Variable Explanation
TEXT After this begins text to be formatted on screen. Backslash (\) escapes newlines in the text section. This can be useful for cleaning up config files where conky is used to pipe input to dzen2.
alias Use this to create aliases of variables. The first argument is the new name, the second the old name, and the other arguments are passed on to the variable. Example: If you want to use $alpha instead of ${beta gamma delta} then you have to write the following: alias alpha beta gamma delta . PS: Instead of creating an alias in the config you can also use environment variables. Example: Start conky like this: alpha="beta gamma delta" conky
alignment Aligned position on screen, may be top_left, top_right, top_middle, bottom_left, bottom_right, bottom_middle, middle_left, middle_right, or none (also can be abreviated as tl, tr, tm, bl, br, bm, ml, 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.
border_margin Border margin in pixels.
border_width Border width in pixels.
colorN Predefine a color for use inside TEXT segments. Substitute N by a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively. When specifying the color value in hex, omit the leading hash (#).
cpu_avg_samples The number of samples to average for CPU monitoring.
default_bar_size Specify a default width and height for bars. Example: 'default_bar_size 0 6'. This is particularly useful for execbar and execibar as they do not take size arguments.
default_color Default color and border color
default_gauge_size Specify a default width and height for gauges. Example: 'default_gauge_size 25 25'. This is particularly useful for execgauge and execigauge as they do not take size arguments
default_graph_size Specify a default width and height for graphs. Example: 'default_graph_size 0 25'. This is particularly useful for execgraph and execigraph as they do not take size arguments
default_outline_color Default outline color
default_shade_color Default shading color and border's shading color
diskio_avg_samples The number of samples to average for disk I/O monitoring.
display Specify an X display to connect to.
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_borders Draw borders around text?
draw_graph_borders Draw borders around graphs?
draw_outline Draw outlines?
draw_shades Draw shades?
font Font name in X, xfontsel can be used to get a nice font
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'.
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_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_load Loads the Lua scripts separated by spaces.
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_specials Maximum number of special things, e.g. fonts, offsets, aligns, etc. (default is 512)
max_user_text Maximum size of user text buffer, i.e. layout below TEXT line in config file (default is 16384 bytes)
maximum_width Maximum width of window
minimum_size Minimum size of window
mpd_host Host of MPD server
mpd_password MPD server password
mpd_port Port of MPD server
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 Substract (file system) buffers from used memory?
out_to_console Print text to stdout.
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 (#ffffff) 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 "<hostname> - conky".
own_window_transparent Boolean, set pseudo-transparency?
own_window_type if own_window is yes, you may specify type normal, desktop, dock 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. 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 TEXT segments. Substitute N by a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively. The value of the variable is being inserted into the stuff below TEXT at the corresponding position, but before some substitutions are applied: '\n' -> newline '\\' -> backslash '\ ' -> space '\N' -> template argument N
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.
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_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 in seconds
uppercase Boolean value, if true, text is rendered in upper 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.
xftfont Xft font to use.