XScreenSaver(6)

📦
version 6.15 · 9 versions
, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling, nixpkgs unstable

okay bestie, welcome to XScreenSaver(6) from the Games Manual section — aka the page that explains xscreensaver-systemd, the little systemd/elogind helper with main character energy 👀✨

💖 NAME 💖

xscreensaver-systemd — locks your screen when the system suspends, and inhibits screen-blanking while video is playing. it's giving screen saver bodyguard realness 🫶

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

xscreensaver-systemd [--verbose] [--version]

that's the whole synopsis, no cap. the flags shown are --verbose and --version; there's no separate OPTIONS section on this page. 💅

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

xscreensaver-systemd is a helper daemon launched by xscreensaver(1) for systemd(1) or elogind(8) integration. it does two things, periodt:

  • when the system is about to go to sleep (like when the laptop lid has just been closed), it locks the screen right before the system sleeps by running xscreensaver-command --suspend. when the system wakes up again, it runs xscreensaver-command --deactivate so the unlock dialog appears immediately. it does this through the org.freedesktop.login1(5) D-Bus interface. 😴🔒
  • when another process asks for the screen saver to be inhibited (for example because a video is playing), this program periodically runs xscreensaver-command --deactivate to keep the display un-blanked. it does this until that other program asks it to stop, or exits. it does this through the org.freedesktop.ScreenSaver(5), org.gnome.SessionManager(5) and org.kde.Solid.PowerManagement.PolicyAgent(5) D-Bus interfaces. 📺✨

💀 BUGS 💀

blanking-related problems take two forms, bestie: failing to connect to D-Bus, and other programs requesting stupid things. iconic behavior from software, honestly. 😭

🫠 D-BUS

only one program at a time can register with systemd(1) or elogind(8) for screen-saver-related events, so if another screen saver is running as a part of the desktop environment, xscreensaver-systemd will be unable to launch. this program has workarounds for Gnome and KDE, but if you are using something else, that might be a problem. 🙈

🌸 CHROME & CHROMIUM (101.0) 🌸

  • playing only audio in Chrome will prevent your screen from blanking. Chrome sends the exact same "inhibit" reason for audio as for video, so we can't tell them apart. 💀
  • Chrome prevents your screen from blanking when playing short, looping videos. this means your screen won't blank when Chrome is showing a Twitter page (because those animated GIFs aren't really GIFs, they are MP4s). this affects Tweetdeck as well.

the proper way to fix this would be for Chrome to stop inhibiting once a video loops. that way your multi-hour movie inhibits properly, but your looping GIF only inhibits for the first few seconds. 🎥

Firefox does not have either of these problems. slay for Firefox, i guess 🦊

🎬 MPLAYER (2:1.4) 🎬

makes no attempt to inhibit the screen saver. use VLC instead. that's it, that's the note. 💅

🎥 MPV (0.33) 🎥

makes no attempt to inhibit the screen saver. use VLC instead. yes, same energy as MPlayer. 🫶

🧨 VARIOUS 🧨

most programs fail to re-enable screen blanking if they crash or are killed while playing. we try to detect when this has happened, but that might not work with all versions of systemd, resulting in screen blanking remaining permanently disabled. if that happens, killing and restarting xscreensaver-systemd is a workaround. no cap, that's the escape hatch 😮‍💨

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

X(1), xscreensaver(1), xscreensaver-settings(1), xscreensaver-command(1), systemd(1), sd-bus(3), elogind(8)

okay legal bestie, here is the exact text, word-for-word, because you do not vibe-edit a license:

Copyright © 2019-2026 by Martin Lucina and Jamie Zawinski.  Permission
to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any purpose
with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright
notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.

The software is provided "as is" and the author disclaims all warranties
with regard to this software including all implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness. in no event shall the author be liable for
any special, direct, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages
whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an
action of contract, negligence or other tortious action, arising out of
or in connection with the use or performance of this software.

🫶 AUTHOR 🫶

Martin Lucina <martin@lucina.net>, 4-Jun-2019

okay that's the whole page!! source/version: X Version 11, 6.15 (30-Mar-2026); date: 30-Mar-2026; manual: XScreenSaver(6). bye bestie, go lock that screen and hydrate 💖✨🦋

📦 where this page comes from