cubestorm(6)

📦
version 6.15 · 2 versions
, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling, nixpkgs unstable

💅 cubestorm(6) — the XScreenSaver manual, but make it cute

Okay bestie, so this is a page from the XScreenSaver manual — yes, the screensaver thing your dad thinks is still cool. And honestly? For this one, he's kind of right. 💖

✨ NAME ✨

cubestorm — a whole little storm of 3D boxes that just… fill up space. It's giving infinite Tetris but make it aesthetic. 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

cubestorm [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual] [--window]
          [--root] [--window-id number] [--delay number] [--speed float]
          [--count int] [--thickness float] [--no-wander] [--no-spin]
          [--wireframe] [--fps]

So many flags, so little time. Let's get into it. 👑

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

It draws a bunch of rotating 3D boxes that intersect each other and eventually fill space. That's it, that's the vibe. It's lowkey hypnotic, ngl — you'll open it to "check it works" and then just sit there staring. Main character behavior. ✨

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • --visual visual — tells it which visual to use. Legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex) of a specific visual. Yes, decimal or hex, she contains multitudes. 🧚
  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. This is the default, so if you do nothing, this is what you get. Iconic laziness. 🫶
  • --root — draw on the root window. Big "I live here now" energy.
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. You pick the window, it draws there. Very specific of you, love that. 🎀
  • --delay number — per-frame delay, in microseconds. Default: 30000 (0.03 seconds.). Microseconds!! She's precise. ⏱️
  • --speed number — bigger numbers mean it runs faster. Default: 1.0. Simple as that, no cap. 🔥
  • --count number — number of cubes. Default 4. Four cubes. A whole squad. ✨
  • --thickness float — how thick the struts making up the cubes should be, from 0.0 to 1.0. Default 0.06. Skinny legend struts. 💀
  • --wander | --no-wander — whether the cubes should wander around the screen. Do they roam? Do they vibe? You decide.
  • --spin | --no-spin — whether the cubes should spin. Honestly why would you say no, but the option exists and we respect it. 🌈
  • --wireframe | --no-wireframe — render in wireframe instead of solid. Wireframe is the "I'm an intellectual" choice, lowkey. 🦋
  • --fps — display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. Numbers!! For when you need to know exactly how hard your GPU is working. 👑

🍓 ENVIRONMENT 🍓

  • DISPLAY — to get the default host and display number. Classic. iykyk.
  • XENVIRONMENT — to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property. Big words, but she's just the "actually use these settings instead" file. 💜
  • XSCREENSAVER_WINDOW — the window ID to use with --root. Consider it the secret handshake between xscreensaver and this program. 🤝

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

X(1), xscreensaver(1) — go read those if you're feeling extra studious. 📚

Copyright © 2003 by Jamie Zawinski.

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation.

No representations are made about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. 💀 So like, if it breaks, that's on you, bestie. Not a threat, just the law. 🙈

🌟 AUTHOR 🌟

Jamie Zawinski. An absolute icon. 🫶

And that's the whole page, bestie! Written at X Version 11, version 6.15, dated 30-Mar-2026 — so go forth, run cubestorm, and let those four little cubes fill space like they were born to do it. 💖✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from