Adblock Plus preferences

The following table lists and explains all preferences that are used by Adblock Plus. These preferences can be viewed and changed via about:config.

Preference Default value Comments
Visible options
extensions. adblockplus. enabled true Value of the "Enable Adblock Plus" option
extensions. adblockplus. frameobjects true Value of the "Show tabs on Flash and Java" option
extensions. adblockplus. savestats false Value of the "Count filter hits" option
extensions. adblockplus. showinstatusbar false Value of the "Show in status bar" option
Hidden options
extensions. adblockplus. clearStatsOnHistoryPurge true If true, clearing browsing history will also clear hit statistics for Adblock Plus filters. Note that the hit statistics often allow deducing which sites the user visited, when and how often.
extensions. adblockplus. composer_default 2 Determines which suggestion should be selected in the filter composer by default:

0 — custom pattern
1 — exact address only
2 — entire directory
3 — entire site
extensions. adblockplus. data_directory adblockplus Unused in Adblock Plus 2.9 and higher.
extensions. adblockplus. defaultstatusbaraction 0 Defines the action that should be executed when the status bar icon is clicked. For list of possible values see defaulttoolbaraction.
extensions. adblockplus. defaulttoolbaraction 0 Defines the action that should be executed when the toolbar icon is clicked. Possible values are:

0 — show menu
1 — open/close blockable items
2 — show Preferences dialog
3 — enable/disable Adblock Plus
anything else — do nothing
extensions. adblockplus. enable_key empty Defines the keyboard shortcut to be used to enable/disable Adblock Plus. For description of possible values see sidebar_key.

Note: This setting will only apply after the browser is restarted.
extensions. adblockplus. fastcollapse false If set to true blocked elements will no longer be hidden. This might have the effect that placeholders will show up for blocked images for example, unless hidden by other means. This functionality was available as "Hide placeholders of blocked elements" before Adblock Plus 2.6.7.
extensions. adblockplus. filters_key Accel Shift E, Accel Shift F, Accel Shift O Defines the keyboard shortcut to be used to open Filter Preferences dialog. For description of possible values see sidebar_key.

Note: This setting will only apply after the browser is restarted.
extensions. adblockplus. flash_scrolltoitem true Defines whether "Flash item's borders" in the list of blockable items should try to scroll the item into view.
extensions. adblockplus. patternsbackupinterval 24 Minimal interval between two backups of patterns.ini (in hours)
extensions. adblockplus. patternsbackups 5 Number of backups for patterns.ini that should be kept. If this is 0, backups will be disabled.
extensions. adblockplus. patternsfile empty Name of the file that should be used to store the list of filters. This can be either an absolute path, or it can be file's location relative to the user's profile.
extensions. adblockplus. please_kill_startup_performance false Unused in Adblock Plus 2.9 and higher.
extensions. adblockplus. previewimages true Defines whether the tooltip in the list of blockable items should show the image that the item represents.
extensions. adblockplus. sendReport_key empty Defines the keyboard shortcut to be used to send issue reports. For description of possible values see sidebar_key.

Note: This setting will only apply after the browser is restarted.
extensions. adblockplus. subscriptions_autoupdate true Defines whether filters in filter subscriptions will be updated automatically.

Note: Disabling updates is not recommended.
extensions. adblockplus. subscriptions_exceptionscheckbox true If true, the filter list for nonintrusive ads will get special treatment and will be displayed as a checkbox in the user interface.
Remembered actions
extensions. adblockplus. blockableItemsSize {width: 200, height: 200} Remembered size of the Blockable Items list (width setting is only relevant when displayed as a sidebar).
extensions. adblockplus. currentVersion 0.0 Stores the last used Adblock Plus version, this will trigger actions that need to be done on upgrade or first install
extensions. adblockplus. detachsidebar false Stores state of the list of blockable items — true means detached
extensions. adblockplus. hideContributeButton false This is set to true if the user chose to hide the Contribute button.
extensions. adblockplus. notifications_ignoredcategories [] List of notification categories that the user opted out of.
extensions. adblockplus. notifications_showui false Determines whether notification management UI should be displayed (only if the user opted out of notifications before).
extensions. adblockplus. recentReports [] JSON-encoded data on recently submitted issue reports (address of the report, website reported and time of submission)
Internal preferences (don't change unless you really know what you are doing)
extensions. adblockplus. analytics { trustedHosts: ["adblockplus.org", "notification.adblockplus.org", "easylist-downloads.adblockplus.org"] } Contains analytics data, for example the version of the first fetched resource, and a list of trusted hosts which that data can be shared with.
extensions. adblockplus. notificationdata {} Current emergency notification data.
extensions. adblockplus. notificationurl   Location of the file containing emergency notifications.
extensions. adblockplus. report_submiturl   Address on adblockplus.org to submit issue reports to.
extensions. adblockplus. subscriptions_antiadblockurl   Location of the subscription that hides anti adblock messages.
extensions. adblockplus. subscriptions_exceptionsurl   Location of the filter list used to allow nonintrusive ads.
extensions. adblockplus. subscriptions_exceptionsurl_privacy   Location of the filter list used to allow only nonintrusive ads that are privacy-friendly.
extensions. adblockplus. subscriptions_fallbackerrors 5 Sets the required number of failed subscription download attempts before the fallback script (see subscriptions_fallbackurl) will be consulted for the new address of the subscription. Note that Adblock Plus will always retry a download one day after a failed download attempt.
extensions. adblockplus. subscriptions_fallbackurl   Address of the script that should be consulted if a subscription fails to download a certain number of times (see subscriptions_fallbackerrors). %s is replaced by the address of the subscription in question. The script should print something like "301 http://example.com/new_list.txt" if the new location of the subscription is known.
extensions. adblockplus. subscriptions_listurl   Address to download the complete list of filter subscriptions from.
extensions. adblockplus. whitelistschemes about chrome file irc moz-extension moz-safe-about news resource snews x-jsd addbook cid imap mailbox nntp pop data javascript moz-icon List of URL schemes that shouldn't be blocked (applied to both whole documents and to item locations)
Removed preferences
extensions. adblockplus. blocklocalpages   Unused in Adblock Plus 0.7.5 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. blocktypes   Unused in Adblock Plus 0.7.5 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. checkedadblockinstalled   Unused in Adblock Plus 1.0 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. checkedadblockprefs   Unused in Adblock Plus 0.7.5 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. checkedadblocksync   Unused in Adblock Plus 0.7.5 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. checktoolbar   Unused in Adblock Plus 1.0 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. correctTypos   Unused in Adblock Plus 2.3 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. correctTyposAsked   Unused in Adblock Plus 2.3 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. grouporder   Unused in Adblock Plus 0.7.5 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. hideimagemanager   Unused in Adblock Plus 2.1 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. lastRuleUpdate   Unused in Adblock Plus 2.3 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. linkcheck   Unused in Adblock Plus 0.7.5.4 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. linktypes   Unused in Adblock Plus 0.7.5 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. localschemes   Unused in Adblock Plus 0.7.5 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. noncollapsabletypes   Unused in Adblock Plus 0.7.5 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. patterns   Unused in Adblock Plus 0.7.5 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. protectchrome.*   Unused in Adblock Plus 1.0 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. settings_key   Unused in Adblock Plus 2.0 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. showintoolbar   Unused in Adblock Plus 2.0 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. showsubscriptions   Unused in Adblock Plus 1.0 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. synchronizationinterval   Unused in Adblock Plus 2.0 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. warnregexp   Unused in Adblock Plus 1.0 and higher
extensions. adblockplus. whitelist   Unused in Adblock Plus 2.3 and higher
Preferences for administrators
extensions. adblockplus. suppress_first_run_page false Suppresses the first run page Adblock Plus opens after the installation.