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Wayland Session with X-Plane

If you use a Wayland session for your desktop, X-Plane will still work — via the XWayland compatibility layer. This page explains what happens, what to expect, and how to troubleshoot.

What Happens

Desktop  → Wayland → Compositor → GPU → Monitor   (native)
X-Plane  → X11 → XWayland → Compositor → GPU → Monitor   (translated)

Your desktop applications speak native Wayland and communicate directly with the compositor. X-Plane cannot speak Wayland — it speaks X11. XWayland automatically steps in as a translator: a complete X11 server running inside the Wayland session.

X-Plane does not notice the difference. It talks X11 as usual. But the extra translation step adds latency and an additional frame copy.

XWayland Overhead

XWayland approximately doubles the input latency compared to native X11 or native Wayland (~7 ms vs. ~14 ms in hardware measurements). The exact overhead depends on GPU, display, and configuration. For detailed measurements and compositor comparisons, see the Display Server Overview.

Verify X-Plane Uses XWayland

In a Wayland session, X-Plane should appear as an XWayland client. To verify:

# List all X11/XWayland clients
xlsclients -l

If X-Plane appears in the list, it is running through XWayland. If nothing appears, the tool xprop provides another check — click on the X-Plane window. If it shows X11 properties, the application runs via XWayland.

Known Issues

Symptom Cause Solution
Fullscreen wrong size or position on multi-monitor Wayland does not allow applications to position windows — XWayland inherits this limitation Run X-Plane windowed, or switch to an X11 session
Identity login fails or shows blank page Browser component needs X11 backend Set GDK_BACKEND=x11 (automatic since X-Plane 12.1.3)
X-Plane pauses when switching workspace Wayland compositors suspend non-visible applications Stay on X-Plane's workspace, or use windowed mode
Screen tearing Compositor does not support tearing control Enable VSync in X-Plane, or use a recent KDE Plasma version
Mouse escapes X-Plane window Pointer constraints not fully implemented Set SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11, or use fullscreen
Black screen after Alt-Tab VRR interaction with XWayland fullscreen Disable VRR, or use windowed mode

Environment Variables

These variables can help with XWayland-related issues. Set them before starting X-Plane:

# Force X11 backend in SDL2 (usually automatic)
export SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11

# Force X11 backend for GTK (identity login browser)
export GDK_BACKEND=x11

# Set Vulkan presentation mode (Mesa drivers only — AMD, Intel)
export MESA_VK_WSI_PRESENT_MODE=mailbox

To make these permanent, add them to a desktop entry or your shell profile.

Desktop Entry

The base setup is the same as for an X11 session. For Wayland with AMD or Intel GPUs, add the presentation mode variable:

Exec=env SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 GDK_BACKEND=x11 MESA_VK_WSI_PRESENT_MODE=mailbox /path/to/X-Plane-x86_64

MESA_VK_WSI_PRESENT_MODE=mailbox applies only to Mesa drivers (AMD, Intel) and can reduce latency under XWayland. NVIDIA users should omit this variable.

GPU-Specific Notes

AMD (RADV)

Wayland works well on AMD with excellent driver support and no special configuration required. If X-Plane runs without issues in your Wayland session, there is no strong reason to switch to X11.

NVIDIA

Wayland on NVIDIA requires current drivers with Explicit Sync support. Older drivers will cause visual glitches, input lag, or crashes under Wayland.

Minimum requirements for Wayland

  • NVIDIA driver 555 or newer
  • Kernel 6.8 or newer
  • nvidia_drm.modeset=1 active (default since driver 560; verify with cat /sys/module/nvidia_drm/parameters/modeset)

If your driver is older than 555, use an X11 session — Wayland will not work reliably.

Intel Arc

Intel officially recommends Wayland for Arc GPUs. X11/Xorg has known rendering glitches on Arc hardware. If you use an Arc GPU, staying on Wayland (with X-Plane via XWayland) may be the better overall experience.

What About Native Wayland?

Setting SDL_VIDEODRIVER=wayland forces SDL2 to attempt a native Wayland connection. X-Plane 12 does not have a native Wayland backend, and this configuration is not tested or supported by Laminar Research — results vary from crashes and rendering glitches to a silent fallback to XWayland.

Do not force native Wayland

SDL_VIDEODRIVER=wayland is not recommended for X-Plane. X-Plane 12 has no native Wayland backend, and this configuration produces unpredictable results. If you encounter issues, the first troubleshooting step is to remove this variable.

When to Switch to X11

Consider switching to an X11 session if:

  • Fullscreen or multi-monitor problems persist
  • You notice input latency compared to Windows or X11
  • You use an NVIDIA GPU with drivers older than 555
  • You want the simplest, most reliable X-Plane setup

For most users who already have a working Wayland desktop and no X-Plane issues, staying on Wayland is fine.

See Display Server Overview for protocol comparison and latency measurements.