---
name: "toxic.conf"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "toxic"
version: "0.16.3-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/toxic.conf"
---

# toxic.conf(5)

Configuration file for toxic

## NAME

toxic.conf - Configuration file for toxic

## SYNOPSIS

\~/.config/tox/toxic.conf

## DESCRIPTION

The *toxic.conf* file is the main configuration file for [**toxic**(1)](/toxic/1.md) client. It uses syntax accepted by **libconfig**. Lines starting with "//" are comments and will be ignored.

## EXAMPLE

```
// Configuration for interface
ui = {
    timestamps = true;
    alerts = false;
};
// Configuration for audio
audio = {
    input_device = 1;
};
```

## OPTIONS

**ui**

Configuration related to interface elements.

**timestamps**

Enable or disable timestamps. true or false

**time\_format**

Select between 24 and 12 hour time. Specify 24 or 12. Setting timestamp\_format and log\_timestamp\_format will override this setting.

**timestamp\_format**

Time format string for the interface enclosed by double quotes. See [**date**(1)](/date/1.md)

**log\_timestamp\_format**

Time format string for logging enclosed by double quotes. (Note: the time portion of the format string must be enclosed by square brackets in order to be parsed by toxic). See [**date**(1)](/date/1.md)

**alerts**

Enable or disable acoustic alerts on events. true or false

**show\_notification\_content**

Show the content of desktop notifications. true or false

**native\_colors**

Select between native terminal colors and toxic color theme. true or false

**color\_bar\_bg**

set background color of chat status bars. (black, white, gray, brown, red, green, blue, cyan, yellow, magenta, orange, pink)

**color\_bar\_fg**

set foreground (text) color of chat status bars. (black, white, gray, brown, red, green, blue, cyan, yellow, magenta, orange, pink)

**color\_bar\_accent**

set foreground accent color of chat status bars. (black, white, gray, brown, red, green, blue, cyan, yellow, magenta, orange, pink)

**color\_bar\_notify**

set foreground notify (and typing) color in chat status bar. (black, white, gray, brown, red, green, blue, cyan, yellow, magenta, orange, pink)

**autolog**

Enable or disable autologging. true or false

**show\_typing\_other**

Show when others are typing in a 1-on-1 chat. true or false

**show\_typing\_self**

Show others when you’re typing in a 1-on-1 chat. true or false

**show\_welcome\_msg**

Show welcome message on startup. true or false

**show\_connection\_msg**

Enable friend connection change notifications. true or false

**show\_group\_connection\_msg**

Enable group connection change notifications. true or false

**show\_network\_info**

Show network information in the UI home window. true or false (only available if toxic is compiled with experimental features enabled)

**nodelist\_update\_freq**

How often in days to update the DHT nodes list. (integer; 0 to disable)

**autosave\_freq**

How often in seconds to auto-save the Tox data file. (integer; 0 to disable)

**history\_size**

Maximum lines for chat window history. Integer value. (for example: 700)

**notification\_timeout**

Time in milliseconds to display a notification. Integer value. (for example: 3000)

**line\_join**

Indicator for when someone connects or joins a group. Three characters max for line\_ settings.

**line\_quit**

Indicator for when someone disconnects or leaves a group.

**line\_alert**

Indicator for alert messages.

**line\_normal**

Indicator for normal messages.

**line\_padding**

Pad every wrapped line of a message with enough spaces to align it to the beginning of the first line. true or false

**mplex\_away**

Set user status when attaching and detaching from GNU screen or tmux. true or false

**mplex\_away\_note**

Status message to set when status is set to away due to screen/tmux detach. When attaching, the status message is set back to the original value.

**group\_part\_message**

Parting message that will be sent to all groupchat peers when you leave the group.

```
The following options control whether to output a terminal bell on certain events.
Some terminals mark the window as urgent when a bell is received. Urgent windows are usually highlighted in the taskbar and some window managers even provide shortcuts to jump to the next urgent window.
These options don't affect the "alerts" option.
```

**bell\_on\_message**

Enable/Disable the terminal bell when receiving a message. true or false

**bell\_on\_filetrans**

Enable/Disable the terminal bell when receiving a filetransfer. true or false

**bell\_on\_filetrans\_accept**

Enable/Disable the terminal bell when a filetransfer was accepted. true or false

**bell\_on\_invite**

Enable/Disable the terminal bell when receiving a group/call invite. true or false

**audio**

Configuration related to audio devices.

**input\_device**

Audio input device. Integer value. Number corresponds to /lsdev in

**output\_device**

Audio output device. Integer value. Number corresponds to /lsdev out

**VAD\_threshold**

Voice Activity Detection threshold. Float value. Recommended values are 1.0-40.0

**conference\_audio\_channels**

Number of channels for conference audio broadcast. Integer value. 1 (mono) or 2 (stereo)

**chat\_audio\_channels**

Number of channels for 1-on-1 audio broadcast. Integer value. 1 (mono) or 2 (stereo)

**push\_to\_talk**

Enable/Disable Push-To-Talk for conference audio chats (active key is F2). true or false

**tox**

Configuration related to paths.

**download\_path**

Default path for downloads. String value. Absolute path for downloaded files.

**avatar\_path**

Path for your avatar (file must be a .png and cannot exceed 16.3 KiB)

**autorun\_path**

Path for any scripts that should be run on startup

**chatlogs\_path**

Default path for chatlogs. String value. Absolute path for chatlog files.

**password\_eval**

Replace password prompt by running this command and using its output as the password.

**friends**

Friend-specific settings (prioritized over global settings)

**alias**

Set an alias for this friend. String value.

**auto\_accept\_files**

Enable or disable auto-accepting inbound file transfers. true or false

**autolog**

Enable or disable autologging. true or false

**show\_connection\_msg**

Enable connection change notifications. true or false

**tab\_name\_colour**

The colour of the friend’s tab window name. (black, white, gray, brown, red, green, blue, cyan, yellow, magenta, orange, pink)

**groupchats**

Groupchat-specific settings (prioritized over global settings)

**autolog**

Enable or disable autologging. true or false

**tab\_name\_colour**

The colour of the group’s tab window name. (black, white, gray, brown, red, green, blue, cyan, yellow, magenta, orange, pink)

**conferences**

Conference-specific settings (prioritized over global settings)

**autolog**

Enable or disable autologging. true or false

**tab\_name\_colour**

The colour of the conferences’s tab window name. (black, white, gray, brown, red, green, blue, cyan, yellow, magenta, orange, pink)

**blocked\_words**

A list of case-insensitive words that cannot be sent in messages. String value. Must be enclosed in double quotes and must be ⇐ 256 characters.

**sounds**

Configuration related to notification sounds. Special value "silent" can be used to disable a specific notification.

Each value is a string which corresponds to the absolute path of a wav sound file.

**notif\_error**

Sound to play when an error occurs.

**self\_log\_in**

Sound to play when you log in.

**self\_log\_out**

Sound to play when you log out.

**user\_log\_in**

Sound to play when a contact become online.

**user\_log\_out**

Sound to play when a contact become offline.

**call\_incoming**

Sound to play when you receive an incoming call.

**call\_outgoing**

Sound to play when you start a call.

**generic\_message**

Sound to play when an event occurs.

**transfer\_pending**

Sound to play when you receive a file transfer request.

**transfer\_completed**

Sound to play when a file transfer is completed.

**keys**

Configuration related to user interface interaction. Currently supported: Ctrl modified keys, Tab, PAGEUP and PAGEDOWN.

Each value is a string which corresponds to a key combination.

**next\_tab**

Key combination to switch next tab.

**prev\_tab**

Key combination to switch previous tab.

**scroll\_line\_up**

Key combination to scroll one line up.

**scroll\_line\_down**

Key combination to scroll one line down.

**half\_page\_up**

Key combination to scroll half page up.

**half\_page\_down**

Key combination to scroll half page down.

**page\_bottom**

Key combination to scroll to page bottom.

**toggle\_peerlist**

Toggle the peer list on and off.

**toggle\_paste\_mode**

Toggle treating linebreaks as enter key press.

**reload\_config**

Reload the Toxic config file.

## BUGS

\-Non-default colours (gray, brown, orange, and pink) will not work on terminal emulators that don’t support 256-colors. Konsole, qterminal and possibly others are also known to have issues with them. If you’re using screen or tmux, try to configure it to use the xterm-256color TERM environment variable.

\-When reloading the config file during a live session, some UI changes may be buggy and require a full client restart.

## FILES

\~/.config/tox/toxic.conf

Main configuration file.

/usr/share/toxic/toxic.conf.example

Configuration example.

## RESOURCES

Project page: https://github.com/JFreegman/toxic

Tox development group public key: 360497DA684BCE2A500C1AF9B3A5CE949BBB9F6FB1F91589806FB04CA039E313

## AUTHORS

JFreegman \<JFreegman@gmail.com\>

## SEE ALSO

[**toxic**(1)](/toxic/1.md)