PARAM.SFO

SFO (System File Object) are used in folders wich content needs to be displayed in the XMB. In the same folder than the SFO are the Content Information Files, and for speciall content like SaveData there is a PARAM.PFD for security reasons.

The parameters SFO contains can be simplyfied as inputs and outputs of the content:

• Boot modifyers (or flags) that are sent to the content when is executed to activate speciall modes (e.g. audio and video modes of a game).
• Information strings needed to display the content in the XMB and his restrictions (e.g. name and version of a game).

SFX (System File in XML format) are used to create SFO's. Additionally SFX files are used in Blue-Ray disc games inside PS3_EXTRA folder to display content in XMB. In fact the values contained in both formats are the same and the conversion is easy from one format to the other

SFO and SFX can be "chained" in a structure of subfolders with a maximun of 3 levels (SFX format is used in level3).

Level2 SFO's can contain specific values than cant be used in Level1 (e.g. CATEGORY when used in level2 has lot of different and specific values). In the same way when ATTRIBUTE is used in level2 his valid values are completly different than when used in level1.

---

Internal Structure

Header

 typdef struct Header
 {
 uint32_t Signature; /* Always PSF */
 uint32_t Version; /* Usually 1.1 */
 uint32_t Name_Table_Start; /* Start position of the Name_Table */
 uint32_t Data_Table_Start; /* Start position of the Data_Table */
 uint32_t Entries_Number; /* Number of entries */
 };

Definition_Table

This structure repeats one time for every Entries_Number defined in the header. All values are in Little Endian

 typedef struct Definition_Table
 {
 uint16_t Name_Table_Offset; /* Offset of the Name of the entry, from start of Name_Table */
 uint16_t Data_Type; /* Type of data of the entry in the Data_Table */
 uint32_t Data_Size_Used; /* Used Bytes by the entry in the Data_Table */
 uint32_t Data_Size_Total; /* Total bytes reserved for the entry in the Data_Table */
 uint32_t Data_Table_Offset; /* Offset of the Data of the entry, from start of Data_Table */
 };

The Data_Types are partially known based in some examples found in different content

Valid Data Types	Description	Notes
04 00	Unknown	Used in ACCOUNT_ID, PADDING, PARAMS and PARAMS2
04 02	utf-8
04 04	integer

• Speculation

If the "scale" used for the second byte follows the proportion of 2^X (e.g. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc...) then we are missing a "04 01" valid data type in the list

Name_Table

The entries of this table (and the next table) can vary depending of the kind of content displayed in the XMB.

Each entry of the table needs 1 blank byte after the name to separate them.

The table has padding at the end to fit the total size in bytes to a multiply or 4, this padding is added after the last blank byte of the last entry. If the last entry (included his blank byte) matches with a multiply of 4 this padding doesn't exist.

Data_Table

This table has no padding between entries neither at the end, Data_Size_Total and Data_Size_Used for each entry are in the Definition_Table so the space in Data_Table can be considered reserved, even when is not used or filled with zeroes.

The Data_Size_Used bytes are the same than Data_Size_Total when the entry is an integer (integer entries uses all the reserved bytes) but are different when the Data_Type is utf-8 (e.g. TITLE of a game never uses all the reserved bytes), additionally utf-8 entries needs 1 blank byte after the last character of the text string, this byte can be considered part of the string to count the Data_Size_Total bytes for this entry.

Internall Structure Examples

SFO

This is an example of a hand made SFO structure, it contains only 1 entry (TITLE_ID), i choosed this one because his Data_Size_Total is short enought (16 bytes) to build the full structure in a minimall size, needs padding at the end of the Name_Table, and the Data_Size_Used is smaller than Data_Size_Total

0x0000  00 50 53 46  01 01 00 00  24 00 00 00  30 00 00 00 | .PSF....$...0... |
0x0010  01 00 00 00  00 00 04 02  0A 00 00 00  0F 00 00 00 | ................ |
0x0020  00 00 00 00  54 49 54 4C  45 5F 49 44  00 00 00 00 | ....TITLE_ID.... |
0x0030  41 42 43 44  31 32 33 34  35 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | ABCD12345....... |

All the blocks of the file are explained in the next list, it has separated sections for header and the three tables.

Offset	Size	Content	Conversion	Value	Notes
Header
0x0000	0x04	00 50 53 46	To utf-8	PSF	Signature
0x0004	0x04	01 01 00 00	Big endian, decimal	1.1	Version (the point is added by the system)
0x0008	0x04	24 00 00 00	Big endian	0x0024	Start of Name_Table
0x000C	0x04	30 00 00 00	Big endian	0x0030	Start of Data_Table
0x0010	0x04	01 00 00 00	Big endian, decimal	1	Number of entries in the tables
Definition_Table
0x0014	0x02	0000	Big endian	0	(Start of Name) - (Start of Name_Table) = 0x0024-0x0024 = 0
0x0016	0x02	0402	Unknown		Data_Type
0x0018	0x04	0A000000	Big endian, decimal	10	Data_Size_Used (ABCD12345 are 9 bytes + 1 blank = 10)
0x001C	0x04	0F000000	Big endian, decimal	16	Data_Size_Total (TITLE_ID Data_Size_Total is always 16 bytes)
0x0020	0x04	00000000	Big endian	0	(Start of Data) - (Start of Data_Table) = 0x0030-0x0030 = 0
Name_Table
0x0024	0x09	5449544C455F494400	To utf-8	TITLE_ID	Name, included 1 blank byte at the end
0x002D	0x03	000000			Padding (9 from the previous entry + 3 padding = 12 bytes)
Data_Table
0x0030	0x0F	41424344313233343500000000000000	To utf-8	ABCD12345	Data. (Data_Size_Total=16 bytes. Data_Size_Used=10 bytes)

• When you generate a non proper file playing with the flags, you can have a nice icon of "corrupted data", but in some cases the game will still boot normally. In other cases when adding or removing parameters the file is "partially" corrupted because a "break point" in the structure and the file is "partially" loaded (the PS3 loads the values before the structure "break point" normally, but after this point the values shown as corrupted or missed)

• The corrupted icon is part of the firmware, in the path... ?

• When adding "non-stadard" parameters to a "standard" SFO the system (or firmware) blocks this "not-expected" parameter. The file loads normally, but the added parameter is ignored (e.g. when adding SUB_TITLE to a SFO for catergory "HG")

• The minimall structure tested (and working) for a hombrew can be copied/downloaded at the bottom of the page, its not "standard" but the PS3 doesnt complains, and probably can be reduced even more

SFX

This is a PARAM.SFX from the Blue-Ray "move demo disc", the disc contains some installable demos in format .PKG in the paths /PS3_EXTRA/D000/DATA000.PKG controlled by a /PS3_EXTRA/D000/PARAM.SFX

The entries and values are self explanatory, this files can be created easily by hand

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<paramsfo add_hidden="false">
  <param key="ATTRIBUTE" fmt="int32" max_len="4">0</param>
  <param key="CATEGORY" fmt="utf8" max_len="4">IP</param>
  <param key="PARENTAL_LEVEL" fmt="int32" max_len="4">2</param>
  <param key="TITLE" fmt="utf8" max_len="128">Beat Sketcher™</param>
  <param key="TITLE_05" fmt="utf8" max_len="128">Beat Sketcher™ A mano libera</param>
</paramsfo>

Parameters Table

Parameters are ordered inside the SFO alphabetically (from A to Z).

This table contains all the parameters known/found in standard formats. Columns of the table are named by the CATEGORY used in this format.

HG = HDD Game

1P = PS1 Game

2P = PS2 Game

MN = PSP Mini Game

GD = Game Data

SD = Save Data

♦ = Trophy

Parameter	Data_Type	Data_Size_Total	Data_Size_Used	HG	1P	2P	MN		GD	SD	♦
ACCOUNT_ID	0400	16 (0x10)	16 (0x10)	No	No	???	No		No	Yes	No
ACCOUNTID	utf-8	16 (0x10)	16 (0x10)	No	No	???	No		No	No	Yes
ANALOG_MODE	integer	4 (0x4)	4 (0x4)	No	Yes	???	No		No	No	No
APP_VER	utf-8	8 (0x8)	6 (0x6)	Opt	No	???	Yes		Opt	No	No
ATTRIBUTE	integer	4 (0x4)	4 (0x4)	Opt	Yes	???	Yes		Opt	Yes	No
BOOTABLE	integer	4 (0x4)	4 (0x4)	Yes	Yes	???	Yes		No	No	No
CATEGORY	utf-8	4 (0x4)	3 (0x3)	Yes	Yes	???	Yes		Yes	Yes	No
CONTENT_ID	utf-8	48 (0x30)	37 (0x25)	Opt	No	???	No		No	No	No
DETAIL	utf-8	1024 (0x400)	variable	No	No	???	No		No	Opt	No
LANG	integer	4 (0x4)	4 (0x4)	No	No	???	No		No	No	Yes
LICENSE	utf-8	512 (0x200)	variable	Yes	No	???	No		No	No	No
NP_COMMUNICATION_ID	utf-8	16 (0x10)	13 (0xD)	Opt	No	???	No		No	No	No
NPCOMMID	utf-8	16 (0x10)	12 (0xC)	No	No	???	No		No	No	Yes
PADDING	0400	8 (0x8)	0 (0x0)	No	No	???	No		No	No	Yes
PARAMS	0400	1024 (0x400)	1024 (0x400)	No	No	???	No		No	Yes	No
PARAMS2	0400	12 (0xC)	12 (0xC)	No	No	???	No		No	Yes	No
PARENTAL_LEVEL_x	integer	4 (0x4)	4 (0x4)	Opt	No	???	No		No	No	No
PARENTAL_LEVEL	integer	4 (0x4)	4 (0x4)	Yes	No	???	Yes		Yes	Yes	No
PARENTALLEVEL	integer	4 (0x4)	4 (0x4)	No	Yes	???	No		No	No	Yes
PS3_SYSTEM_VER	utf-8	8 (0x8)	8 (0x8)	Yes	Yes	???	Yes		Opt	No	No
REGION_DENY	integer	4 (0x4)	4 (0x4)	Opt	No	???	No		No	No	No
RESOLUTION	integer	4 (0x4)	4 (0x4)	Yes	Yes	???	Yes		No	No	No
SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY	utf-8	64 (0x40)	variable	No	No	???	No		No	Yes	No
SAVEDATA_LIST_PARAM	utf-8	8 (0x8)	variable	No	No	???	No		No	Yes	No
SOUND_FORMAT	integer	4 (0x4)	4 (0x4)	Yes	Yes	???	Yes		No	No	No
SOURCE	integer	4 (0x4)	4 (0x4)	No	No	???	No		No	No	Yes
SUB_TITLE	utf-8	128 (0x80)	variable	No	No	???	No		No	Opt	No
TARGET_APP_VER	utf-8	8 (0x8)	6 (0x6)	No	No	???	No		Opt	No	No
TITLE	utf-8	128 (0x80)	variable	Yes	Yes	???	Yes		Yes	Yes	No
TITLE_ID	utf-8	16 (0x10)	10 (0xA)	Yes	Yes	???	Yes		Yes	No	No
TITLE_xx	utf-8	128 (0x80)	variable	Opt	No	???	No		No	No	No
TITLEID0xx	utf-8	16 (0x10)	9 (0x9)	No	No	???	No		No	No	Yes
VERSION	utf-8	8 (0x8)	6 (0x6)	Yes	Yes	???	Yes		Yes	No	Yes

Parameters Descriptions

ACCOUNT_ID

Data_Type: ?
Data_Size_Total: 16 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 16 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: Save Data

PSN User Account, verified against the info contained in XRegistry.sys. Filled with zeroes when the user has not been registered in PSN

• Data_Type unknown

ACCOUNTID

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 16 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 16 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: Trophy

Same than ACCOUNT_ID but with a Data_Type utf-8

ANALOG_MODE

Data_Type: uint32_t
Data_Size_Total: 4 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 4 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: PS1 Game

Used to enable compatibility with the analog sticks of the Dualshock Controller

APP_VER

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 8 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 6 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game, PSP Mini Game	

Application version (or patch version). Not used in old games

The format is XX.YY where "XX" and "YY" are numbers, and the point "." is included in the string

Usually 01.00 is used for a stable release version. Game patches uses bigger numbers as 01.01 for the first patch, 01.02 for the second one, etc...

ATTRIBUTE

Data_Type: uint32_t
Data_Size_Total: 4 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 4 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game, PS1 Game, PSP Mini Game, Save Data

This parameter contains a maximun of 32 flags that can be turned on/off to activate/deactivate speciall boot modes for the content.

Values are stored in "Little Indian" format, by converting them to "Big Indian" and then to binary is easyer to see in a "human readable" format how are ordered from older to newer (note that the list separates them in 4 blocks, each of this blocks are "filled" from top to bottom). The older flags are related to PSP in the first block because PSP is older than PS3.

Flags can be used in groups, to remove or add a flag from the group is needed to make an addition or a substraction of the values.

Little Endian	Big Endian	Flags (Binary)	Description
01 00 00 00	00 00 00 01	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001	PSP Remote Play in MPEG4 SP/ATRAC
02 00 00 00	00 00 00 02	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000010	PSP Export
04 00 00 00	00 00 00 04	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000100	PSP Remote Play in MPEG4 AVC/AAC
08 00 00 00	00 00 00 08	00000000 00000000 00000000 00001000	Unknown !
10 00 00 00	00 00 00 10	00000000 00000000 00000000 00010000	Unknown !
20 00 00 00	00 00 00 20	00000000 00000000 00000000 00100000	"XMB in-game" background music
40 00 00 00	00 00 00 40	00000000 00000000 00000000 01000000	Not used yet ?
80 00 00 00	00 00 00 80	00000000 00000000 00000000 10000000	Not used yet ?
00 01 00 00	00 00 01 00	00000000 00000000 00000001 00000000	Move Controller Warning Screen
00 02 00 00	00 00 02 00	00000000 00000000 00000010 00000000	Navigation Controller Warning Screen
00 04 00 00	00 00 04 00	00000000 00000000 00000100 00000000	Eye Cam Warning Screen
00 08 00 00	00 00 08 00	00000000 00000000 00001000 00000000	Calibration Notification
00 10 00 00	00 00 10 00	00000000 00000000 00010000 00000000	Stereoscopic 3D Warning Screen
00 20 00 00	00 00 20 00	00000000 00000000 00100000 00000000	Not used yet ?
00 40 00 00	00 00 40 00	00000000 00000000 01000000 00000000	Not used yet ?
00 80 00 00	00 00 80 00	00000000 00000000 10000000 00000000	Not used yet ?
00 00 01 00	00 01 00 00	00000000 00000001 00000000 00000000	Unknown !
00 00 02 00	00 02 00 00	00000000 00000010 00000000 00000000	Installable Packages in folder PKGDIR. See: CATEGORY
00 00 04 00	00 04 00 00	00000000 00000100 00000000 00000000	Game patch overwrite atribute (resolution, sound format, remote play)
00 00 08 00	00 08 00 00	00000000 00001000 00000000 00000000	Enable game purchase. See: CONTENT_ID
00 00 10 00	00 10 00 00	00000000 00010000 00000000 00000000	Game patch overwrite atribute (XMB in-game)
00 00 20 00	00 20 00 00	00000000 00100000 00000000 00000000	Game patch overwrite atribute (move screen)
00 00 40 00	00 40 00 00	00000000 01000000 00000000 00000000	Game patch overwrite atribute (3D screen)
00 00 80 00	00 80 00 00	00000000 10000000 00000000 00000000	Move compatible / Game patch overwrite atribute (Move controller)
00 00 00 01	01 00 00 00	00000001 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not used yet ?
00 00 00 02	02 00 00 00	00000010 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not used yet ?
00 00 00 04	04 00 00 00	00000100 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not used yet ?
00 00 00 08	08 00 00 00	00001000 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not used yet ?
00 00 00 10	10 00 00 00	00010000 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not used yet ?
00 00 00 20	20 00 00 00	00100000 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not used yet ?
00 00 00 40	40 00 00 00	01000000 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not used yet ?
00 00 00 80	80 00 00 00	10000000 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not used yet ?

Some examples. If you find a game with a flag in his ATTRIBUTE that is not yet in the table, please add it

Little Endian	Big Endian	Flags (Binary )	Game	Flags	Description
05 17 80 00	00 80 17 05	00000000 10000000 00010111 00000101	killzone 3	7	Move compatible + 3D screen + 3 move screens + 2 Remote Play modes
20 00 02 00	00 02 00 20	00000000 00000010 00000000 00100000	Dead Space 2	2	Installable Packages + "XMB in-game"

• PSP Remote Play

The format "MPEG4 AVC/AAC" only works when the other format "MPEG4 SP/ATRAC" is activated

• PSP Export

Can be activate depend to CATEGORY (HG and others?) and works only if "feel free to fill" checked by "feel free to fill"

• XMB In-game

Is a feature that lets you pause the game (with the PS button) and play your own music from the files stored in your HDD The formats supported are the same than the native ones, it support playlists and all the normall functions of the music player. It was introduced in firmware 2.40

• Move Controller warning screen

This screen (and the other warning screens) are displayed before the game is launched, them explains the correct way to use the move controller, navigation controller, and eye cam respectively

Each of this screens are displayed around 3 seconds, the game waits for them to appear so is a good idea to remove them to improve the loading time, the removing of any of the 3 screens has no effect of the controller support and the controller will work without them

A example of a bad use of this screens is "3.56 FJW cfw" that patches all SFO's to activate 2 of this flags to force all his users to see 2 logos (i cant comment one of them, and the other the gargoile) causing a delay in the timing to boot a game or program >:P

• Navigation Controller, and Eye Cam warning screens

Only works when "Move Controller" warning screen is activated

• Calibration Notification

This flag makes appear a calibration screen, but only when the controller has not been calibrated previously (or when is missconfigured)

• Stereoscopic 3D Warning Screen

This is a warning screen similar than the ones related with move peripherals, but only appear when you are using a 3D compatible TV (is intended to give you some seconds to catch your 3D glasses)

• Installable Packages

In path PS3_GAME\PKGDIR\PKG** (where ** is a number from 00 to 99) This is one of the 2 ways to install packages (used in Blue-Ray discs), it can be said that the flags is "activating" the sub-folder PKGDIR, inside PKGDIR there is another SFO that can be considered an "Level2 SFO"

The ATTRIBUTE of this "Level2 SFO" is always an "1" (different of the values explained in this table that are only applicables to "Level1 SFO's"

• Enable game purchase

Only works if the category is a DG/HD and checked by "feel free to fill". Can change somes settings as titles, parental lock level, resolutions, and others Content Informations Files (probably related to expirations and such) after you purchased the game.

• Move compatible

Enables support for the Move Controller (Navigation Controller and Eye Cam are activated at the same time that the Move Controller and doesn't have/need a flag)

BOOTABLE

Data_Type: uint32_t
Data_Size_Total: 4 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 4 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game, PS1 Game, PSP Mini Game

If this content is bootable or not. (1 to enable, 0 to disable), useful when you are going to make a data pkg.

Little Endian	Big Endian	Flags (Binary)	Description
00 00 00 00	00 00 00 00	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not bootable
01 00 00 00	00 00 00 01	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001	Bootable

CATEGORY

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 4 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 3 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: All but trophy

• HDD Installable content

These are the columns where you will see your content in the XMB and the CATEGORY asociated.

Photo	Music	Video	TV Services	Game	Network	Playstation Network	Content	Notes
AP
	AM
		AV
			AT					The column is hidden when no packages are installed
				HG			HDD Game
					CB
						HM
				1P			PS1 Game
				2P			PS2 Game ?
				MN			PSP Mini Game
				GD			Game Data
				SD			Save Data
				♦			Trophy	Trophies are placed in Game column, but doesn't have CATEGORY

• Blu-Ray discs

These are "fake" Blu-Ray structures with the minimall parameters inside SFO's/SFX's and the needed HYBRID_FLAG's inside PS3_DISC.SFB

All the files are 100% hand made from scratch and tested, reduced to the minimall needed to work with the purpose of understand the structure and to document all CATEGORY valid values

Game discs in folder PS3_GAME

PS3_GAME folder is mounted in Game column in the XMB

This is the basic structure of a game, PARAM.SFO can contain other parameters but these are the minimall needed to be mounted

0GAM00001
|--- PS3_DISC.SFB <--- HYBRID_FLAG (g), TITLE_ID (0GAM00001)
|--- PS3_GAME
     |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (DG), TITLE_ID (0GAM00001)
     |--- USRDIR
          |--- EBOOT.BIN

Movie discs in folder PS3_VPRM

PS3_VPRM folder is mounted in Video column in the XMB

This is the part of a Blue-Ray movie structure related with the PS3 system... the rest are the standard folders/files of a Blue-Ray movie and is not needed to be explained here

0MOV00001
|--- PS3_DISC.SFB <--- HYBRID_FLAG (v), TITLE_ID (blank)
|--- PS3_VPRM
     |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (DM)

Game discs in folder PS3_CONTENT

VIDEODIR folder is mounted in Video column in the XMB and listed inside subfolders using 320x176 pixels icons

THEMEDIR is mounted in Game column as a secondary icon under the "main game" icon, in subfolders inside "bubbles".

All icons are 320x176 pixels size, but resized when displayed to fit inside the bubbles.

Note that .P3T themes doesn't need/admit an SFO/SFX, the icon contained in the theme is displayed inside the bubble and also the TITLE

0CONT00001
|--- PS3_DISC.SFB <--- HYBRID_FLAG (TV), TITLE_ID (0CONT00001)
|--- PS3_CONTENT
     |--- THEMEDIR
     |    |--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (01000000), CATEGORY (TR), TITLE (Themes)
     |    |--- D000
     |         |--- DATA001.P3T
     |         |--- DATA002.P3T
     |--- VIDEODIR
          |--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (01000000), CATEGORY (VR), TITLE (Videos)
          |--- D001
          |    |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (VI), TITLE (Video 1)
          |    |--- DATA000.MP4
          |--- D002
               |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (VI), TITLE (Video 2)
               |--- DATA000.MP4

Game discs in folder PS3_GAME/PKGDIR

This subfolder structure is dependant of the basic PS3_GAME because is activated by a flag (00000200) in the ATTRIBUTE of the PARAM.SFO inside PS3_GAME

PKGDIR is mounted as a secondary icon under the "main game" icon, and the packages are listed in subfolders inside "bubbles". Icons are 320x176 pixels size, but resized when displayed to fit inside the bubbles

0PKG00001
|--- PS3_DISC.SFB <--- HYBRID_FLAG (g), TITLE_ID (0PKG00001)
|--- PS3_GAME
     |--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (00000200), CATEGORY (DG)
     |--- PKGDIR
          |--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (0100000), CATEGORY (DP), TITLE (Packages)
          |--- PKG01
          |    |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (IP), TITLE (Package 1)
          |    |--- INSTALL.PKG
          |--- PKG02
               |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (IP), TITLE (Package 2)
               |--- INSTALL.PKG

Game discs in folder PS3_EXTRA

PS3_GAME folder is mounted in Game column in the XMB

Icons aspect is the same used in "PStore news" menu (big squares of 486x405 pixels) like this http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2009/08/firmrwae300ps3.jpg

0EXT00001
|--- PS3_DISC.SFB <--- HYBRID_FLAG (g), TITLE_ID (0EXT00001)
|--- PS3_GAME
|    |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (DG)
|--- PS3_EXTRA
     |--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (0100000), CATEGORY (XR), TITLE (Extras)
     |--- D001
     |    |--- PARAM.SFX <--- CATEGORY (IP), TITLE (Package 1)
     |    |--- DATA000.PKG
     |--- D002
     |    |--- PARAM.SFX <--- CATEGORY (IP), TITLE (Package 2)
     |    |--- DATA000.PKG
     |--- D003
     |    |--- PARAM.SFX <--- CATEGORY (VI), TITLE (Video 1)
     |    |--- DATA000.MP4
     |--- D004
     |    |--- PARAM.SFX <--- CATEGORY (VI), TITLE (Video 2)
     |    |--- DATA000.MP4
     |--- D005
     |    |--- PARAM.SFX <--- CATEGORY (TI), TITLE (Theme 1)
     |    |--- DATA000.P3T
     |--- D006
          |--- PARAM.SFX <--- CATEGORY (TI), TITLE (Theme 2)
          |--- DATA000.P3T

• Other CATEGORY's, unknown, unrelated, untested or not listed yet

sub category as Game patch of HDD Game or Special Application as syteme files for HDD game X0, X4

AR - Patches

CONTENT_ID

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 48 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 37 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game

ContentID for Gamepurchase. Used in games that runs in "demo mode" and can be purchased (unlocked) by pressing triangle over his icon in the XMB.

Contains the name of the license .rif file in a format: XXyyyy-NP_COMMUNICATION_ID-LICENSE

This games has a minimal folder structure with two PARAM.SFO like this:

NPxx12345
|--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (00000800), CATEGORY (HG), TITLE (GAME Trial) ... & others
|--- USRDIR
|    |--- EBOOT.BIN
|--- C00
     |--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (00000800), CATEGORY (HG), TITLE (GAME Full) ... & others

The only different parameter of the PARAM.SFO inside folder C00 is his TITLE

DETAIL

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 1024 bytes
Data_Size_Used: variable
Used in SFO's of type: Save Data

These are the text lines displayed under SUB_TITLE text in XMB.

Used only for SaveData to store long texts from the game like the name of the level you was playing, the equipment of your character (in a RPG), or the car you was driving (in a race simulator), etc...

When the text is too long to fit in the screen it scrolls vertically from bottom to top, if the Data_Used_Size is not correct this scroll doesn't flow properly.

To displace texts to the next row is used the speciall byte "0A", this way it can be done a long message with lot of horizontall lines (the limit of the horizontall lines is not clear but is high, probably only limited by the ones you can fit in the 1024 bytes of his Data_Size_Total).

LANG

Data_Type: uint32_t
Data_Size_Total: 4 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 4 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: Trophy

The language used in the trophy config file (TROPCONF.SFM) that stores static data with all the texts related to each trophy.

Valid values are the ones used in Regional codes

LICENSE

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 512 bytes
Data_Size_Used: variable
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game

License text of the content

NP_COMMUNICATION_ID

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 16 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 13 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game

Name of the folder containing the trophy installer (TROPHY.TRP)

The format is NPWRxxyyy_zz (e.g. NPWR00001_00)

NPCOMMID

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 16 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 12 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: Trophy

Same than NP_COMMUNICATION_ID but with a Data_Size_Used of 12 bytes

PADDING

Data_Type: ?
Data_Size_Total: 8 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 0 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: Trophy

Unknown

PARAMS

Data_Type: ?
Data_Size_Total: 1024 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 1024 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: Save Data

This parameter is intented to store user (and console?) specific data. Is the only one known parameter that contains an internall structure with severall strings, his size is huge for being an integer, and his Data_Type is unknown

Offset	length	Example	Description	Notes
0x0000	12 (0xC)	030401020300000000000000	Unknown
0x000C	4 (0x4)	08000000	Unknown
0x0010	4 (0x4)	7D000000	Unknown
0x0014	4 (0x4)	03000000	Unknown
0x0018	4 (0x4)	01000000	userid	User identificator number from XRegistry.sys
0x001C	16 (0x10)	FEDCBA9876543210FEDCBA9876543210	psid	More info: PSID
0x002C	4 (0x4)	01000000	userid	User identificator number from XRegistry.sys
0x0030	16 (0x10)	0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF	accountid	PSN account identificator from XRegistry.sys
0x0040	960 (0x3C0)	00000000........	Unknown	Big chunk of zeroes, probably used or reserved for other formats

• Notes:
  • The string used in the paramater ACCOUNT_ID is the same than accountid. When PARAMS & ACCOUNT_ID are present in the SFO the string can be found two times in the file.

PARAMS2

Data_Type: ?
Data_Size_Total: 12 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 12 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: Save Data

Unknown, usually filled with zeroes

PARENTAL_LEVEL_x

Data_Type: uint32_t
Data_Size_Total: 4 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 4 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game

Used to define specific restrictions to a region, where the "x" is a letter of the next list

Parameter	Internall code	Region
PARENTAL_LEVEL_A	SCEA	America
PARENTAL_LEVEL_C	SCH	China
PARENTAL_LEVEL_E	SCEE	Europe
PARENTAL_LEVEL_H	SCEH	Hong Kong
PARENTAL_LEVEL_J	SCEJ	Japan
PARENTAL_LEVEL_K	SCEK	Korea

Valid values found for PARENTAL_LEVEL_x: ffffffff

The valid values for PARENTAL_LEVEL_x are... ??? (added to the previous table if possible)

• Based on PEGI [[1]] for europe ?

PARENTAL_LEVEL

Data_Type: uint32_t
Data_Size_Total: 4 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 4 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game, PSP Mini Game, Game Data, Save Data

Is an scale from 1 to 11 to rate the content for the different users based in his user profile settings.

The lower the level, the higher the restriction e.g. A game rated 5 requires the "unlock PIN" for a user with level 4.

The most relaxed level is 11 that allows all games from 1-10 to be played, level 0 is disabled.

Little Endian	Big Endian	Decimal	Description
00 00 00 00	00 00 00 00	0	Disabled
01 00 00 00	00 00 00 01	1	Higher
02 00 00 00	00 00 00 02	2
03 00 00 00	00 00 00 03	3
04 00 00 00	00 00 00 04	4
05 00 00 00	00 00 00 05	5
06 00 00 00	00 00 00 06	6
07 00 00 00	00 00 00 07	7
08 00 00 00	00 00 00 08	8
09 00 00 00	00 00 00 09	9
0A 00 00 00	00 00 00 0A	10
0B 00 00 00	00 00 00 0B	11	Lower

PARENTALLEVEL

Data_Type: uint32_t
Data_Size_Total: 4 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 4 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: PS1 Game, Trophy

Same than PARENTAL_LEVEL

PS3_SYSTEM_VER

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 8 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 8 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game, PS1 Game, PSP Mini Game

Minimum PS3 System Software required for the content to be bootable.

The format is XX.YYYY where "XX" and "YYYY" are numbers, and the point "." is included in the string.

REGION_DENY

Data_Type: uint32_t
Data_Size_Total: 4 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 4 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game

Region restrictions for the content.

There are 11 valid Regions, each region has a position assigned in the binary string, this positions are marked with an "1" for a locked region, and a "0" for a unlocked region.

Little Endian	Big Endian	Flags (Binary)	Unlocked Region	Notes
FD FF FF FF	FF FF FF FD	11111111 11111111 11111111 11111101	USA	Used in Netflix
FB FF FF FF	FF FF FF FB	11111111 11111111 11111111 11111011	?
F7 FF FF FF	FF FF FF F7	11111111 11111111 11111111 11110111	?
EF FF FF FF	FF FF FF EF	11111111 11111111 11111111 11101111	?
DF FF FF FF	FF FF FF DF	11111111 11111111 11111111 11011111	?
BF FF FF FF	FF FF FF BF	11111111 11111111 11111111 10111111	?
7F FF FF FF	FF FF FF 7F	11111111 11111111 11111111 01111111	?
FF FE FF FF	FF FF FE FF	11111111 11111111 11111110 11111111	?
FF FD FF FF	FF FF FD FF	11111111 11111111 11111101 11111111	?
FF FB FF FF	FF FF FB FF	11111111 11111111 11111011 11111111	?
FF F7 FF FF	FF FF F7 FF	11111111 11111111 11110111 11111111	?
01 F0 FF FF	FF FF F0 01	11111111 11111111 11110000 00000001	All Regions	Found in a photo of a DEX with the the text: "1-11 all regions"

RESOLUTION

Data_Type: uint32_t
Data_Size_Total: 4 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 4 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game, PS1 Game, PSP Mini Game

TV video modes supported by the content.

When there are severall flags activated the PS3 will use the one with higher quality supported by the TV.

Little Endian	Big Endian	Flags (Binary)	Description
01 00 00 00	00 00 00 01	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001	480 (4:3)
02 00 00 00	00 00 00 02	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000010	576 (4:3)
04 00 00 00	00 00 00 04	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000100	720 (16:9)
08 00 00 00	00 00 00 08	00000000 00000000 00000000 00001000	1080 (16:9)
10 00 00 00	00 00 00 10	00000000 00000000 00000000 00010000	480 (16:9)
20 00 00 00	00 00 00 20	00000000 00000000 00000000 00100000	576 (16:9)
40 00 00 00	00 00 00 40	00000000 00000000 00000000 01000000	Not used yet ?
80 00 00 00	00 00 00 80	00000000 00000000 00000000 10000000	Not used yet ?

SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 64 bytes
Data_Size_Used: variable
Used in SFO's of type: Save Data

Name of the folder where the game stores his SaveData.

The size is variable, but usually begins with the TITLE_ID of the game followed by whatever characters e.g: ABCD12345-savedata

SAVEDATA_LIST_PARAM

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 8 bytes
Data_Size_Used: variable
Used in SFO's of type: Save Data

Unknown, usually filled with zeroes, but with a Data_Used_Size of 1 byte

• Gran turismo 5 contains the string "GAMEDAT"

SOUND_FORMAT

Data_Type: uint32_t
Data_Size_Total: 4 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 4 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game, PS1 Game, PSP Mini Game

Sound modes supported by the content.

When there are severall flags activated the PS3 will use the one with higher quality supported by the TV.

Little Endian	Big Endian	Flags (Binary)	Description
01 00 00 00	00 00 00 01	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001	LPCM 2.0
04 00 00 00	00 00 00 04	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000100	LPCM 5.1
10 00 00 00	00 00 00 10	00000000 00000000 00000000 00010000	LPCM 7.1
02 01 00 00	00 00 01 02	00000000 00000000 00000001 00000010	Dolby Digital 5.1 ???
02 02 00 00	00 00 02 02	00000000 00000000 00000010 00000010	DTS Digital Surround ???

SOURCE

Data_Type: uint32_t
Data_Size_Total: 4 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 4 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: Trophy

Unknown, usually filled with zeroes

SUB_TITLE

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 128 bytes
Data_Size_Used: variable
Used in SFO's of type: Save Data

Is the line of text displayed under TITLE text in XMB, used only in SaveData to store texts from the game like your player name, your play time, or your rank in the game

When the text is too long to fit in the screen it scrolls horizontally from right to left, if the Data_Used_Size is not correct this scroll doesn't flow properly. The same behaviour happens with TITLE, TITLE_xx, TITLEID0xx and TITLE_ID

TARGET_APP_VER

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 8 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 6 bytes
Used in SFO's of type: Game Data

Target application version (for non-cummulative patches).

Severall patches with the same TARGET_APP_VER can be installed over the main game with the same APP_VER, this can be used to install "themes", or "expansion packs".

The format is XX.YY where "XX" and "YY" are numbers, and the point "." is included in the string.

TITLE

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 128 bytes
Data_Size_Used: variable
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game, PS1 Game, PSP Mini Game, Game Data, Save Data

Is the default "title of the game" for all languages. The text is displayed right to the ICON0.PNG in XMB.

TITLE_ID

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 16 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 10
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game, PS1 Game, PSP Mini Game, Game Data

TITLE ID of the content, must be the same ID inside the Makefile

Depends on fews parameters, category as DG or HG and regions or type

• For discs the format is WXYZ12345 where:
  • W is the media: B = Blu-ray S = CD/DVD
  • X is the license: C = Official L = Licensed
  • Y is the region: A = Asia E = Europe J = Japan U = USA
  • Z is the kind of content D = Demo M = Malayan Release S = Retail release
  • 12345 is the game ID in chronological order

Hdd games or apps will start by NP

Fews title_id names are reserved/restricted and don t apply to this classic way and used By Sony for certains purposes e.g:

Title ID as TEST-xxxxx (x as a number) with disc version set as 00.00

Others examples:

MRTC00001 STAR OCEAN THE LAST HOPE (the first internationall blu-ray release)

TITLE_xx

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 128 bytes
Data_Size_Used: variable
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game

Same than TITLE but for localized languages.

An .SFO can contain severall TITLE_xx where xx is a number for a regional code. See: Content Information Files.

The "default" TITLE is always present when other "localized" TITLE_xx are used.

TITLEID0xx

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 16 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 9
Used in SFO's of type: Trophy

SFO's for trophies contains a full list of 16 TITLEID0xx parameters for all languages where "xx" is a number for a regional code. See: Content Information Files.

All them can contain data... or only the default one (00). The ones without data are marked with a Data_Size_Used = 0 bytes

The string of text contained inside default TITLEID000 is the same than TITLE_ID

VERSION

Data_Type: utf-8
Data_Size_Total: 8 bytes
Data_Size_Used: 6 bytes (or 3 bytes when used in trophy)
Used in SFO's of type: HDD Game, PS1 Game, PSP Mini Game, Game Data, Trophy

Disc version, or Package version. The number increases when the content is re-released or re-packaged for whatever reason

The format is XX.YY where "XX" and "YY" are numbers, and the point "." is included in the string, e.g: 01.00 (the format is the same than APP_VER but are not related)

• When used in a SFO for a trophy it has a Data_Size_Used of 3 bytes, with the format: X.Y e.g: 1.0

Tools, file examples, manuals and links

• Tools

SFO_tools_-_linux-64bit-compiles.rar (23.61 KB)

https://github.com/an0nym0u5/PSL1GHT/commit/75013299710d2bde224e2052284461a665a071bf

read_sfo.tar.bz2 (6.33 KB)

PS3SFOEdit.zip (47.59 KB)

SFO reader

• Sources

http://www.ps3hax.net/showthread.php?t=28704

http://ps3dev.wikispaces.com/PARAM.SFO

Suggestions... (this will be erased later)

Im not sure how to list "rare" parameters poor documented like HYBRID_PARAM or COMMERCE_PARAM. i can add them to the "parameters descriptions" section as unknown, but not to the "parameters table" because them will break it with lot of empty squares