xset(1X) xset(1X)
NAME
xset - user preference utility for X
SYNOPSIS
xset [-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 controls 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 compatibil-
ity 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 cer-
tain 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 protocol extension in order for this option to
work. The c option controls 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 hard-
ware. Disables the VESA DPMS features of the X Server regardless of the operating system's power management 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, regard-
less 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 interpreted 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 argu-
ment 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 database). The -fp and fp- options remove elements from the current font path. They must be fol-
lowed 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-separated 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 common 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 parame-
ters 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
colors 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 dis-
abled. 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 deactiva-
tion 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 dis-
play a background pattern, while 'noblank' sets the preference to display a pattern rather than blank the video. The 'expose' flag sets the
preference to allow window exposures (the server can freely discard window contents), 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 pat-
tern 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 display.
SEE ALSO
X(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)