# Stern Tech School: Service Switches

**Source:** Stern Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2024-07-13  
**Duration:** 3m 51s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXszDbRDML0

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## Analysis

Educational technical support video from Stern Pinball demonstrating how to use the four service switches located behind the coin door to add service credits, adjust volume, and navigate diagnostic/adjustment menus in attract mode and service menu modes.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Service switches perform different functions in attract mode versus service menu mode — _Kyle demonstrates sticker labels showing different functions for each mode_
- [HIGH] Service credits allow location operators to play games without affecting audit data tracking coin flow and paid credits — _Kyle explicitly explains the operational purpose of service credit button_
- [HIGH] Red buttons control volume in attract mode and value adjustment in service menu — _Kyle demonstrates both functions sequentially_
- [HIGH] Free play setting is located in the Standard Adjustments menu within the diagnostic portal — _Kyle navigates to and demonstrates changing the setting_

### Notable Quotes

> "The service credit is something you would use on location to be able to play a game without affecting the in-game audits that keep track of how many coins went through each slot or how many paid credits have been added to a game."
> — **Kyle**, ~1:00
> _Explains the operational purpose of service credits for location operators_

> "The service switches will perform different actions whether the game is in attract mode or in the service menu."
> — **Kyle**, ~0:15
> _Core premise establishing context-dependent button functions_

> "For more information on how to maintain your Stern Pinball Machine check out our other Tech School videos."
> — **Kyle**, end
> _Indicates Stern is producing ongoing educational series for operators and owners_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Kyle | person | Stern Pinball technical instructor presenting the video |
| Stern Pinball | company | Source of educational technical content and manufacturer of the machines being demonstrated |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Service switch operation, Diagnostic menu navigation, Location operator training, Game settings adjustment
- **Secondary:** Audit system and coin tracking

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0) — Educational content with instructional tone; no subjective opinions or controversies expressed

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Stern Pinball producing educational tech school content demonstrating ongoing commitment to operator and owner education/support (confidence: high) — Structured video tutorial from Stern showing detailed service switch operation; concludes with reference to 'other Tech School videos' indicating ongoing content series

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## Transcript

hi I'm Kyle with Stern Pinball and in this video we're going to go over how to use the service switches in your pinball game. To access the game service switches we'll need to open the coin door. Once we open the coin door we can see our four service switches right here. The service switches will perform different actions whether the game is in attract mode or in the service menu.

The attract mode is when the game is showing your high scores and the "how to play" tutorials on the screen. The stickers on the service switches show the different functions in attract mode versus inside the diagnostic menu. The attract mode functions are shown on the top sticker: service credit, volume, and enter the menu—versus the diagnostic menu which will be back, adjust, and select.

While the game is in attract mode, the green button will add a service credit. For this example I've put the game onto coin play and turned it off free play. When we push the service credit button we'll add one credit to the game. The service credit is something you would use on location to be able to play a game without affecting the in-game audits that keep track of how many coins went through each slot or how many paid credits have been added to a game.

The center red buttons in attract mode will raise or lower the volume. To raise the volume we would hit the right switch and to lower the volume we would hit the left. The black button in attract mode will enter the service menu. In the service menu, the green button turns into our "go backwards a step" button. The red buttons will change a value of the registry that you've selected and the black button will select a registry or what is highlighted on the screen currently.

For this example let's put the game back into free play. This will show us how all these buttons work and how to use them. So to set the game to free play we are going to need to enter the diagnostic menu and then enter the adjustments menu. We'll hit the black button to enter the service menu. We'll see at the bottom here "press select to continue," so I'll hit the black button once more and now we're in the full diagnostics portal.

We'll use our red button to scroll over to the right until we get to the adjustments menu. Notice how it's flashing now. We can hit the black button to select the adjustments menu. The free play setting is in the standard adjustments menu which is what's highlighted right now. We'll hit the black button again to enter that menu and now we're presented with free play. Notice how the words "free play" are flashing. If we want to change that "no" underneath it to "yes," we'll use the black button to select the adjustment. Now "no" is flashing. We can use the red buttons to change that adjustment. I'll use the right one. We'll change it to "yes." If we were to hit it again it would scroll back to "no." We'll set it to "yes" and then hit the black button. Now notice that "free play" is flashing again and "yes" says it's installed.

At this point we can use the green button to go backwards. We can hit that button as many times as we need to get back to the attract screen. For more information on how to maintain your Stern Pinball Machine check out our other Tech School videos.

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: cee84c20-9d34-481c-bdce-ba1310000b3c*