Rarbg X265 Encoding Settings May 2026

RARBG used a modified version of the x265 encoder. While they tweaked settings over the years, the core parameters generally looked like this:

You want to encode your own Blu-ray collection to RARBG standards. Here is the exact script used by internal RARBG encoders (recovered from user posts).

RARBG handled anime differently than live-action. If you study their releases, you’ll notice two distinct profiles. Rarbg X265 Encoding Settings

x265 has notorious pitfalls. Here is how RARBG's settings mitigated them:

| Defect | Default x265 Behavior | RARBG Fix | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Blocking in dark skies | Low bitrate allocation to uniform areas. | aq-mode=3 forces bits to flat dark areas. | | Skin looking waxy | Over-smoothing from sao. | no-sao=1 keeps natural skin texture. | | Color banding | 8-bit dithering fails on gradients. | Used --dither in x265 or encoded in 10-bit (even for 1080p). | | Ringing around text | deblock set too low. | deblock=-2,-2 softens but prevents rings. | RARBG used a modified version of the x265 encoder

The Good:

The Bad:

Adaptive Quantization mode 3 (Auto-Variance) is aggressive. It dedicates more bits to dark, complex scenes. Most encoders use mode 2. RARBG used mode 3 to ensure that dark scenes in The Batman or Game of Thrones didn't turn into a pixelated mess.

HandBrakeCLI -i source.mkv -o output.mkv \
--encoder x265_10bit \
--quality 19 --encoder-preset medium \
--encopts "aq-mode=3:aq-strength=1.0:no-sao=1:deblock=-2,-2:limit-sao=1:rskip=2:psy-rd=1.0:psy-rdoq=4.0" \
--aencoder av_aac --ab 384 --mixdown 5point1 \
--comb-detect --decomb \
--no-dvd-subtitles

As good as they were, RARBG's settings are not universal. Avoid them if: The Bad: Adaptive Quantization mode 3 (Auto-Variance) is