MGP can send dockets to up to eight network kitchen printers, so one venue can run up to eight screens.
Menu wording varies a little between MGP versions. At a venue with several POS terminals, do all of this on the Server machine — kitchen printers are disabled on clients, which share the Server's.
Switch on the Virtual Printer on the display first, so you have its IP address. See Connect your POS to the kitchen display.
Step 1: Set the printer charset to ASCII
This is the setting that catches most venues out.
Go to Configure → Receipt → Printer charset and choose ASCII.
Uniwell's own manual puts it plainly: when using a Kitchen Video Display System, select ASCII. With Unicode, the docket is converted to graphics and the kitchen display cannot read it.
With the charset on Unicode the orders still arrive, but they show as a picture of the docket — no separate items, no modifiers, and nothing you can strike off. The real order number cannot be read either, so the card shows a six-character code the display makes up instead.
Unless you are working in a non-Latin language. Arabic, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese cannot be read in text mode at all. For those, Unicode is the right choice: the docket arrives as a graphic and displays correctly in any script, at the cost of structured items.
Step 2: Add the display as a kitchen printer
- Go to Configure → External Device → Config Kitchen printer.
- Choose Network (Ethernet or WIFI) as the interface.
- Tick one of the #1 – #8 kitchen printer slots.
- Tap the IP address area beside that slot and enter the display's IP address.
- Set Paper width to match your docket layout — 58 mm or 80 mm.
MGP's port is fixed at 9100, which is the display's default. There is nothing to change on either side.
Step 3: Name it
Tap the #x Description area and give it a clear name, such as KDS Hot Kitchen or KDS Bar.
Step 4: Route items to it
Assign departments and PLUs to the kitchen printer number you just set up, using Department → KP and PLU → KP. Anything routed to that KP number now appears on that screen.
For more screens, repeat steps 2 to 4 with a different slot and a different IP address, and see Run more than one kitchen screen.
Step 5: Check the kitchen print options
Under Configure → System options → KOT (Kitchen Print Options):
| Option | Set to | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ticket for Kitchen printer (per PLU per cut) | No | If this is on, every item is sent as its own docket with the same order number. The display takes the later dockets for repeat copies of the first and drops them, so only the first item appears |
| KOT with real time print | Your preference | Whether items go as they are rung up, or when the sale is finalised |
| KOT machine No. print, KOT print clerk | Your preference | Both appear on the docket if enabled |
Step 6: Set a fallback
Route rules if NA decides what happens when a kitchen printer cannot be reached. Set it to Route to 1st valid KP or Route to receipt printer so nothing is lost when a screen is off.
The display does not keep dockets sent while its app is closed, so this fallback is what saves them.
Step 7: Select the template on the display
On the display, open Settings → Virtual → POS System and choose Uniwell / MGP APOS. Under the list it then reads Active template: Uniwell / MGP APOS, followed by a version number.
This tells the display how an MGP docket is laid out, so it can find the order number and tell items from modifiers.
One setting to leave alone
In Settings → Virtual → Advanced Settings, leave Connection timeout (ms) at 0, the default. The display labels it 0 = keep alive (recommended). MGP pings its printers, holds the connection open with a heartbeat and reconnects by itself — the keep-alive default suits that behaviour, and shortening it causes dropped orders between sales.
Done
Ring up a test sale and send it to the kitchen. It should appear with the order number, items and modifiers listed separately. If it arrives as a picture instead, go back to step 1. If items and modifiers are mixed up, check step 7.