FreeBSD Desktop – Part 21 – Configuration – Compton

In this article of the FreeBSD Desktop series I will talk Compton setup – the one that does not breaks, displays everything properly and does not consume 100% of your CPU time, as unfortunately Compton is a real bitch when it comes to proper setup.

The Compton is X11 compositor.

It allows the following features on X11 desktop:

• transparent windows/menus/titlebars/borders
• shadows and colored shadows
• fading effects
• background blurring

You may want to check other articles in the FreeBSD Desktop series on the FreeBSD Desktop – Global Page where you will find links to all episodes of the series along with table of contents for each episode’s contents.

Here is how example Compton looks in action.

To install Compton on FreeBSD just use the default packages as shown below.

# pkg install compton

X11 Configuration

This is the graphics card configuration I have for X11:

% cat /usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/card.conf
Section "Device"
  Identifier "Card0"
  Driver "modesetting"
  Option "DPMS"
  Option "AccelMethod" "glamor"
EndSection

… and the meritum of this article – the Compton config file:

% cat ~/.config/compton.conf
backend = "glx";
shadow = true;
no-dock-shadow = true;
clear-shadow = true;
shadow-radius = 12;
shadow-offset-x = -15;
shadow-offset-y = -15;
shadow-opacity = 0.7;
shadow-exclude = [
    "! name~=''",
    "name = 'Notification'",
    "name = 'Plank'",
    "name = 'Docky'",
    "name = 'Kupfer'",
    "name = 'xfce4-notifyd'",
    "name *= 'VLC'",
    "name *= 'compton'",
    "name *= 'Chromium'",
    "name *= 'Chrome'",
    "name *= 'Firefox'",
    "class_g = 'Conky'",
    "class_g = 'dzen'",
    "class_g = 'dzen2'",
    "class_g = 'Kupfer'",
    "class_g = 'Synapse'",
    "class_g ?= 'Notify-osd'",
    "class_g ?= 'Cairo-dock'",
    "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-notifyd'",
    "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-power-manager'"
];
shadow-ignore-shaped = false;
menu-opacity = 1;
inactive-opacity = 0.9;
active-opacity = 1;
frame-opacity = 0.9;
inactive-opacity-override = false;
alpha-step = 0.06;
blur-background-fixed = false;
blur-background-exclude = [
    "window_type = 'dock'",
    "window_type = 'desktop'"
];
fading = true;
fade-delta = 4;
fade-in-step = 0.03;
fade-out-step = 0.03;
fade-exclude = [ ];
mark-wmwin-focused = true;
mark-ovredir-focused = true;
use-ewmh-active-win = true;
detect-rounded-corners = true;
detect-client-opacity = true;
refresh-rate = 0;
vsync = "opengl-swc";
dbe = false;
paint-on-overlay = true;
sw-opti = false;
unredir-if-possible = true;
focus-exclude = [ ];
detect-transient = true;
detect-client-leader = true;
wintypes:
{
    tooltip =
    {
        fade = true;
        shadow = false;
        opacity = 0.85;
        focus = true;
    };
};

While the above config works very well I will also add same Compton configuration file but with comments.

% cat ~/.config/compton.conf
#################################
#
# Backend
#
#################################

# Backend to use: "xrender" or "glx".
# GLX backend is typically much faster but depends on a sane driver.
backend = "glx";

#################################
#
# GLX Backend
#
#################################

# GLX backend: Copy unmodified regions from front buffer instead of redrawing them all.
# Tests with nvidia-drivers show 10% decrease in performance when whole screen
# is modified but 20% increase when only 1/4 is modified.
# Tests on nouveau show terrible slowdown.
# Useful with --glx-swap-method as well.
# glx-copy-from-front = false;

# GLX backend: Use MESA_copy_sub_buffer to do partial screen update.
# Tests on nouveau shows 200% performance boost when only 1/4 of screen is updated.
# May break VSync and is not available on some drivers.
# Overrides --glx-copy-from-front.
# glx-use-copysubbuffermesa = true;

# GLX backend: Avoid rebinding pixmap on window damage.
# Probably could improve performance on rapid window content changes
# but is known to break things on some drivers (LLVMpipe).
# Recommended if it works.
# glx-no-rebind-pixmap = true;

# GLX backend: GLX buffer swap method we assume.
# Could be:
# - undefined (0)
# - copy (1)
# - exchange (2)
# - buffer-age (-1)
# The undefined is slowest and safest (default value).
# Copy is fastest but may fail on some drivers.
# buffer-age means auto-detect using GLX_EXT_buffer_age supported by some drivers.
# Useless with --glx-use-copysubbuffermesa.
# Partially breaks --resize-damage.
# Defaults to undefined.
# glx-swap-method = "undefined";

#################################
#
# Shadows
#
#################################

# Enabled client-side shadows on windows.
shadow = true;

# Do not draw shadows on DND windows.
# no-dnd-shadow = true;

# Avoid drawing shadows on dock/panel windows.
no-dock-shadow = true;

# Zero part of shadow's mask behind window. Fix some weirdness with ARGB windows.
clear-shadow = true;

# The blur radius for shadows. (default 12)
shadow-radius = 12;

# The left offset for shadows. (default -15)
shadow-offset-x = -15;

# The top offset for shadows. (default -15)
shadow-offset-y = -15;

# The translucency for shadows. (default .75)
shadow-opacity = 0.7;

# Set if you want different colour shadows
# shadow-red = 0.0;
# shadow-green = 0.0;
# shadow-blue = 0.0;

# The shadow exclude options are helpful if you have shadows enabled.
# Due to way compton draws its shadows certain applications will have
# visual glitches (most applications are fine - only apps that do weird
# things with xshapes or argb are affected).
# The "! name~=''" part excludes shadows on any "Unknown" windows.
# This prevents visual glitch with XFWM alt-tab switcher.
shadow-exclude = [
    "! name~=''",
    "name = 'Notification'",
    "name = 'Plank'",
    "name = 'Docky'",
    "name = 'Kupfer'",
    "name = 'xfce4-notifyd'",
    "name *= 'VLC'",
    "name *= 'compton'",
    "name *= 'Chromium'",
    "name *= 'Chrome'",
    "name *= 'Firefox'",
    "class_g = 'Conky'",
    "class_g = 'dzen'",
    "class_g = 'dzen2'",
    "class_g = 'Kupfer'",
    "class_g = 'Synapse'",
    "class_g ?= 'Notify-osd'",
    "class_g ?= 'Cairo-dock'",
    "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-notifyd'",
    "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-power-manager'"
];

# Avoid drawing shadow on all shaped windows (see also: --detect-rounded-corners)
shadow-ignore-shaped = false;

#################################
#
# Opacity
#
#################################

# Opacity for menu items.
menu-opacity = 1;

# Opacity for inactive windows.
inactive-opacity = 0.9;

# Opacity for active windows.
active-opacity = 1;

# Opacity for active frame of windows.
frame-opacity = 0.9;

# Opacity for inactive frame of windows.
inactive-opacity-override = false;

# Alpha step.
alpha-step = 0.06;

# Dim inactive windows. (0.0 - 1.0)
# inactive-dim = 0.2;

# Do not let dimness adjust based on window opacity.
# inactive-dim-fixed = true;

# Blur background of transparent windows. Bad performance with X Render backend.
# GLX backend is preferred.
# blur-background = true;

# Blur background of opaque windows with transparent frames as well.
# blur-background-frame = true;

# Do not let blur radius adjust based on window opacity.
blur-background-fixed = false;

# Blue exclude list.
blur-background-exclude = [
    "window_type = 'dock'",
    "window_type = 'desktop'"
];

#################################
#
# Fading
#
#################################

# Fade windows during opacity changes.
fading = true;

# The time between steps in fade in milliseconds (default 10).
fade-delta = 4;

# Opacity change between steps while fading in (default 0.028).
fade-in-step = 0.03;

# Opacity change between steps while fading out (default 0.03).
fade-out-step = 0.03;

# Fade windows in/out when opening/closing
# no-fading-openclose = true;

# Specify a list of conditions of windows that should not be faded.
fade-exclude = [ ];

#################################
#
# Other
#
#################################

# Try to detect WM windows and mark them as active.
mark-wmwin-focused = true;

# Mark all non-WM but override-redirect windows active (e.g. menus).
mark-ovredir-focused = true;

# Use EWMH _NET_WM_ACTIVE_WINDOW to determine which window is focused instead of
# using FocusIn/Out events. Usually more reliable but depends on EWMH-compliant WM.
use-ewmh-active-win = true;

# Detect rounded corners and treat them as rectangular when --shadow-ignore-shaped is on.
detect-rounded-corners = true;

# Detect _NET_WM_OPACITY on client windows useful for window managers not passing
# _NET_WM_OPACITY of client windows to frame windows. This prevents opacity ignore
# for some apps. Without this enabled xfce4-notifyd is 100% opacity no matter what.
detect-client-opacity = true;

# Specify refresh rate. With 0 compton will detect this with X RandR extension.
refresh-rate = 0;

# Set VSync method. VSync methods currently available:
# - none: No VSync
# - drm: VSync with DRM_IOCTL_WAIT_VBLANK. May only work on some drivers.
# - opengl: VSync with SGI_video_sync OpenGL extension. Only on some drivers.
# - opengl-oml: VSync with OML_sync_control OpenGL extension. Only on some drivers.
# - opengl-swc: VSync with SGI_swap_control OpenGL extension. Only on some drivers.
#               Works with GLX backend. Known to be most effective on many drivers.
#               Does not control paint timing - only buffer swap is affected.
#               Does not have effect of --sw-opti unlike other methods. Experimental.
# - opengl-mswc: Try to VSync with MESA_swap_control OpenGL extension.
#                Basically same as opengl-swc above except extension we use.
vsync = "opengl-swc";

# Enable DBE painting mode - use with VSync to (hopefully) eliminate tearing.
dbe = false;

# Painting on X Composite overlay window. Recommended.
paint-on-overlay = true;

# Limit repaint at most once every 1 / refresh_rate second to boost performance.
# This should not be used with --vsync drm/opengl/opengl-oml as they essentially does
# --sw-opti* job unless you wish to have lower refresh rate than actual value.
sw-opti = false;

# Unredirect all windows if full-screen window is detected to maximize performance
# for full-screen windows - like games. Known to cause flickering when
# redirecting/unredirecting windows. Paint-on-overlay may flicker less.
unredir-if-possible = true;

# Specify list of conditions of windows that should always be considered focused.
focus-exclude = [ ];

# Use WM_TRANSIENT_FOR to group windows in same group focused at same time.
detect-transient = true;

# Use WM_CLIENT_LEADER to group windows in same group focused at same time.
# WM_TRANSIENT_FOR has higher priority if --detect-transient is enabled too.
detect-client-leader = true;

#################################
#
# Window Type Settings
#
#################################

wintypes:
{
    tooltip =
    {
        # fade: Fade particular type of windows.
        fade = true;
        # shadow: Give those windows shadow
        shadow = false;
        # opacity: Default opacity for type of windows.
        opacity = 0.85;
        # focus: Whether to always consider windows of this type focused.
        focus = true;
    };
};

Not sure what else could I add here so this means the end of this article 🙂

UPDATE 1 – Compton is Dead – Long Live Picom

As many of of you pointed out Compton is no longer developed and maintained. Picom took its place – https://github.com/yshui/picom – and is available here – and available in the FreeBSD Ports as x11-wm/picom port and package.

Here is the Picom config I currently use:

% grep '^[^#]' ~/.config/picom.conf
shadow = true;
shadow-radius = 10;
shadow-opacity = .35
shadow-offset-x = -10;
shadow-offset-y = -10;
shadow-exclude = [
  "name = 'Notification'",
  "name = 'Plank'",
  "name = 'Docky'",
  "name = 'Kupfer'",
  "name = 'xfce4-notifyd'",
  "name *= 'VLC'",
  "name *= 'compton'",
  "class_g = 'Conky'",
  "class_g = 'Cairo-clock'",
  "class_g = 'dzen'",
  "class_g = 'dzen2'",
  "class_g = 'Kupfer'",
  "class_g = 'Synapse'",
  "class_g ?= 'Notify-osd'",
  "class_g ?= 'Cairo-dock'",
  "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-notifyd'",
  "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-power-manager'"
];
fading = true
fade-in-step = 0.05;
fade-out-step = 0.05;
inactive-opacity = 0.9;
frame-opacity = 0.8;
opacity = 0.9
inactive-opacity-override = false;
active-opacity = 1.0
inactive-dim = 0.1
focus-exclude = [ "class_g = 'Cairo-clock'" ];
blur-kern = "3x3box";
blur-background-exclude = [
  "window_type = 'dock'",
  "window_type = 'desktop'",
  "_GTK_FRAME_EXTENTS@:c"
];
backend = "xrender";
vsync = true
mark-wmwin-focused = true;
mark-ovredir-focused = true;
detect-rounded-corners = true;
detect-client-opacity = true;
detect-transient = true
detect-client-leader = true
use-damage = true
log-level = "warn";
wintypes:
{
  tooltip = { fade = true; shadow = true; opacity = 0.75; focus = true; full-shadow = false; };
  dock = { shadow = false; }
  dnd = { shadow = false; }
  popup_menu = { opacity = 0.9; }
  dropdown_menu = { opacity = 0.9; }
};

Its startup is pretty straightforward.

% picom --config ~/.config/picom.conf &

Not sure what I should add here – so I will not produce empty sentences.

EOF