maomaowm/docs/faq.md

title	description
FAQ	Frequently asked questions and troubleshooting.

How do I arrange tiled windows with my mouse?

You can enable the drag_tile_to_tile option in your config. This allows you to drag a tiled window onto another to swap them.

drag_tile_to_tile=1

---

Why is my background blurry or why does blur look wrong?

Blur applies to the transparent areas of windows. To disable it entirely, set blur=0.

If you are experiencing performance issues with blur, make sure blur_optimized=1 (the default). This caches the wallpaper as the blur background, which is much cheaper on the GPU:

blur_optimized=1

---

Blur shows my wallpaper instead of the real background content

This is expected behavior when blur_optimized=1 (the default). The optimizer caches the wallpaper to reduce GPU load — windows will blur against the wallpaper rather than the actual content stacked beneath them.

If you want blur to composite against the true background (i.e., show whatever is actually behind the window), set:

blur_optimized=0

Warning: Disabling blur_optimized significantly increases GPU consumption and may cause rendering lag, especially on lower-end hardware.

---

My games are lagging or stuttering

Try enabling SyncObj timeline support and Adaptive Sync (VRR) if your monitor supports it.

syncobj_enable=1
adaptive_sync=1

---

My games have high input latency

You can enable Tearing (similar to VSync off).

First, enable it globally:

allow_tearing=1

Then force it for your specific game:

windowrule=force_tearing:1,title:Counter-Strike 2

Warning: Some graphics cards require setting WLR_DRM_NO_ATOMIC=1 before mango starts for tearing to work. Add it to /etc/environment and reboot, or launch mango with WLR_DRM_NO_ATOMIC=1 mango. See Monitors — Tearing for details.

---

How do I use pipes | in spawn commands?

The standard spawn command does not support shell pipes directly. You must use spawn_shell instead.

bind=SUPER,P,spawn_shell,echo "hello" | rofi -dmenu

---

Certain key combinations do not work on my keyboard layout.

bind automatically converts keysym to keycode, which is compatible with most layouts but can sometimes be imprecise. If a key combination is not triggering, use the keycode directly instead of the key name.

Run wev and press the key to find its keycode, then use it in your bind:

# Instead of:
bind=ALT,q,killclient

# Use the keycode (e.g., code:24 = q on most layouts):
bind=ALT,code:24,killclient

You can also use binds (the s flag) to match by keysym instead of keycode:

binds=ALT,q,killclient