xflame(6)

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

✨ xflame(6) — the XScreenSaver manual, but make it cute ✨

okay so bestie, you're looking at the xflame page from the XScreenSaver manual, and honestly? it's a vibe. let's get into it 🎀

🔥 NAME 🔥

xflame — draws animated flames. that's it. that's the whole thing. fire. on your screen. iconic 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

xflame [--display host:display.screen] [--window] [--root] [--window-id
number][--install] [--visual visual] [--foreground color] [--hspread
int] [--vspread int] [--residual int] [--variance int] [--vartrend int]
[--bloom  --no-bloom] [--bitmap xbm-file] [--baseline int] [--fps]

like, yes, that's a lot of brackets. she's high-maintenance. she's worth it 💖

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so xflame literally just draws animated flames across the bottom of your screen. full main character energy, always burning, always glowing.

the flames occasionally flare up — like when your group chat gets spicy 🔥 — and if you specify a bitmap, that image will float above the flames, burning. yes bestie, burning. dramatic? maybe. but it ate. 👑

💜 OPTIONS 💜

xflame accepts the following options, and there's a LOT of them, so buckle up:

  • --window — draw on a newly-created window. this is the default, so if you do nothing at all, this is what you get. lowkey the lazy girl option and i respect it ✨
  • --root — draw on the root window. like, the actual desktop background. the big one. she's everywhere 🫶
  • --window-id number — draw on the specified window. you pick the window, she draws in it. you're in charge, bestie 💅
  • --install — install a private colormap for the window. fancy. exclusive. VIP section energy ngl 🌈
  • --visual visual — specify which visual to use. legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex) of a specific visual. a whole menu of visuals, choose wisely 👑
  • --foreground color or --fg color — the color of the flames; default red. and no, you can't change the background — the background color is always black. periodt. 🖤
  • --bitmap filename — specifies the bitmap file to use (a monochrome XBM file). the name none means not to use a bitmap at all. if unspecified, a built-in image will be used. so you can either bring your own pic or let her cook with the built-in one 🍓
the other options are arcane. if someone would care to document them, that would be great. — no fr, that's genuinely what the page says 😭 like, they're out here in the synopsis (--hspread, --vspread, --residual, --variance, --vartrend, --bloom/--no-bloom, --baseline) but nobody documented them. mysterious. elusive. iykyk 🙈
  • --fps — display the current frame rate and CPU load. she's not just pretty, she's transparent. numbers on screen. slay 📊

🧚 ENVIRONMENT 🧚

the environment variables she reads from, because context matters bestie:

  • DISPLAY — to get the default host and display number.
  • XENVIRONMENT — to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property. yeah. that one. 💫
  • XSCREENSAVER_WINDOW — the window ID to use with --root.

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

go read these next, bestie, they're the friends of this page:

Copyright © 1996-1999 by Carsten Haitzler. 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.

(translation: go off, use it, just keep the notice and don't come for them if it breaks 💀)

🌸 AUTHOR 🌸

primarily written by Carsten Haitzler <raster@redhat.com>. then, modified over the years by Rahul Jain <rahul@rice.edu>, Daniel Zahn <stumpy@religions.com>, and Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>. a whole team. a whole era. the way they all contributed?? obsessed 🫶

and that's the page!! 🎀 signed off from X Version 11, version 6.15, dated 30-Mar-2026 — go forth and set your screen on fire (metaphorically) bestie, mwah 💋🔥

📦 where this page comes from