### Endpoints

| Method                                                | Description                                                                                                                                         |
| :---------------------------------------------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [.play()](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/play)                                   | Sets the play state of the JWX player. Calling `play()` while media is playing does nothing.                                                |
| [.pause()](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/pause)                                 | Pauses playback, changing the state of the JWX player from playing to paused. Calling `pause()` while media is already paused does nothing. |
| [.stop()](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/stop)                                   | Stops the player, returning it to the idle state.                                                                                                   |
| [.getState()](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/getstate)                           | Returns the player's current playback state.                                                                                                        |
| [.getPlaybackRate()](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/getplaybackrate)             | **NA**                                                                                                                                              |
| [.setPlaybackRate(*rate*)](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/setplaybackrate_rate_) | **NA**                                                                                                                                              |

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<hr />

### Events

| Method                                                                  | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| :---------------------------------------------------------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [.on('autostartNotAllowed')](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playback-events#onautostartnotallowed) | **NA**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| [.on('play')](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playback-events#onplay)                               | Fired when the player enters the playing state                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| [.on('pause')](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playback-events#onpause)                             | Fired when the player enters the paused state                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| [.on('playAttemptFailed')](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playback-events#onplayattemptfailed)     | Fired when playback is aborted or blocked. A failed play attempt does not result in a play. Pausing the video or changing the media results in play attempts being aborted. In mobile browsers play attempts are blocked when not started by a user gesture. |
| [.on('buffer')](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playback-events#onbuffer)                           | Fired when the player starts playback and when the player enters a buffering state.                                                                                                                                                                          |
| [.on('idle')](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playback-events#onidle)                               | Fired when the player enters the idle state.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| [.on('complete')](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playback-events#oncomplete)                       | Fires each time the end of a video is reached.                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| [.on('firstFrame')](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playback-events#onfirstframe)                   | Use this to determine the period of time between a user pressing play and the same user viewing their content. Triggered by a video's first frame event (or the instant an audio file begins playback). This event pinpoints when content playback begins.   |
| [.on('error')](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playback-events#onerror)                             | Signals a critical error in the playback process.                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| [.on('warning')](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playback-events#onwarning)                         | Signals a failure that is not critical to the setup or playback process.                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| [.on('playbackRateChanged')](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playback-events#onplaybackratechanged) | Fired when the playback rate has been changed.                                                                                                                                                                                                               |

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# Sub pages

* [getPlaybackRate()](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/getplaybackrate.md)
* [setPlaybackRate(rate)](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/setplaybackrate_rate_.md)
* [getState()](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/getstate.md)
* [play()](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/play.md)
* [pause()](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/pause.md)
* [stop()](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/stop.md)
* [Playback Events](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playback-events.md)

# Sibling pages

* [Introduction](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/javascript-player-api-introduction.md)
* [Setup](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/player-initiation.md)
* [All](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/all.md)
* [Advertising](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/advertising.md)
* [Audio Tracks](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/audio-tracks.md)
* [Buffer](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/buffer.md)
* [Captions](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/captions.md)
* [Cast](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/cast.md)
* [Controls](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/controls.md)
* [Floating Player](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/floating-player.md)
* [Metadata](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/metadata.md)
* [Playlist](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/playlist.md)
* [Quality](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/quality.md)
* [Related](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/related.md)
* [Resize](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/resize.md)
* [Seek](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/seek.md)
* [Sharing](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/sharing.md)
* [Viewability](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/viewability.md)
* [Volume](https://docs.jwplayer.com/players/reference/volume.md)