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.IX Title "dunst 1"
.TH dunst 1 2026-08-10 "1.13.2 (2026-03-18)" "Dunst Reference"
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.SH NAME
dunst \- a customizable and lightweight notification\-daemon
.SH SYNOPSIS
.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
dunst [\-\-config FILE] [\-\-verbosity v] [\-\-print] [\-\-startup_notification]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
Dunst is a highly configurable and lightweight notification daemon.
.SS "Autostarting dunst"
.IX Subsection "Autostarting dunst"
On most installations, dunst should be able to automatically be started by D\-Bus
when a notification is sent. This is not recommended when multiple notification
daemons are installed, because D\-Bus will not know which one to start.
Other ways of autostarting dunst include starting dunst with your desktop
environment or window manager\*(Aqs autostart functionality or via the provided
systemd service.
.SH "COMMAND LINE OPTIONS"
.IX Header "COMMAND LINE OPTIONS"
.IP \fB\-h/\-help/\-\-help\fR 4
.IX Item "-h/-help/--help"
List all command line flags
.IP "\fB\-conf/\-config/\-\-config FILE\fR" 4
.IX Item "-conf/-config/--config FILE"
Use alternative config file.
This disables the search for other config files.
If it cannot be opened, dunst will issue a warning and fall back on its internal
defaults.
(Hint: \`dunst \-conf \- </dev/null\` can be used to enforce the defaults, i.e. for
testing)
.IP \fB\-v/\-version/\-\-version\fR 4
.IX Item "-v/-version/--version"
Print version information.
.IP "\fB\-verbosity/\-\-verbosity\fR (values: \*(Aqcrit\*(Aq, \*(Aqwarn\*(Aq, \*(Aqmesg\*(Aq, \*(Aqinfo\*(Aq, \*(Aqdebug\*(Aq default \*(Aqmesg\*(Aq)" 4
.IX Item "-verbosity/--verbosity (values: 'crit', 'warn', 'mesg', 'info', 'debug' default 'mesg')"
Do not display log messages, which have lower precedence than specified
verbosity. This won\*(Aqt affect printing notifications on the terminal. Use
the \*(Aq\-print\*(Aq option for this.
.IP \fB\-print/\-\-print\fR 4
.IX Item "-print/--print"
Print notifications to stdout. This might be useful for logging, setting up
rules or using the output in other scripts.
.IP \fB\-startup_notification/\-\-startup_notification\fR 4
.IX Item "-startup_notification/--startup_notification"
Display a notification on startup.
.SH CONFIGURATION
.IX Header "CONFIGURATION"
A default configuration file is included (usually /etc/dunst/dunstrc)
and serves as the least important configuration file. Note: this was previously
/usr/share/dunst/dunstrc. You can edit this file to change the system\-wide
defaults or copy it to a more important location to override its settings. See
the FILES section for more details on where dunst searches for its
configuration files and how settings get applied.
.PP
See \fBdunst\fR\|(5) for all possible settings.
.SS "NOTIFY\-SEND HINTS"
.IX Subsection "NOTIFY-SEND HINTS"
Dunst is able to get different colors for a message via notify\-send.
In order to do that you have to add a hint via the \-h option.
The progress value can be set with a hint, too.
.PP
See \fBdunst\fR\|(5) for the list of accepted hints.
.PP
Some examples:
.PP
.Vb 1
\&    notify\-send \-h string:fgcolor:#ff4444
\&
\&    notify\-send \-h string:bgcolor:#4444ff \-h string:fgcolor:#ff4444 \-h string:frcolor:#44ff44
\&
\&    notify\-send \-h int:value:42 "Working ..."
.Ve
.SH MISCELLANEOUS
.IX Header "MISCELLANEOUS"
Dunst can be paused via the \`dunstctl set\-paused true\` command. To unpause dunst use
\&\`dunstctl set\-paused false\`.
Another way is to send SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2 to pause and unpause
respectively. Pausing using dunstctl is recommended over using signals, because
the meaning of the signals isn\*(Aqt stable and might change in the future.
.PP
When paused, dunst won\*(Aqt display any notifications, but keeps all notifications
in a queue. This can for example be wrapped around a screen locker (i3lock,
slock) to prevent flickering of notifications through the lock, and to read all
missed notifications after returning to the computer.
.SH FILES
.IX Header "FILES"
These are the base directories dunst searches for configuration files in
\&\fIdescending order of importance\fR:
.ie n .IP $XDG_CONFIG_HOME 8
.el .IP \f(CW$XDG_CONFIG_HOME\fR 8
.IX Item "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"
This is the most important directory. (\f(CW\*(C`$HOME/.config\*(C'\fR if unset or empty)
.ie n .IP $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS 8
.el .IP \f(CW$XDG_CONFIG_DIRS\fR 8
.IX Item "$XDG_CONFIG_DIRS"
This, like \f(CW$PATH\fR for instance, is a :\-separated list of base directories
in \fIdescending order of importance\fR.
(\fI/etc\fR if unset or empty)
.PP
Dunst will search these directories for the following relative file paths:
.IP \fIdunst/dunstrc\fR 8
.IX Item "dunst/dunstrc"
This is the base config and as such the least important in a particular base
directory.
.IP \fIdunst/dunstrc.d/*.conf\fR 8
.IX Item "dunst/dunstrc.d/*.conf"
These are "drop\-ins" (mind the ".d" suffix of the directory).
They are more important than the base dunstrc in the parent directory, as they
are considered to be small snippets to override settings.
The last in lexical order is the most important one, so you can easily change
the order by renaming them.
A common approach to naming drop\-ins is to prefix them with numbers, i.e.:
.Sp
.Vb 4
\&    00\-least\-important.conf
\&    01\-foo.conf
\&    20\-bar.conf
\&    99\-most\-important.conf
.Ve
.Sp
Only files with the \fB.conf\fR suffix will be read.
.PP
Only settings from the last base config the corresponding drop\-ins get applied.
So if a dunstrc is first found in \fI~/.config/dunst/dunstrc\fR, drop\-ins will be
searched in \fI~/.config/dunst/dunstrc.d/*\fR. Settings in more important files
override those in less important ones.
.PP
If you want to dynamically change the config you can simply use the command
\&\fBdunstctl reload\fR to load the modified files. See more in \fBdunst\fR\|(5).
.SH "REPORTING BUGS"
.IX Header "REPORTING BUGS"
Bugs and suggestions should be reported on GitHub at https://github.com/dunst\-project/dunst/issues
.SH COPYRIGHT
.IX Header "COPYRIGHT"
Copyright 2011\-2014 Sascha Kruse
.PP
Copyright 2014\-2026 Dunst contributors
.PP
Dunst is released under the BSD 3\-Clause License, see LICENSE for more information.
.PP
If you feel that copyrights are violated, please send an email to the maintainers.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IX Header "SEE ALSO"
\&\fBdunst\fR\|(5), \fBdunstctl\fR\|(1), \fBdmenu\fR\|(1), \fBnotify\-send\fR\|(1), \fBdunstify\fR\|(1)