xset - user preference utility for X
xset [-display display]
[-b] [b {on|off}] [b [volume [pitch [duration]]]]
[-bc] [bc]
[-c] [c {on|off}] [c [volume]]
[+dpms] [-dpms]
	[dpms standby [ suspend [ off]]] 	[dpms force
  {standby|suspend|off|on}]
[fp=pathlist] [-fp=pathlist] [+fp=pathlist]
  [fp-pathlist] [fp+pathlist]
[fp default] [fp rehash]
[-led [integer|named indicator]] [led [integer|named
  indicator]]
[led {on|off}]
[mouse [accel_mult[/accel_div] [threshold]]] [mouse
  default]
[p pixel color]
[-r [keycode]] [r [keycode]] [r {on|off}] [r rate delay [rate]]
[s [length [period]]] [s {blank|noblank}] [s {expose|noexpose}] [s
  {on|off}] [s default] [s activate] [s reset]
[q]
[-version]
This program is used to set various user preference options of the display.
  - -display display
- This option specifies the server to use; see X(7).
- b
- 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.
- bc
- 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 protocol extension in order for
      this option to work.
- c
- 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.
- -dpms
- The -dpms option disables DPMS (Energy Star) features.
- +dpms
- The +dpms option enables DPMS (Energy Star) features.
- dpms flags...
- The dpms option allows the DPMS (Energy Star) parameters to be set.
      The option can take up to three numerical values, or the `force' flag
      followed by a DPMS state. The `force' flags forces the server to
      immediately switch to the DPMS state specified. The DPMS state can be one
      of `standby', `suspend', `off', or `on'. When numerical values are given,
      they set the inactivity period (in units of seconds) before the three
      modes are activated. The first value given is for the `standby' mode, the
      second is for the `suspend' mode, and the third is for the `off' mode.
      Setting these values implicitly enables the DPMS features. A value of zero
      disables a particular mode.
- fp= path,...
- 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.
- fp default
- The default argument causes the font path to be reset to the
      server's default.
- fp rehash
- 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).
- -fp or fp-
- The -fp and fp- options remove elements from the current
      font path. They must be followed by a comma-separated list of
    entries.
- +fp or fp+
- This +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.
- led
- 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. ``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. If the X server supports the XKEYBOARD (XKB)
      extension, leds may be referenced by the XKB indicator name by specifying
      the `named' keyword and the indicator name. For example, to turn on the
      Scroll Lock LED:
  
  - xset led named "Scroll Lock"
  - mouse
- The m option controls the mouse parameters; it may be abbreviated
      to 'm'. Of course, it applies to most pointing devices, not just mice. The
      parameters for the pointing device are `acceleration' and `threshold'. The
      acceleration can be specified as an integer, or as a simple fraction.
      Threshold is just an integer. The setting is applied to all connected
      pointing devices. xinput(1) should be used if you need device-specific
      settings.
By default the pointer (the on-screen representation of the
    pointing device) will go `acceleration' times as fast when the device
    travels more than `threshold' mickeys (i.e. would-be pixels) in 10 ms,
    including a small transition range. This way, the pointing device 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.
If the `threshold' parameter is provided and 0, the `acceleration'
    parameter will be used in the exponent of a more natural and continuous
    formula, giving precise control for slow motion but big reach for fast
    motion, and a progressive transition for motions in between. Recommended
    `acceleration' value in this case is 3/2 to 3, but not limited to that
    range.
In the X.org X Server 1.6 and above, the behaviour described so
    far is linked to the default profile. There are other profiles (i.e.
    functions determining pointer acceleration from device velocity) and
    additional settings, so the above description may not apply to non-default
    cases. In the X.org Server 1.7, these are available as input device
    properties (see xinput).
  - p
- 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.
- r
- The r option controls the autorepeat. Invoking with
      "-r", or "r off", will disable
      autorepeat, whereas "r", or
      "r on" will enable autorepeat. Following the
      "-r" or "r" option with an integer
      keycode between 0 and 255 will disable or enable autorepeat on that key
      respectively, but only if it makes sense for the particular keycode.
      Keycodes below 8 are not typically valid for this command. Example:
      "xset -r 10" will disable autorepeat for
      the "1" key on the top row of an IBM PC keyboard.
    If the server supports the XFree86-Misc extension, or the XKB
        extension, then a parameter of 'rate' is accepted and should be followed
        by zero, one or two numeric values. The first specifies the delay before
        autorepeat starts and the second specifies the repeat rate. In the case
        that the server supports the XKB extension, the delay is the number of
        milliseconds before autorepeat starts, and the rate is the number of
        repeats per second. If the rate or delay is not given, it will be set to
        the default value. 
- s
- 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 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 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.
- q
- The q option gives you information on the current settings.
- -version
- The -version option prints the program version and exits without
      doing anything else.
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.
X(7), Xserver(1), xmodmap(1), xrdb(1), xsetroot(1), xinput(1)
Bob Scheifler, MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
David Krikorian, MIT Project Athena (X11 version)
XFree86-Misc support added by David Dawes and Joe Moss
Manpage updates added by Mike A. Harris <mharris@redhat.com>