xset(1X)xset(1X)NAMExset - user preference utility for X
SYNOPSISxset [-display display] [-b] [b on/off] [b[volume[pitch[duration]]]]
[[-] bc] [-c] [c on/off] [c [volume]] [[-+] dpms] [dpms[standby-time]
[suspend-time] [off-time]] [dpms force mode] [[-+] fp [-+=]
path[,path[,...]]] [fp default] [fp rehash] [[-] led [integer]] [led
on/off] [m[ouse] [accel_mult[/accel_div] [threshold]]] [m[ouse]
default] [p pixel color] [[-] r [keycode]] [r on/off] [s
[length[period]]] [s blank/noblank] [s expose/noexpose] [s on/off] [s
default] [s activate] [s reset] [q]
OPTIONS
This option specifies the server to use; see X(1X). The b option con‐
trols bell volume, pitch and duration. This option accepts up to three
numerical parameters, a preceding dash(-), or a 'on/off' flag. If no
parameters are given, or the 'on' flag is used, the system defaults
will be used. If the dash or 'off' are given, the bell will be turned
off. If only one numerical parameter is given, the bell volume will be
set to that value, as a percentage of its maximum. Likewise, the second
numerical parameter specifies the bell pitch, in hertz, and the third
numerical parameter specifies the duration in milliseconds. Note that
not all hardware can vary the bell characteristics. The X server will
set the characteristics of the bell as closely as it can to the user's
specifications. The bc option controls bug compatibility mode in the
server, if possible; a preceding dash(-) disables the mode, otherwise
the mode is enabled. Various pre-R4 clients pass illegal values in
some protocol requests, and pre-R4 servers did not correctly generate
errors in these cases. Such clients, when run against an R4 server,
will terminate abnormally or otherwise fail to operate correctly. Bug
compatibility mode explicitly reintroduces certain bugs into the X
server, so that many such clients can still be run. This mode should
be used with care; new application development should be done with this
mode disabled. The server must support the MIT-SUNDRY-NONSTANDARD pro‐
tocol extension in order for this option to work. The c option con‐
trols key click. This option can take an optional value, a preceding
dash(-), or an 'on/off' flag. If no parameter or the 'on' flag is
given, the system defaults will be used. If the dash or 'off' flag is
used, keyclick will be disabled. If a value from 0 to 100 is given, it
is used to indicate volume, as a percentage of the maximum. The X
server will set the volume to the nearest value that the hardware can
support. Enables the VESA Display Power Management Signalling (DPMS)
features of the X Server regardless of the operating system's power
management state. It is unnecessary to enable DPMS mode with +dpms
when using the dpms switch to change the dwell times or the dpms force
switch to force a mode, since those switches will automatically enable
the DPMS features of the X Server. DPMS mode defaults are dictated by
the kernel's power management subsystem. DPMS should only be enabled
for systems with DPMS-compliant hardware. Disables the VESA DPMS fea‐
tures of the X Server regardless of the operating system's power man‐
agement state. DPMS mode defaults are dictated by the kernel's power
management subsystem. Enables the VESA DPMS features of the XServer
and defines dwell times for it, regardless of the operating system's
power management state. Specify the number of seconds to wait before
starting each particular mode. All three values must be supplied and
each subsequent value must be greater than or equal to the next, with
the exception of 0. A value of 0 will disable a particular mode and it
is independent of the other dwell times. For instance, if the value
for standby mode is 300 seconds, the value for suspend mode can be 0
seconds, but the value for off mode must be greater than or equal to
300 seconds. DPMS default dwell times are dictated by the kernel's
power management subsystem. Enables the VESA DPMS features of the
XServer and forces a particular mode, effective immediately. Possible
modes include on, standby, suspend, and off. The fp= sets the font
path to the entries given in the path argument. The entries are inter‐
preted by the server, not by the client. Typically they are directory
names or font server names, but the interpretation is server-dependent.
The entire font path must be valid; if any element is invalid, the path
is rejected. The default argument causes the font path to be reset to
the server's default. The rehash argument resets the font path to its
current value, causing the server to reread the font databases in the
current font path. This is generally only used when adding new fonts
to a font directory (after running mkfontdir to recreate the font data‐
base). The -fp and fp- options remove elements from the current font
path. They must be followed by a comma-separated list of entries. The
entire font path must be valid; if any element is invalid, the path is
rejected. The +fp and fp+ options prepend and append elements to the
current font path, respectively. They must be followed by a comma-sep‐
arated list of entries. The entire font path must be valid; if any
element is invalid, the path is rejected. The led option controls the
keyboard LEDs. This controls the turning on or off of one or all of the
LEDs. It accepts an optional integer, a preceding dash(-) or an
'on/off' flag. If no parameter or the 'on' flag is given, all LEDs are
turned on. If a preceding dash or the flag 'off' is given, all LEDs are
turned off. If a value between 1 and 32 is given, that LED will be
turned on or off depending on the existence of a preceding dash. A com‐
mon LED which can be controlled is the “Caps Lock” LED. “xset led 3”
would turn led #3 on. “xset -led 3” would turn it off. The particular
LED values may refer to different LEDs on different hardware. The m
option controls the mouse parameters. The parameters for the mouse are
`acceleration' and `threshold'. The acceleration can be specified as
an integer, or as a simple fraction. The mouse, or whatever pointer
the machine is connected to, will go `acceleration' times as fast when
it travels more than `threshold' pixels in a short time. This way, the
mouse can be used for precise alignment when it is moved slowly, yet it
can be set to travel across the screen in a flick of the wrist when
desired. One or both parameters for the m option can be omitted, but
if only one is given, it will be interpreted as the acceleration. If no
parameters or the flag 'default' is used, the system defaults will be
set. The p option controls pixel color values. The parameters are the
color map entry number in decimal, and a color specification. The root
background colors may be changed on some servers by altering the
entries for BlackPixel and WhitePixel. Although these are often 0 and
1, they need not be. Also, a server may choose to allocate those col‐
ors privately, in which case an error will be generated. The map entry
must not be a read-only color, or an error will result. The r option
controls the autorepeat. If a preceding dash or the 'off' flag is
used, autorepeat will be disabled. If no parameters or the 'on' flag
is used, autorepeat will be enabled. If a specific keycode is specified
as a parameter, autorepeat for that keycode is enabled or disabled.
The s option lets you set the screen saver parameters. This option
accepts up to two numerical parameters, a 'blank/noblank' flag, an
'expose/noexpose' flag, an 'on/off' flag, an 'activate/reset' flag, or
the 'default' flag. If no parameters or the 'default' flag is used, the
system will be set to its default screen saver characteristics. The
'on/off' flags simply turn the screen saver functions on or off. The
'activate' flag forces activation of screen saver even if the screen
saver had been turned off. The 'reset' flag forces deactivation of
screen saver if it is active. The 'blank' flag sets the preference to
blank the video (if the hardware can do so) rather than display a back‐
ground pattern, while 'noblank' sets the preference to display a pat‐
tern rather than blank the video. The 'expose' flag sets the preference
to allow window exposures (the server can freely discard window con‐
tents), while 'noexpose' sets the preference to disable screen saver
unless the server can regenerate the screens without causing exposure
events. The length and period parameters for the screen saver function
determines how long the server must be inactive for screen saving to
activate, and the period to change the background pattern to avoid burn
in. The arguments are specified in seconds. If only one numerical
parameter is given, it will be used for the length. The q option gives
you information on the current settings.
These settings will be reset to default values when you log out.
Note that not all X implementations are guaranteed to honor all of
these options.
DESCRIPTION
This program is used to set various user preference options of the dis‐
play.
SEE ALSOX(1X), Xdec(1X), xmodmap(1X), xrdb(1X), xsetroot(1X)AUTHOR
Bob Scheifler, MIT Laboratory for Computer Science; David Krikorian,
MIT Project Athena (X11 version)
xset(1X)