Atari - 2600 (Stella)¶
Background¶
Stella is a multi-platform Atari 2600 VCS emulator.
Author/License¶
The Stella core has been authored by
- Stephen Anthony
- Bradford Mott
- Thomas Jentzsch
- Christian Speckner
The Stella core is licensed under
A summary of the licenses behind RetroArch and its cores can be found here.
Extensions¶
Content that can be loaded by the Stella core have the following file extensions:
- .a26
- .bin
- .zip
Databases¶
RetroArch database(s) that are associated with the Stella core:
Features¶
Frontend-level settings or features that the Stella core respects.
| Feature | Supported |
|---|---|
| Restart | ✔ |
| Screenshots | ✔ |
| Saves | ✕ |
| States | ✔ |
| Rewind | ✔ |
| Netplay | ✔ |
| Core Options | ✕ |
| Memory Monitoring (achievements) | ✔ |
| RetroArch Cheats | ✕ |
| Native Cheats | ✕ |
| Controls | ✔ |
| Remapping | ✔ |
| Multi-Mouse | ✕ |
| Rumble | ✕ |
| Sensors | ✕ |
| Camera | ✕ |
| Location | ✕ |
| Subsystem | ✕ |
| Softpatching | ✕ |
| Disk Control | ✕ |
| Username | ✕ |
| Language | ✕ |
| Crop Overscan | ✕ |
| LEDs | ✕ |
Directories¶
The Stella core's internal core name is 'Stella'
The Stella core saves/loads to/from these directories.
Frontend's State directory
- 'content-name'.state# (State)
Geometry and timing¶
- The Stella core's core provided FPS is (FPS)
- The Stella core's core provided sample rate is 31400 Hz
- The Stella core's core provided aspect ratio is 4/3
Controllers¶
The Stella core supports the following device type(s) in the controls menu, bolded device types are the default for the specified user(s):
User 1 - 2 device types¶
- None - Doesn't disable input.
- RetroPad - Joypad - Stay on this
- RetroPad w/Analog - Joypad - There's no reason to switch to this
Controller tables¶
Joypad¶

| User 1 Remap descriptors | RetroPad Inputs |
|---|---|
| Fire | ![]() |
| Select | ![]() |
| Reset | ![]() |
| Up | ![]() |
| Down | ![]() |
| Left | ![]() |
| Right | ![]() |
| Left Difficulty A | ![]() |
| Right Difficulty A | ![]() |
| Left Difficulty B | ![]() |
| Right Difficulty B | ![]() |
| Color | ![]() |
| Black/White | ![]() |
| User 2 Remap descriptors | RetroPad Inputs |
|---|---|
| Fire | ![]() |
| Up | ![]() |
| Down | ![]() |
| Left | ![]() |
| Right | ![]() |












