> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://second.tech/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Configure the plugin
> Configure the Bark plugin in BTCPay Server: the payments toggle, refresh behavior, Branta verification, the recovery phrase backup, and the Danger Zone emergency exit.
Most configuration settings for the Bark plugin are available on **Bark** > **Settings**. There are also a few Lightning-specific settings available on **Lightning** > **Settings**.
## Bark settings
### Accept Lightning & Ark payments
This toggle enables the Ark payment method at checkout, plus the Lightning payment method when Bark drives your store's Lightning. It also makes Bark the store's default payment method.
When turned off, your checkout falls back to your native BTCPay on-chain wallet, and to your own Lightning node if the store kept one. Your Bark balances and settings remain untouched, and you can still send and receive from the admin panel.
### Refresh on receive
Off by default. When enabled, the plugin refreshes each VTXO you receive in the next available [round](/docs/learn/rounds), rather than waiting until it approaches expiry.
Refreshing on receive provides maximum security, but it significantly increases the cost of receiving payments over Bark. See the [Ark receive](/docs/learn/payments#the-payment-security-trade-off) and [Lightning receive](/docs/learn/payments-lightning#trust-model-for-lightning-receive) trust models, and [Second's pricing](https://second.tech/pricing).
### Verify send destinations with Branta
On by default. When enabled, the Send screen looks up each Lightning and Ark destination with [Branta](https://branta.pro) and names the platform it belongs to, as described in [Confirm the recipient with Branta](/docs/btcpay/send-receive#confirm-the-recipient-with-branta). When turned off, the Send screen shows no verification line.
### Auto-refresh threshold
The plugin automatically refreshes any VTXO whose remaining lifetime drops below this threshold. Every option in the dropdown is labeled with its cost on your Ark server. The default, one day before expiry, keeps automatic refreshes free on Second's server, while wider thresholds trade [liquidity fees](/docs/learn/rounds#round-economics) for a larger safety margin before expiry. See [Second's pricing](https://second.tech/pricing) for the fee tiers.
Wide thresholds can result in significant costs and drain an off-chain balance. The plugin caps the options at half a VTXO's lifetime, 14 days on Second's server, and rejects anything above it.
### Backup
Select **View Recovery Phrase** to display the wallet's 12 words. The field beneath shows the wallet data directory to include in a continuous backup. See [Back up your wallet](/docs/btcpay/backups).
### Danger Zone
**Emergency exit all** begins a process that reclaims your entire off-chain balance on-chain without the Ark server's cooperation, as described in [emergency exits](/docs/learn/exit). The section only appears while the wallet holds spendable VTXOs, and shows a disabled **Emergency exit in progress** button while an exit runs. To exit only some VTXOs, use the [VTXOs page](/docs/btcpay/vtxos#refresh-offboard-or-exit-manually) instead.
Use this only when the Ark server is unresponsive and you can no longer spend your VTXOs. To complete an exit, each VTXO requires multiple on-chain transactions, so fees can be significant. If the server is still responding, an [offboard](/docs/btcpay/vtxos#refresh-offboard-or-exit-manually) is faster and cheaper.
The confirmation dialog shows the estimated on-chain fee at the current feerate. One part the plugin pays now from your Bark on-chain wallet to broadcast the exit transactions. The other part it deducts later when it claims the exited bitcoin. The actual cost depends on feerates while the exit completes.
The plugin starts broadcasting the exit transactions, and BTCPay notifies you when the exit completes or fails.
Before you can start, your [Bark on-chain balance](/docs/btcpay/dashboard#the-bark-on-chain-balance-is-a-separate-wallet) needs enough confirmed, spendable bitcoin to cover the broadcast part of the estimate. If it doesn't, the plugin shows what is spendable and the minimum it needs, and sends you to [Receive](/docs/btcpay/send-receive#receive-bitcoin) to top it up with an on-chain payment.
Once started, the exit broadcasts its transactions in sequence, which takes time. You can follow progress on the [VTXOs page](/docs/btcpay/vtxos#track-exits). When the exit outputs unlock, the plugin claims them into the Bark on-chain balance automatically. Withdraw them with [Send](/docs/btcpay/send-receive#fund-and-withdraw-the-on-chain-balance), using the on-chain source.
## Ark server and chain source
[You confirm these two endpoints at setup](/docs/btcpay/install#set-up-a-bark-wallet-for-your-store), and they can't be changed afterwards:
* **Ark Server:** Second runs two servers: `https://ark.second.tech` on mainnet (the default) and `https://ark.signet.2nd.dev` on signet, for test deployments. Second doesn't run any other servers.
* **Chain Source:** Any public endpoint exposing the Esplora HTTP API. Esplora and mempool instances both work, while servers that only speak the Electrum protocol, such as a bare electrs, don't. The plugin checks that the endpoint serves the right network. The default is Second's `https://mempool.second.tech/api`.
The plugin runs on mainnet unless your BTCPay Server sets the `BARK_NETWORK` environment variable to `signet` before you set up a store. On signet, the fields come pre-filled with Second's signet server and chain source.
## Lightning settings
A few Lightning-specific options live on the Lightning page: select **Lightning** in your store's sidebar, then **Settings** beneath it. With Bark driving Lightning, the page shows **Custom Node** with `bark` as the node, and only part of that page applies.
If your store already had a Lightning node connected when you set up Bark, the plugin left it in place. Lightning payments keep going through that node rather than Bark. Every option on the Lightning page then applies to that node as usual. To switch Lightning to Bark:
1. Select **Change connection**.
2. Select **Use custom node**.
3. Expand **Bark - Ark Lightning**.
4. Copy the connection string shown into the field.
5. Select **Save**.
### Enabled
This toggle enables the Lightning payment method at checkout on its own.
When turned off (with **Bark** > **Settings** > **[Accept Lightning & Ark payments](#accept-lightning-&-ark-payments)** still on), your checkout QR code and payment link no longer embed a Lightning invoice, even when the invoice has an amount. Ark and on-chain at checkout are unaffected. Saving the Bark settings turns this toggle back on, and turning off **Accept Lightning & Ark payments** turns it off.
### Display Lightning payment amounts in Satoshis
A checkout display preference: amounts show in sats instead of BTC. Works as usual with Bark.
### Unify on-chain and lightning payment URL/QR code
The plugin switches this on when it takes over your store's Lightning. Leave it on.
### Settings that have no effect
Options tied to running your own Lightning node do nothing with Bark. The plugin requests invoices from the Ark server with only an amount, so **Description template of the lightning invoice** and **Add hop hints for private channels to the Lightning invoice** are ignored.
This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.