If you share your LocalNode with your family, you likely don't want your children accessing R-rated movies or watching TV past bedtime. Jellyfin includes robust, granular parental controls built right in.
Overview
Parental controls in Jellyfin are managed on a per-user basis. You do not lock the media itself; instead, you lock the account that your kids use. This means you can have an unrestricted Admin account for yourself, and a highly restricted "Kids" account on the living room TV.
Step 1: Creating a dedicated kids account
Log into your Jellyfin dashboard with your administrator account.
Go to Administration > Dashboard.
Click on Users in the sidebar.
Click the + button at the top to create a new user.
Name the user something obvious, like "Kids" or "Family Room".
Leave the password blank if you want it to be easy to access, or set a simple PIN.
Uncheck the box that says "Allow this user to manage the server".
💡 Tip: Make sure you have a strong password on your own Admin account. If your Admin account has no password, your kids can simply click your name on the login screen to bypass all restrictions.
Step 2: Restricting by age rating
The easiest way to filter content is by relying on the official age ratings (PG, PG-13, R) that Jellyfin automatically downloads for your movies and shows.
In the Users menu, click on the newly created Kids account.
Scroll down to the Parental Control section.
Find the dropdown for "Max allowed parental rating".
Change it from "None" to your desired maximum level (e.g., PG-13 or TV-14).
Ensure the box "Block items with no rating" is checked if you want to be extra strict (though this might accidentally hide unrated family movies).
Sometimes age ratings aren't enough. You might have an entire folder/library of content (like "Horror Movies" or "Documentaries") that you want completely hidden from the kids account, regardless of rating.
While still in the Kids account settings, look for the Library Access section.
By default, "Enable access to all libraries" is checked. Uncheck this box.
A list of all your libraries will appear.
Check the boxes only for the libraries they are allowed to see (e.g., check "Kids Movies" and "Cartoons", but leave "Action Movies" unchecked).
Click Save.
Step 4: Setting up access schedules
You can completely disable the account during school hours or after bedtime to prevent late-night binging.
In the Kids account settings, find the Access Schedule section.
Click the + button to add a new rule.
Select the days of the week (e.g., Sunday through Thursday).
Set the Allowed Time range (e.g., from 08:00 AM to 08:00 PM).
Add another rule for the weekends if you want to allow later access on Fridays and Saturdays.
Click Save.
If they try to watch something outside of these hours, the app will simply tell them they are not allowed to log in right now.
⚠️ Warning: The access schedule relies on the internal clock of your LocalNode. Ensure your server's timezone is set correctly in the main dashboard settings.
