Override Xresources
Regolith relies on the Xresources system to provide a consolidated interface configuration. By changing Xresources
values, Regolith can be customized in ways such as updating the user interface, specifying custom behaviors, or defining a specific format for some of the blocklets on the bar.
Xresources
values can be changed via two methods: supplying your own Xresources
files, and overriding the existing Xresources
values. The latter approach is strongly recommended, as it makes upgrading to newer versions of Regolith less likely to break your customizations. If you copy the Xresources
tree completely you’ll need to integrate any breaking changes in future versions manually.Initialization
When a Regolith session is started, Xresources are loaded in the following order:
File | Optional | Notes |
---|---|---|
~/.Xresources | Y | Intended for non-Regolith settings |
/usr/share/regolith-look/**/ | N | The Regolith Xresources associated with looks |
~/.config/regolith3/Xresources | Y | Applies specific overrides to Xresources defaults |
It is recommended to use ~/.config/regolith3/Xresources
for customization as it doesn’t require the specification of redundant settings and is easier to maintain over time.
Determining which values can be changed
The xrdb
tool can be used to list the existing Xresources
values. There is a number of existing overrides in the R2.1 release:
$ xrdb -query
[...]
gnome.terminal.scrollbar: never
gnome.terminal.use-transparent-background: true
gtk.document_font_name: Sans 12
gtk.font_name: Bitstream Vera Sans 12
gtk.icon_theme_name: Papirus-Dark
gtk.monospace_font_name: BitstreamVeraSansMono Nerd Font 13
gtk.theme_name: Ayu-Mirage-Dark
wm.bar.background.color: #1F2430
[...]
Examples
Note that the commands presented below append text to a file, so running the command more than once will result in duplicate entires.
Example - Update the UI for High DPI Screens
By using the ~/.config/regolith3/Xresources
override file, we will only need to specify the values we wish to change. The xrdb
tool can be used to determine what current values are set to.
- Create or add the following value to your
~/.config/regolith3/Xresources
file:
Xft.dpi: 192
- Reload the
Xresources
configuration:
regolith-look refresh
- Open a new terminal to see the change take effect.
192
is just an example value, please adjust as needed.
Example - Change i3 bar position
$ xrdb -query | grep position
wm.bar.position: bottom
$ echo "wm.bar.position: top" >> ~/.config/regolith3/Xresources
$ regolith-look refresh
Example - Change GTK Theme
$ xrdb -query | grep gtk
gtk.theme_name: Ayu-Mirage-Dark
$ echo "gnome.gtk.theme: Adwaita" >> ~/.config/regolith3/Xresources
$ regolith-look refresh
Example - Disable the System Tray
echo "wm.bar.trayoutput: none" >> ~/.config/regolith3/Xresources
regolith-look refresh
Example - Use Alt instead of Win as Super
echo "wm.mod: Mod1" >> ~/.config/regolith3/Xresources
echo "wm.alt: Mod4" >> ~/.config/regolith3/Xresources
Then Reload i3 for the change to take effect. Some settings may require logging back into the session, for example anything that i3 launches as a separate process.
Further Reading
See the reference page for configurations for more details about config files in Regolith.