diff --git a/internal/conf/conf_test.go b/internal/conf/conf_test.go
index 81289aa7..540abdaf 100644
--- a/internal/conf/conf_test.go
+++ b/internal/conf/conf_test.go
@@ -281,6 +281,15 @@ func TestConfErrors(t *testing.T) {
 				"  ~^.*$:\n",
 			`all_others, all and '~^.*$' are aliases`,
 		},
+		{
+			"playback",
+			"playback: yes\n" +
+				"paths:\n" +
+				"  my_path:\n" +
+				"    recordPath: ./recordings/%path/%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S",
+			`record path './recordings/%path/%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S' is missing one of the` +
+				` mandatory elements for the playback server to work: %Y %m %d %H %M %S %f`,
+		},
 	} {
 		t.Run(ca.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			tmpf, err := createTempFile([]byte(ca.conf))
diff --git a/internal/conf/path.go b/internal/conf/path.go
index 93a7eefd..042eae22 100644
--- a/internal/conf/path.go
+++ b/internal/conf/path.go
@@ -378,6 +378,22 @@ func (pconf *Path) validate(
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Record
+
+	if conf.Playback {
+		if !strings.Contains(pconf.RecordPath, "%Y") ||
+			!strings.Contains(pconf.RecordPath, "%m") ||
+			!strings.Contains(pconf.RecordPath, "%d") ||
+			!strings.Contains(pconf.RecordPath, "%H") ||
+			!strings.Contains(pconf.RecordPath, "%M") ||
+			!strings.Contains(pconf.RecordPath, "%S") ||
+			!strings.Contains(pconf.RecordPath, "%f") {
+			return fmt.Errorf("record path '%s' is missing one of the mandatory elements"+
+				" for the playback server to work: %%Y %%m %%d %%H %%M %%S %%f",
+				pconf.RecordPath)
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Authentication (deprecated)
 
 	if deprecatedCredentialsMode {