The order of the choices

The numeric prefix — and why it does not show.

Recalbox does not keep the order in which you write your <include>. It sorts the choices itself, in two steps:

1. if ALL the choices have a number at the head of their name, it sorts by that number;
2. otherwise, it sorts by the name's alphabetical order.

That is why you number them.

The right way to write it

<include subset="bands" name="1 - Thin"   name.fr="1 - Fines">…</include>
<include subset="bands" name="2 - Thick"  name.fr="2 - Épaisses">…</include>
<include subset="bands" name="3 - None"   name.fr="3 - Aucune">…</include>

The prefix does not show. Recalbox spots it, uses it to sort, then removes it before displaying the label. The user reads “Thin”, “Thick”, “None”.

What the engine accepts as a prefix

A number, then a space, a dash or a period, all within the first eight characters. These three spellings work:

1 - Thin
1. Thin
1 Thin

The trap

Numeric sorting is only used if all the choices are numbered. One single omission, and Recalbox falls back to alphabetical order — your choices reorder themselves, with no message.

<include subset="bands" name="1 - Fines">…</include>
<include subset="bands" name="2 - Épaisses">…</include>
<include subset="bands" name="Aucune">…</include>     <!-- ❌ breaks the sort of all three -->

The FILE names, however, are free

Not to be confused: the number goes in the name attribute, not in the file name. Recalbox never looks at what your file is called.

options/
  bandes/
    fines.xml        ← name them however you want
    epaisses.xml
    aucune.xml

What matters: one folder per option, and names that say what they do.