[media-types] [IANA #1456464] audio/vnd.opennbs.nbs registration request

Hi Murray,

The requester has agreed with your corrections and requested to change this to vendor tree instead.

Below is their response and the updated template.

Thank you.

Best regards,

David Dong
IANA Services Sr. Specialist

--

Thanks, that makes sense. I was showing that the NBS format is widely used, but I don’t have evidence that audio/nbs itself is already in use as a media type.

Please change the request to:

audio/vnd.opennbs.nbs

Also, please update these fields:

Deprecated alias names: N/A
Magic number(s): N/A
Person to contact: OpenNBS Project

Everything else can stay the same.

Thanks again for your help.

===

Registration form:

Name: Xi Chen

Email: [email protected]

Media type name: audio

Media subtype name: vnd.opennbs.nbs

Required parameters: N/A

Optional parameters: N/A

Encoding considerations: binary

Security considerations: This media type represents a binary song project file. Implementations should validate all lengths, counts, and offsets before use. Malformed files may result in excessive memory allocation or resource consumption if not properly validated. The format contains no executable code and is not intended to carry active content.

Interoperability considerations: Files are versioned. Readers should reject unsupported versions or ignore unknown fields according to the file format specification where possible.

Published specification: https://noteblock.studio/nbs

Applications which use this media:

Note Block Studio
NBS Player
NoteBlockLib
nbs.js
pynbs
Note Block Tool

Fragment identifier considerations: N/A

Restrictions on usage: None.

Provisional registration? (standards tree only): No

Additional information:

1. Deprecated alias names for this type: N/A
2. Magic number(s): N/A
3. File extension(s): .nbs
4. Macintosh file type code: N/A
5. Object Identifiers: N/A

General Comments:

Person to contact for further information:

1. Name: OpenNBS Project
2. Email: [email protected]

Intended usage: COMMON

Author/Change controller: OpenNBS Project

===

On Tue Aug 04 21:23:24 2026, [email protected] wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 22, 2026 at 1:32 PM Amanda Baber via RT <
> [email protected]> wrote:
> 
> > Would you be able to review this request for grandfathered type
> > registration (per RFC 6838, Appendix A) by August 5th? If you
> > recommend it,
> > we'll ask the IESG to approve the type.
> >
> 
> A couple of housekeeping notes inline, but they're minor.
> 
> One major question though: It's clear this format is established, but
> where
> is the media type in use such that it would be appropriate under
> Appendix
> A?  I couldn't find any.
> 
> -MSK
> 
> 
> > thanks,
> > Amanda
> >
> > =====
> >
> > Message from the applicant:
> >
> > The NBS (Note Block Studio) file format has been publicly documented
> > and
> > in continuous use since the original release of Minecraft Note Block
> > Studio
> > in 2011. It has continued to evolve over the years while maintaining
> > compatibility through versioned revisions, and the format
> > specification is
> > publicly available:
> >
> > https://noteblock.studio/nbs
> 
> 
> This talks about the format, but not the transport.
> 
> Is this media type actually in use anywhere?
> 
> 
> > Since its introduction, the format has been adopted by a number of
> > independent applications and libraries in addition to the original
> > editor.
> > These include Open Note Block Studio, NBS Player, NoteBlockLib,
> > pynbs,
> > nbs.js, Note Block Tool, and other independent implementations that
> > read or
> > write .nbs files.
> >
> > The format is also used beyond standalone applications. It is
> > supported by
> > Minecraft server software and server plugins that play note block
> > music in
> > multiplayer environments, allowing .nbs files to be used directly as
> > playback assets rather than only as editor project files. As a
> > result, the
> > format has become the primary interchange format for Minecraft note
> > block
> > songs between editors, libraries, players, server software, and
> > conversion
> > tools.
> >
> > Some examples include:
> >
> > https://github.com/koca2000/NoteBlockAPI
> >
> > https://modrinth.com/plugin/noteblockapi
> 
> 
> These APIs look like they can generate and consume the payload, but
> don't
> get into transport.
> 
> 
> > https://github.com/emortaldev/NoteBlockLib
> 
> 
> This link 404s.
> 
> 
> > The format has remained in active use for nearly fifteen years and
> > continues to be maintained and implemented by multiple independent
> > projects.
> >
> > With that in mind, I would appreciate having the registration
> > reviewed by
> > the IESG-designated media type experts for possible grandfathering.
> >
> > If they determine that a standards-tree registration is not
> > appropriate, I
> > would be happy to revise the application as a vendor-tree
> > registration
> > instead.
> >
> > ===
> >
> > Registration form:
> >
> > Name: Xi Chen
> >
> > Email: [email protected]
> >
> > Media type name: audio
> >
> > Media subtype name: nbs
> >
> > Required parameters: N/A
> >
> > Optional parameters: N/A
> >
> > Encoding considerations: binary
> >
> > Security considerations: This media type represents a binary song
> > project
> > file. Implementations should validate all lengths, counts, and
> > offsets
> > before use. Malformed files may result in excessive memory allocation
> > or
> > resource consumption if not properly validated. The format contains
> > no
> > executable code and is not intended to carry active content.
> >
> > Interoperability considerations: Files are versioned. Readers should
> > reject unsupported versions or ignore unknown fields according to the
> > file
> > format specification where possible.
> >
> > Published specification: https://noteblock.studio/nbs
> >
> > Applications which use this media:
> >
> > Note Block Studio
> > NBS Player
> > NoteBlockLib
> > nbs.js
> > pynbs
> > Note Block Tool
> >
> > Fragment identifier considerations: N/A
> >
> > Restrictions on usage: None.
> >
> > Provisional registration? (standards tree only): No
> >
> > Additional information:
> >
> > 1. Deprecated alias names for this type: None.
> >
> 
> This should be "N/A".
> 
> 
> > 2. Magic number(s): None.
> >
> 
> This should probably be "N/A" as well.
> 
> 
> > 3. File extension(s): .nbs
> > 4. Macintosh file type code: N/A
> > 5. Object Identifiers: N/A
> >
> > General Comments:
> >
> > Person to contact for further information:
> >
> > 1. Name: OpenNBS
> >
> 
> I think, just to be nitpicky, that this should be "OpenNBS Project",
> matching the change controller.
> 
> 
> > 2. Email: [email protected]
> >
> > Intended usage: COMMON
> >
> > Author/Change controller: OpenNBS Project
> >
> >

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