flipflop(6)

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

💖 flipflop — the XScreenSaver manual, but make it cute 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to flipflop(6) from the XScreenSaver manual ✨ you're gonna love this one, it's literally a grid of 3D squares vibing and swapping places. iconic behavior only.

🌸 NAME 🌸

flipflop — draws a grid of 3D squares that change positions 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

flipflop [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual] [--window]
[--root] [--window-id number] [--count number | --free number] [--size
number] [--size-x number] [--size-y number] [--spin number] [--mode
sticks | tiles] [--delay number] [--wireframe] [--fps] [--texture]

like, that's the whole invocation, no cap 🫶

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Flipflop draws a grid of 3D colored tiles that change positions with each other. that's it. that's the vibe. a whole little board of cubes just trading places forever and honestly? obsessed 💅

👑 OPTIONS 👑

  • --visual visual — tells it which visual to use, bestie. Legal values are either the name of a visual class, or the id number of a specific visual — and yes, that number can be in decimal or hex. dealer's choice 💜
  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so like, you're already doing it 🎀
  • --root — draw on the root window instead. main character energy on your whole desktop ✨
  • --window-id number — draw on the specific window you point at. not me picking favorites 🙈
  • --count number — how many tiles are on the board. a value of "0" means "default". and the default number of tiles depends on the size of the board and the mode: 95% of total tiles for "tiles" mode and 80% of total sticks for "sticks" mode — for example, 76 tiles or 64 sticks on a 9x9 board. math is mathing 😭🔥
  • --free number — how many tiles are missing from the board. see -count above, it's the same idea but subtract-y 🫶
  • --size number — number of tiles on each side of the board. takes precedence over -size-x and -size-y, so it wins the argument, periodt. Default: 9.
  • --size-x number — width of the board, in tiles. Default: 9.
  • --size-y number — length of the board, in tiles. Default: 9.
  • --spin number — angular velocity for the rotation of the board. spinny spin spin 🌈
  • --mode sticks — draw hopping sticks instead of flipping tiles. little guys. hopping. adorable 🍓
  • --mode tiles — draw flipping tiles. this is the default, and it's giving classic 💅
  • --delay number — per-frame delay, in microseconds. Default: 20000 (0.02 seconds.). lowkey tiny but mighty ⏱️
  • --fps | --no-fps — display the current frame rate, CPU load, and polygon count. numbers on screen, we love a stats moment 👑
  • --wireframe — only draw outlines. skeletal chic 🦋
  • --texture | --no-texture — whether to texture the tiles with a screen grab or an image. glow-up optional 💖

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

  • DISPLAY — to get the default host and display number. the classic.
  • XENVIRONMENT — to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property. fancy override energy ✨
  • XSCREENSAVER_WINDOW — the window ID to use with --root. don't forget this one bestie 🫶

💀 SEE ALSO 💀

X(1), xscreensaver(1) — go read those too, iykyk 📚

Copyright © 2003 by Kevin Ogden. 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.

fr fr read that part — it's "as is", no warranty, no promises, we're all just vibing 🙈

⭐ AUTHOR ⭐

Kevin Ogden <kogden1@hotmail.com>. Some additional code by Sergio Gutierrez <sergut@gmail.com>. legends, both of them 💜

and that's the whole page babes 💅 brought to you by X Version 11, version 6.15, dated 30-Mar-2026 — go flip some flops, you got this 🎀✨🦋

📦 where this page comes from