---
name: "droste"
section: "6"
platform: "linux"
package: "xscreensaver"
version: "6.15-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/droste"
---

# droste(6)

screen saver.

## NAME

droste - screen saver.

## SYNOPSIS

**droste** \[--display *host:display.screen*\] \[--visual *visual*\] \[--window\] \[--root\] \[--delay *number*\] \[--duration *seconds*\] \[--speed *ratio*\] \[--r1 *ratio*\] \[--r2 *ratio*\] \[--fps\]

## DESCRIPTION

Mise en abyme: infinite spiral recursion within images.

Works best with images that have a central circular feature.

## OPTIONS

- **--visual *visual***

  Specify which visual to use.  Legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex) of a specific visual.

- **--window**

  Draw on a newly-created window.  This is the default.

- **--root**

  Draw on the root window.

- **--delay *number***

  Per-frame delay, in microseconds.  Default: 20000 (0.02 seconds).

- **--duration *number***

  How long until loading a new image, in seconds.  Default: 2 minutes.

- **--speed *number***

  Speed of zooming into the image.  2.0 means twice as fast, 0.5 means half as fast.  Negative to zoom out.

- **--r1 *number***

  Inner radius of the spiral.  Default: 0.2.

- **--r2 *number***

  Outer radius of the spiral.  Default: 0.7.

- **--fps \| --no--fps**

  Whether to show a frames-per-second display at the bottom of the screen.

## ENVIRONMENT

- **DISPLAY**

  to get the default host and display number.

- **XENVIRONMENT**

  to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE\_MANAGER property.

- **XSCREENSAVER\_WINDOW**

  The window ID to use with *--root*.

## SEE ALSO

**X**(1), [**xscreensaver**(1)](/xscreensaver/1.md)

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2023 by Jamie Zawinski.  Permission to use, copy, modify,  distribute, and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is  hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear  in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation.  No representations are made about the  suitability of this software for any purpose.  It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

## AUTHOR

Jamie Zawinski.