Configuration Settings

Variable | Explanation
--- | ---
alignment | Aligned position on screen, may be top_left, top_right, top_middle, bottom_left, bottom_right, bottom_middle, middle_left, middle_middle, middle_right, or none (also can be abbreviated as tl, tr, tm, bl, br, bm, ml, mm, mr). See also gap_x and gap_y.
append_file | Append the file given as argument.
background | Boolean value, if true, Conky will be forked to background when started.
forced_redraw | Boolean value, if true, Conky will redraw everything when you switch the workspace. This may cause delays/flickering on some WMs.
border_inner_margin | Inner border margin in pixels (the margin between the border and text).
border_outer_margin | Outer border margin in pixels (the margin between the border and the edge of the window).
border_width | Border width in pixels.
colorN | Predefine a color for use inside conky.text segments. Substitute N by a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively. When specifying the color value in hex, omit the leading hash (#).
console_bar_fill | A character to fill the console bars. (default: '#')
console_bar_unfill | A character to unfill the console bars. (default: '.')
console_graph_ticks | A comma-separated list of strings to use as the bars of a graph output to console/shell. The first list item is used for the minimum bar height and the last item is used for the maximum, e.g. " ,_,=,#".
cpu_avg_samples | The number of samples to average for CPU monitoring.
default_bar_height | Specify a default height for bars. If not specified, the default value is 6.
default_bar_width | Specify a default width for bars. If not specified, the default value is 0, which causes the bar to expand to fit the width of your Conky window. If you set out_to_console = true, the default value will be 10 for the text version of the bar.
default_color | Default color and border color.
default_gauge_height | Specify a default height for gauges. If not specified, the default value is 25.
default_gauge_width | Specify a default width for gauges. If not specified, the default value is 40.
default_graph_height | Specify a default height for graphs. If not specified, the default value is 25.
default_graph_width | Specify a default width for graphs. If not specified, the default value is 0, which causes the graph to expand to fit the width of your Conky window. If you set out_to_console = true, the text version of the graph will actually have no width and you will need to set a sensible default or set the height and width of each graph individually.
default_outline_color | Default outline color.
default_shade_color | Default shading color and border's shading color.
disable_auto_reload | Enable to disable the inotify-based auto config reload feature.
diskio_avg_samples | The number of samples to average for disk I/O monitoring.
display | Specify an X display to connect to.
xinerama_head | Specify a Xinerama head.
double_buffer | Use the Xdbe extension? (eliminates flicker) It is highly recommended to use own window with this one so double buffer won't be so big.
draw_blended | Boolean, blend when rendering drawn image? Some images blend incorrectly breaking alpha with ARBG visuals. This provides a possible work around by disabling blending. Defaults to true.
draw_borders | Draw borders around text.
draw_graph_borders | Draw borders around graphs.
draw_outline | Draw outlines.
draw_shades | Draw shades.
extra_newline | Put an extra newline at the end when writing to stdout, useful for writing to awesome's wiboxes.
font | Font name in X, xfontsel can be used to get a nice font.
fontN | Predefine a font to be used in conky.text segments. Substitute N by a number between 0 and 9 inclusive. Use the same format as a font variable.
format_human_readable | If enabled, values which are in bytes will be printed in human readable format (i.e., KiB, MiB, etc). If disabled, the number of bytes is printed instead.
gap_x | Gap, in pixels, between right or left border of screen, same as passing -x at command line, e.g. gap_x 10. For other position related stuff, see 'alignment'.
gap_y | Gap, in pixels, between top or bottom border of screen, same as passing -y at command line, e.g. gap_y 10. For other position related stuff, see 'alignment'.
github_token | Specify API token for GitHub notifications. https://github.com/settings/tokens/new?scopes=notifications&description=conky
hddtemp_host | Hostname to connect to for hddtemp objects. Defaults to "127.0.0.1".
hddtemp_port | Port to use for hddtemp connections. Defaults to 7634.
http_refresh | When this is set the page generated with out_to_http will automatically refresh each interval. Default value is no.
if_up_strictness | How strict should if_up be when testing an interface for being up? The value is one of up, link or address, to check for the interface being solely up, being up and having link or being up, having link and an assigned IP address.
imap | Default global IMAP server. Arguments are: "host user pass [-i interval (in seconds)] [-f 'folder'] [-p port] [-e 'command'] [-r retries]". Default port is 143, default folder is 'INBOX', default interval is 5 minutes, and default number of retries before giving up is 5. If the password is supplied as '*', you will be prompted to enter the password when Conky starts.
imlib_cache_flush_interval | Interval (in seconds) to flush Imlib2 cache.
imlib_cache_size | Imlib2 image cache size, in bytes. Defaults to 4MiB. Increase this value if you use $image lots. Set to 0 to disable the image cache.
lua_draw_hook_post | This function, if defined, will be called by Conky through each iteration after drawing to the window. Requires X support. Takes any number of optional arguments. Use this hook for drawing things on top of what Conky draws. Conky puts 'conky_' in front of function_name to prevent accidental calls to the wrong function unless you place 'conky_' in front of it yourself.
lua_draw_hook_pre | This function, if defined, will be called by Conky through each iteration before drawing to the window. Requires X support. Takes any number of optional arguments. Use this hook for drawing things on top of what Conky draws. Conky puts 'conky_' in front of function_name to prevent accidental calls to the wrong function unless you place 'conky_' in front of it yourself.
lua_load | Loads the Lua scripts separated by spaces.
lua_shutdown_hook | This function, if defined, will be called by Conky at shutdown or when the configuration is reloaded. Use this hook to clean up after yourself, such as freeing memory which has been allocated by external libraries via Lua. Conky puts 'conky_' in front of function_name to prevent accidental calls to the wrong function unless you place 'conky_' in front of it yourself.
lua_startup_hook | This function, if defined, will be called by Conky at startup or when the configuration is reloaded. Use this hook to initialize values, or for any run-once applications. Conky puts 'conky_' in front of function_name to prevent accidental calls to the wrong function unless you place 'conky_' in front of it yourself.
mail_spool | Mail spool for mail checking.
max_port_monitor_connections | Allow each port monitor to track at most this many connections (if 0 or not set, default is 256).
max_text_width | When a line in the output contains 'width' chars and the end isn't reached, the next char will start on a new line. If you want to make sure that lines don't get broken, set 'width' to 0.
max_user_text | Maximum size of user text buffer, i.e. text inside conky.text section in config file (default is 16384 bytes).
maximum_width | Maximum width of window.
minimum_height | Minimum height of the window.
minimum_width | Minimum width of window.
mpd_host | Host of MPD server.
mpd_password | MPD server password.
mpd_port | Port of MPD server.
mysql_host | Host of MySQL server. Defaults to localhost.
mysql_port | Port of MySQL server. Defaults to the default mysql port.
mysql_user | MySQL user name to use when connecting to the server. Defaults to your username.
mysql_password | Password of the MySQL user. Place it between "-chars. When this is not set there is no password used.
mysql_db | MySQL database to use. Defaults to mysql.
music_player_interval | Music player thread update interval (defaults to Conky's update interval).
net_avg_samples | The number of samples to average for net data.
no_buffers | Subtract (file system) buffers from used memory.
nvidia_display | The display that the nvidia variable will use (defaults to the value of the display variable).
out_to_console | Print text to stdout.
out_to_http | Let conky act as a small http-server serving its text.
out_to_ncurses | Print text in the console, but use ncurses so that conky can print the text of a new update over the old text. (In the future this will provide more useful things).
out_to_stderr | Print text to stderr.
out_to_x | When set to no, there will be no output in X (useful when you also use things like out_to_console). If you set it to no, make sure that it's placed before all other X-related setting (take the first line of your configfile to be sure). Default value is yes.
override_utf8_locale | Force UTF8. Requires XFT.
overwrite_file | Overwrite the file given as argument.
own_window | Boolean, create own window to draw.
own_window_class | Manually set the WM_CLASS name. Defaults to "Conky".
own_window_colour | If own_window_transparent no, set a specified background colour (defaults to black). Takes either a hex value (e.g. '#ffffff'), a shorthand hex value (e.g. '#fff'), or a valid RGB name (see /usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt).
own_window_hints | If own_window is yes, you may use these window manager hints to affect the way Conky displays. Notes: Use own_window_type desktop as another way to implement many of these hints implicitly. If you use own_window_type override, window manager hints have no meaning and are ignored.
own_window_title | Manually set the window name. Defaults to "conky (<hostname>)".
own_window_argb_visual | Boolean, use ARGB visual? ARGB can be used for real transparency, note that a composite manager is required for real transparency. This option will not work as desired (in most cases) in conjunction with 'own_window_type override'.
own_window_argb_value | When ARGB visuals are enabled, this use this to modify the alpha value used. Valid range is 0-255, where 0 is 0% opacity, and 255 is 100% opacity.
own_window_transparent | Boolean, set transparency? If ARGB visual is enabled, sets background opacity to 0%.
own_window_type | if own_window is yes, you may specify type normal, desktop, dock, panel or override (default: normal). Desktop windows are special windows that have no window decorations; are always visible on your desktop; do not appear in your pager or taskbar; and are sticky across all workspaces. Panel windows reserve space along a desktop edge, just like panels and taskbars, preventing maximized windows from overlapping them. The edge is chosen based on the alignment option. Override windows are not under the control of the window manager. Hints are ignored. This type of window can be useful for certain situations.
pad_percents | Pad percentages to this many decimals (0 = no padding).
pop3 | Default global POP3 server. Arguments are: "host user pass [-i interval (in seconds)] [-p port] [-e 'command'] [-r retries]". Default port is 110, default interval is 5 minutes, and default number of retries before giving up is 5. If the password is supplied as '*', you will be prompted to enter the password when Conky starts.
short_units | Shortens units to a single character (kiB->k, GiB->G, etc.). Default is off.
show_graph_range | Shows the time range covered by a graph.
show_graph_scale | Shows the maximum value in scaled graphs.
stippled_borders | Border stippling (dashing) in pixels.
temperature_unit | Desired output unit of all objects displaying a temperature. Parameters are either "fahrenheit" or "celsius". The default unit is degree Celsius.
templateN | Define a template for later use inside conky.text segments. Substitute N by a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively. The value of the variable is being inserted into the stuff inside conky.text at the corresponding position, but before some substitutions are applied: '\n' -> newline '\\' -> backslash '\ ' -> space '\N' -> template argument N (starting from 1)
text_buffer_size | Size of the standard text buffer (default is 256 bytes). This buffer is used for intermediary text, such as individual lines, output from $exec vars, and various other variables. Increasing the size of this buffer can drastically reduce Conky's performance, but will allow for more text display per variable. The size of this buffer cannot be smaller than the default value of 256 bytes.
times_in_seconds | If true, variables that output times output a number that represents seconds. This doesn't affect $time, $tztime and $utime.
top_cpu_separate | If true, cpu in top will show usage of one processor's power. If false, cpu in top will show the usage of all processors' power combined.
top_name_verbose | If true, top name shows the full command line of each process, including arguments (whenever possible). Otherwise, only the basename is displayed. Default value is false.
top_name_width | Width for $top name value (defaults to 15 characters).
total_run_times | Total number of times for Conky to update before quitting. Zero makes Conky run forever.
update_interval | Update interval.
update_interval_on_battery | Update interval when running on battery power.
detect_battery | One or more batteries to check in order to use update_interval_on_battery (comma separated, BAT0 default).
uppercase | Boolean value, if true, text is rendered in upper case.
lowercase | Boolean value, if true, text is rendered in lower case.
use_spacer | Adds spaces around certain objects to stop them from moving other things around. Arguments are left, right, and none (default). The old true/false values are deprecated and default to right/none respectively. Note that this only helps if you are using a mono font, such as Bitstream Vera Sans Mono.
use_xft | Use Xft (anti-aliased font and stuff).
xftalpha | Alpha of Xft font. Must be a value at or between 1 and 0.