hyprland-wiki/pages/Configuring/Environment-variables.md

---
weight: 15
title: Environment variables
---

You can use the `env` keyword to set environment variables prior to the
initialization of the Display Server, e.g.:

```ini
env = GTK_THEME,Nord
```

{{< callout >}}

Hyprland puts the raw string to the envvar with the `env` keyword. You should
_not_ add quotes around the values.

e.g.:

```ini
env = QT_QPA_PLATFORM,wayland
```

and _**NOT**_

```ini
env = QT_QPA_PLATFORM,"wayland"
```

{{< /callout >}}

Please avoid putting those environment variables in /etc/environment. That will
cause all sessions (including Xorg ones) to pick up your wayland-specific
environment on traditional Linux distros.

## Hyprland Environment Variables

- `HYPRLAND_LOG_WLR=1` - Enables more verbose logging of wlroots.
- `HYPRLAND_NO_RT=1` - Disables realtime priority setting by Hyprland.
- `HYPRLAND_NO_SD_NOTIFY=1` - If systemd, disables the `sd_notify` calls.

## Toolkit Backend Variables

- `GDK_BACKEND=wayland,x11` - GTK: Use wayland if available, fall back to x11 if
  not.
- `QT_QPA_PLATFORM="wayland;xcb"` - Qt: Use wayland if available, fall back to
  x11 if not.
- `SDL_VIDEODRIVER=wayland` - Run SDL2 applications on Wayland. Remove or set to
  `x11` if games that provide older versions of SDL cause compatibility issues
- `CLUTTER_BACKEND=wayland` - Clutter package already has wayland enabled, this
  variable will force Clutter applications to try and use the Wayland backend

## XDG Specifications

- `XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Hyprland`
- `XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland`
- `XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP=Hyprland`

XDG specific environment variables are often detected through portals and
applications that may set those for you, however it is not a bad idea to set
them explicitly.

## Qt Variables

- `QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=1` -
  [(From the Qt documentation)](https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/highdpi.html) enables
  automatic scaling, based on the monitor's pixel density
- `QT_QPA_PLATFORM=wayland;xcb` - Tell Qt applications to use the Wayland
  backend, and fall back to x11 if Wayland is unavailable
- `QT_WAYLAND_DISABLE_WINDOWDECORATION=1` - Disables window decorations on Qt
  applications
- `QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=qt5ct` - Tells Qt based applications to pick your theme
  from qt5ct, use with Kvantum.

## NVIDIA Specific

To force GBM as a backend, set the following environment variables:

- `GBM_BACKEND=nvidia-drm`
- `__GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia`

> See
> [Archwiki Wayland Page](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Wayland#Requirements)
> for more details on those variables.

- `LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=nvidia` - Hardware acceleration on NVIDIA GPUs

> See
> [Archwiki Hardware Acceleration Page](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Hardware_video_acceleration)
> for details and necessary values before setting this variable.

- `__GL_GSYNC_ALLOWED` - Controls if G-Sync capable monitors should use Variable
  Refresh Rate (VRR)

> See
> [Nvidia Documentation](https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-32bit-ARM/375.26/README/openglenvvariables.html)
> for details.

- `__GL_VRR_ALLOWED` - Controls if Adaptive Sync should be used. Recommended to
  set as "0" to avoid having problems on some games.

- `WLR_DRM_NO_ATOMIC=1` - use legacy DRM interface instead of atomic mode
  setting. Might fix flickering issues.

## Theming Related Variables

- `GTK_THEME` - Set a GTK theme manually, for those who want to avoid appearance
  tools such as lxappearance or nwg-look
- `XCURSOR_THEME` - Set your cursor theme. The theme needs to be installed and
  readable by your user.
- `XCURSOR_SIZE` - Set cursor size. See [here](../../faq/) for why you might
  want this variable set.