• Usage
• Building & Installation – Instructions for building and installing the screensaver.
• DBUS Interface – Interacting with the screensaver via DBUS.
• Frequently Asked Questions – Diagnose and resolve configuration issues.
• Known Issues
• Installation
• Latest Release
• Source Code Repository
• Reporting Bugs

Xfce Screensaver is a screen saver and locker that aims to have simple, sane, secure defaults and be well integrated with the desktop.

This project is a port of MATE Screensaver, itself a port of GNOME Screensaver.
It has been tightly integrated with the Xfce desktop, utilizing Xfce libraries and the Xfconf configuration backend.

• Integration with the Xfce desktop per-monitor wallpaper
• Locking down of configuration settings via Xfconf
• Support for XScreensaver screensavers
• (optional) Integration with ConsoleKit and Systemd
• DBUS interface for limited control and querying screensaver status
• Idle time and inhibition state are based on the X11 Screensaver extension
• Shared styles with LightDM GTK+ Greeter
• No GNOME or MATE dependencies. Requirements are lightweight and shared with Xfce.
• Full translation support into many languages
• User switching

The application combines two functions: a screensaver that blanks the screen or fills it with images when the computer is idle; a locker that provides session security.

Screensaver preferences

• This is the master switch for the screensaver. Note that the screensaver will not actually run unless activation has been enabled at the bottom of the tab.

• The middle box consists of two parts: a list panel on the left and a small preview screen.
• The list panel displays available themes (also called “screensavers”). At the bottom of the list panel there is a small configuration button that can be clicked to change available theme traits.
• A full-screen preview can be seen by clicking the Preview button at the bottom of the tab.
• Only a small number of themes are available by default. But Xfce Screensaver uses Xscreensaver-compatible screensavers, and collections of such screensavers (xscreensaver-data, xscreensaver-gl, etc.) can usually be installed separately from the main Xscreensaver package.
• For troubleshooting information about themes, consult the FAQs.

• Click the slider to activate the screensaver when the computer is idle.
• Use the counter below the slider to set the time interval after the last screen activity before the computer is considered “idle.”

Lock Screen (Locker)

• This is the master switch for the locker. This also integrates with Xfce4 Power Manager, which can be launched using the button at the bottom of the tab.
• Note that the locker will not automatically run unless at least one activation listed below has been enabled, although manual locking remains available.

• User has the option to decide how long the screensaver should run before the screen is locked.

• Enable to allow Xfce4-screensaver to put the system to sleep (suspend).

• Enabling this triggers an on-screen keyboard for login. The keyboard’s visibility before the screen was locked is remembered; a small toggle on the right end of the login screen can be used to restore visibility if required.
• The command and any options to activate an installed on-screen keyboard may be entered in the command box. For example: onboard -e needs to be used to activate the onboard keyboard, if installed.

• When enabled, status messages will be shown despite the locked state.

• Enable to use Xfce4-screensaver to log out.
• Enter any required command, and use the counter below the slider to set the time interval before logout.

• Enable to allow Xfce4-screensaver to switch user.

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Allow embedding a keyboard into the window, /embedded-keyboard-enabled, may be non-functional. Onboard crashes when embedded.

See the file 'INSTALL'

./autogen.sh –prefix=/usr –sysconfdir=/etc

You may need to set your PAM auth type if it is not correctly detected.

–with-pam-auth-type=<auth-type> specify pam auth type (common or system)

(For testing, we are using: ./autogen.sh –disable-static –with-mit-ext –with-console-kit –enable-locking –enable-debug –sysconfdir=/etc )

make && sudo make install

• xfce4-screensaver 4.18.4 released (2024/12/21 07:41)

  xfce4-screensaver 4.18.4 is now available for download from https://archive.xfce.org/src/apps/xfce4-screensaver/4.18/xfce4-screensaver-4.18.4.tar.bz2 https://archive.xfce.org/src/apps/xfce4-screensaver/4.18/xfce4-screensaver-4.18.4.tar.bz2?sha1 https://archive.xfce.org/src/apps/xfce4-screensaver/4.18/xfce4-screensaver-4.18.4.tar.bz2?sha256 What is xfce4-screensaver? ========================== xfce4-screensaver is a screen saver and locker that aims to have simple, sane, secure defaults and be well integrated with the desktop. xfce4-screensaver is a port of MATE Screensaver, itself a port of GNOME Screensaver. It has been tightly integrated with the Xfce desktop, utilizing Xfce libraries and the Xfconf configuration backend. Website: https://docs.xfce.org/apps/xfce4-screensaver/start Release notes for 4.18.4 ======================== - Exit early in non-X11 environments - Fix return codes in main() functions - prefs-dialog: Remove subtitle - Revert "prefs-dialog: Remove subtitle" - prefs-dialog: Remove subtitle - xfce-bg: Update default fallback wallpaper - xfce-bg: Default to XFCE_BG_PLACEMENT_ZOOMED when image-style is missing - Fix blurry avatar when UI scale > 1 - Fix blurry background when UI scale > 1 - I18n: Update po/LINGUAS list - prefs-dialog: Fix GtkTreePath leaks - I18n: Update po/LINGUAS list - lock-plug: Fix GVariant leak when switching user - lock-plug: Fix GVariant leak - Fix GSMonitor leak when screensaver fails to start - lock-plug: Fix GtkBuilder leak - prefs-dialog: Fix string leak - Fix string leaks in xfce_bg_load_from_xfconf - Fix string leak in get_themes_menu - lock-plug: Fix string leak - Fix string leak in xfce_bg_load_from_xfconf - Added image cropping to the slideshow screensaver - lock-plug: Use consistent keymap for capslock detection - lock-plug: Silence gdk-pixbuf warning - listener: Fix fullscreen inhibit - gcc-analyzer: Fix -Wanalyzer-possible-null-argument - gcc-analyzer: Fix -Wanalyzer-null-dereference - build: clang: Fix -Wsingle-bit-bitfield-constant-conversion - slideshow: Do not load image if window size is invalid - lock-plug: Draw background in constructed() - Revert "lock-plug: Delay background drawing at startup" - Use same debug function everywhere - lock-plug: Delay background drawing at startup - xfce4-screensaver-preferences.desktop: Add Keywords - Rename directory file to desktop for gettext detection - Add .py extension to xfce4-screensaver-configure for gettext detection - xfce4-screensaver-dialog: Restore "Password:" filter - xfce4-screensaver-dialog: Remove custom status text mapper - gs-lock-plug: Improve utf8 string check in show_status_text - I18n: Update po/LINGUAS list - build: Switch from intltool to gettext - Skip including crypt.h on FreeBSD - Translation Updates: Albanian, Armenian (Armenia), Basque, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (China), Chinese (Taiwan), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Eastern Armenian, English (Australia), English (Canada), English (United Kingdom), Estonian, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kabyle, Korean, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian Bokmål, Occitan (post 1500), Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian

• Previous Releases

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https://gitlab.xfce.org/apps/xfce4-screensaver

• Reporting Bugs – Open bug reports and how to report new bugs

In the bug report please include information about your system, if possible:

- What operating system and version - What version of xfce4-screensaver, i.e. the output of the xfce4-screensaver-command –version command

If you want to debug your installation you may also be able to get meaningful debug output when starting xfce4-screensaver from the debug script: ./src/debug-screensaver.sh

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Back to main Xfce 4.16 documentation page