How to Run Full-screen Games In Linux With Dual Monitors

When you launch a arcade on Linux using dual filters attached, it typically tries to open on your key monitor. Yet, depending on your installment and display sterilize web server, fullscreen mode performs not constantly satire perfectly. The arcade could protract oddly, open in borderless mode, or enable your mouse to drift onto the second monitor instead of remaining guarded wherein it ought to.

With the correct placements and a few humble tweaks, you can keep your arcade perfectly fullscreen on one display sterilize while your other monitor stays totally rewarding. If you favor an ultra-wide ordeal, you can better distance the arcade across both filters at as soon as, earning service of devices like Gamescope or by wreaking a virtual truly-resolution monitor using XRandR or Nvidia TwinView.

Attempt Matching Your Display Server to Wayland

Dissimilar Windows, Linux stabilizes countless display sterilize dozen, mostly X11 and Wayland. On the heritage X11 gizmo, your filters routinely satire like one colossal virtual canvas. As a result, a complete-monitor arcade could protract across both filters, launch on the wrong monitor, lose emphasis once your mouse crosses display displays, or decrease to the lowest revitalize rate mutual between filters.

Wayland, the vibrant-day substitute, handles this a digit much better. It sufficiently handles unique fullscreen petitions, confining the arcade to one monitor without affecting the rest of your desktop computer. Most major distros like Fedora or Ubuntu consumption Wayland by default, and pc gaming on it mostly truly feels more aristocratic. If you are still earning service of X11, swapping to Wayland can solve several of your complications without stalemate.

Initially, recognize your session kind by opening a incurable and keying:

echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE

If the output claims x11, you are on the heritage gizmo. If it claims Wayland, you are on the vibrant-day criterion. On countless distros, log out, click the contrivance icon on the login monitor, and designate Wayland (or Plasma on Wayland for KDE), then log recommend in.

Kit Your Sizeable Display Entirely

Several fullscreen complications confiscate place purely since the wrong monitor is marked as key. On KDE, attend Contraption Placements and then Display to set your pc gaming monitor as Sizeable. On GNOME, attend Placements and then Display displays to execute the specific same.

Restart the arcade after rendering this change. If the arcade still opens on the wrong monitor, attempt launching Steam balanced on the monitor wherein you pine the arcade to appear, as several arcades inherit Steam’s posture.

Swapping to Borderless Window Seating

The practicality inconsistency between unique fullscreen and borderless mode on Linux is now limited, specifically under Wayland and vibrant-day compositors like KDE Plasma or GNOME.

To set this upwards, open your arcade placements, change the Display Seating to Borderless Windowed, set the resolution to your monitor’s native to the island resolution, and make certain your pc gaming monitor is marked as Sizeable in your gizmo display sterilize placements.

This tactic works since the compositor stays in deal with. There is zero display sterilize mode swapping, the second monitor performs not go black, and Alt + Tab works efficiently. For countless arcades, this is all you ultimatum. If the arcade performs not buttress this mode natively, execute not misgiving; there are devices to compel it.

Utilization Gamescope Compositor

Gamescope is a mini-compositor constructed by Valve and given on the Steam Porch to model a manipulated ambience for your arcade. It traps the mouse, brunts resolution, handles revitalize rates, takes on multi-monitor emphasis complications, and interferes with fullscreen problems.

Gamescope can be placed in countless standards depending on your Linux circulation. On whining and upwards-to-day distros like Arc Linux and Fedora, it’s obtainable balanced in the polices repositories. For example, on Arc Linux (and Arc-based ailments), you can mount it using:

sudo pacman -S gamescope

On Fedora, consumption:

sudo dnf install gamescope

If your circulation performs not lend a existing model, you can constantly construct Gamescope balanced from its polices GitHub documents source.

Once placed, have the obeying to your Steam Exit Patchworks:

gamescope -f -w 2560 -h 1440 -r 144 -- %command%

Adjust the -w and -h flags to match your monitor’s resolution, and set the -r flag to match your revitalize rate. The -f flag brunts fullscreen mode. Gamescope sufficiently includes the arcade so it cannot conflict using your second monitor.

In enhancement, you can better check your distro’s Gamescope package documentation for the countless existing flags, as they may progress over time.

Tweaks for Steam, Lutris, and Heroic

Since countless Linux gamers rely on Steam using Proton, there are a few other handy tweaks you can attempt if fullscreen behaves oddly on a dual-monitor installment. In Steam, correct-click your arcade, open Freeholds, and appearance for the Exit Patchworks field under the Basic tab. There, you can have:

SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_DISPLAY=0 %command%

This ambience variable educates SDL-based arcades which monitor to consumption for fullscreen. If the arcade still departures on the wrong monitor, change the 0 to 1 (or an additional digit) depending on your monitor order.

It is better worth trial and slipup various Proton incarnations by visiting the Compatibility tab and pick Proton Experimental or the countless existing secure send out. Some fullscreen, emphasis, or multi-monitor parasites are choosy to specific Proton builds, so swapping incarnations can without stalemate solve upwards the priority without readjusting anything else on your gizmo.

For non-Steam arcades, devices like Lutris and Heroic Arcades Launcher bargain indistinguishable regulates. In Lutris, correct-click the arcade, opt Configure, attend Runner Patchworks, and permit Windowed (Virtual Desktop).

This amenity designs a virtual Windows desktop computer inside a singular abode window at a resolution you identify. Kit that resolution to match your monitor’s native to the island size, and the arcade will clearly stay constrained within that virtual space, putting off it from protracting across both filters or losing emphasis once you Alt + Tab.

In Heroic Arcades Launcher, you can open the arcade’s A glass of wine or Proton Placements and permit Gamescope using a humble toggle. Gamescope edicts as a light-weight compositor that wraps up the arcade, regulates resolution and revitalize rate. Further, it better preserves it guarded to one display sterilize without terming for manual command-spiel upwards debates.

Utilization XRandR to Subdue Display displays

If you favor to stay on X11, you can manually deal with your filters earning service of the XRandR tool. Initially, open a incurable and sprinted xrandr to listing your attached display displays and recognize their accurate names (for example, HDMI-1 or DP-1).

To for a little while cripple your secondary monitor in yesteryear launching a arcade, consumption:

xrandr --output HDMI-1 --off

Rise and fall HDMI-1 using your real secondary monitor identifier. After you finishing pc gaming, re-permit it using:

xrandr --output HDMI-1 --auto

Although this tactic is more of a punk-compel enterprises, it enterprises warranties the arcade runs actually fullscreen on the remaining monitor.

Both KDE (KWin) and GNOME (Mutter) entail placements such as unredirect fullscreen abode windows or recourses to cripple compositing for fullscreen executions. Allowing these can simplify practicality and derive rid of mild stuttering complications.

Final Thoughts

Linux works superb once you confiscate a tiny time to realise your installment. You can conveniently configure countless filters and consumption them for pc gaming, while retaining your second monitor open for other vacancies without interfering with your arcade. You ought to better investigate how you can simplify pc gaming practicality in Linux earning service of GameMode.