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Display Server

X-Plane 12 has no native Wayland support. How it connects to your screen depends on which display server session you choose at login. This page explains the three protocols involved and helps you decide which session to use.

Three Protocols

X11 (Xorg)

The classic display server protocol, developed since 1984 (X11 version from 1987). A central X server manages all graphics and input. Applications send drawing commands to the server, which renders everything and forwards it to the GPU.

X-Plane speaks X11 natively. When you run an X11 session, X-Plane communicates directly with the X server — no translation, no overhead.

Wayland

The modern successor to X11. Instead of a central server, the compositor (e.g., Mutter for GNOME, KWin for KDE) acts as both display server and window manager. Applications render directly into GPU buffers and hand them to the compositor.

Wayland offers per-monitor refresh rates and native Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support. It has been the default GNOME session since Debian 10. For KDE, Wayland becomes the default in Debian 13 (Plasma 6).

X-Plane cannot speak Wayland natively.

XWayland

A compatibility layer — a complete X11 server that runs inside a Wayland session. When an X11 application (like X-Plane) starts on a Wayland desktop, XWayland automatically handles the translation between X11 and the Wayland compositor.

The application doesn't notice the difference — it talks X11 as usual. But the extra translation step adds latency and an additional frame copy for windowed applications.

What Happens with X-Plane?

X11 Session Wayland Session
Desktop apps X11 → X server → GPU Wayland → Compositor → GPU
X-Plane X11 → X server → GPU X11 → XWayland → Compositor → GPU
Extra overhead None ~7 ms latency, extra frame copy
Fullscreen Compositor bypass possible XWayland fullscreen limited
Multi-monitor All monitors share one refresh rate Per-monitor refresh rate, but XWayland fullscreen issues
Joysticks/HOTAS /dev/input (kernel direct) /dev/input (kernel direct)

Joysticks, throttles, and rudder pedals bypass the display server entirely. They communicate directly with the kernel via /dev/input. Your choice of display server has no effect on flight peripherals.

Recommendation

Use an X11 session for X-Plane. It eliminates the XWayland overhead and provides the most reliable fullscreen and multi-monitor behavior. Details: X11 Session for X-Plane

If you want to keep Wayland for your desktop, X-Plane will work via XWayland — with some limitations. Details: Wayland Session with X-Plane

Latency Comparison

Hardware Measurements (David Justo)

Test setup: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D, NVIDIA RTX 4090, Dell AW2725DF 360 Hz OLED

Display Server Input-to-Photon Latency
X11 6.88 ms
Native Wayland 7.14 ms
XWayland 14.45 ms
Windows 11 6.91 ms

Native Wayland matches X11. XWayland approximately doubles the input latency due to the translation layer.

Compositor Latency (Xaver Hugl, KDE developer)

Measurements at 120 Hz with different Vulkan presentation modes

Configuration FIFO (VSync) Mailbox Immediate (Tearing)
X11 with compositor 59 ms 37 ms —
X11 without compositor 41 ms 38 ms 19 ms
Wayland 49 ms 36 ms 20 ms
XWayland 49 ms 38 ms 20 ms

Wayland with an active compositor matches X11 without a compositor in Mailbox and Immediate modes. In VSync (FIFO) mode, X11 with a compositor adds a full frame of latency compared to Wayland. In Mailbox mode, the difference disappears.

About these measurements

The David Justo measurements used a hardware sensor (Arduino Pro Micro + TEMT6000 phototransistor) to measure actual input-to-photon latency. Test application: Counter-Strike 2 (400 fps engine cap, VSync off, VRR off, Allow Tearing on). Test conditions: KWin 6.5.4, NVIDIA driver 580.119.02, Fedora 43, 100 measurements per configuration.

The Xaver Hugl measurements come from the KDE compositor developer and compare presentation modes on a 120 Hz display.

Both measurements were conducted with modern hardware and current drivers. Results may differ on older systems.

GPU Recommendations

GPU Wayland Desktop X-Plane Session Notes
AMD (RADV) Excellent X11 recommended Wayland desktop works perfectly, but X-Plane still goes through XWayland
NVIDIA Good (555+ driver) X11 recommended Older drivers (<555): X11 session mandatory. Current drivers: Wayland desktop possible
Intel Arc Excellent X11 recommended Intel officially recommends Wayland for the desktop. X11 has known rendering glitches on Arc

The GPU recommendation is about the desktop session, not about X-Plane itself. X-Plane always speaks X11 — either directly (X11 session) or via XWayland (Wayland session).

Intel Arc: Special case

Intel Arc GPUs have known rendering glitches under X11/Xorg. If you use an Arc GPU, a Wayland session may actually be the better choice for the overall desktop experience, accepting the XWayland overhead for X-Plane.

Input Devices

Joysticks, Throttles, Rudder Pedals

Flight peripherals are not affected by the display server choice. They communicate directly with the Linux kernel:

  • Accessed via /dev/input/eventX (evdev interface)
  • Accessed via /dev/input/jsX (legacy joystick API)
  • Managed by the kernel, not by Wayland or X11
  • libinput explicitly does not handle joysticks

Your Thrustmaster, VKB, Virpil, or Logitech hardware works identically on X11 and Wayland.

Mouse and Keyboard

Mouse and keyboard input does differ between display servers:

  • X11: Managed by Xorg with xinput configuration
  • Wayland: Managed by the compositor via libinput

For X-Plane cockpit clicking, consider disabling mouse acceleration:

  • X11: xinput --set-prop "device" "libinput Accel Profile Enabled" 0 1 (enables flat profile)
  • Wayland: Compositor settings (GNOME Settings → Mouse, KDE System Settings → Input Devices)

Which Session Should I Use?

# Check your current session type
echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE

Output: x11 or wayland

Your Situation Recommendation Page
Want the simplest, most reliable X-Plane setup X11 session X11 Session
Already on Wayland, X-Plane works fine Stay on Wayland Wayland Session
Fullscreen or multi-monitor problems Switch to X11 X11 Session
Intel Arc GPU with X11 desktop glitches Wayland session Wayland Session
NVIDIA with driver older than 555 X11 session (mandatory) X11 Session

Sources