Adding Timeout to GDM (GNOME) Login Screen

Table of Contents

Go to the file /etc/gdm3/greeter.dconf-defaults. It should look something like this

# /etc/gdm3/greeter.dconf-defaults
...
# Automatic suspend
# =================
[org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power]
# - Time inactive in seconds before suspending with AC power
#   1200=20 minutes, 0=never
# sleep-inactive-ac-timeout=1200
# - What to do after sleep-inactive-ac-timeout
#   'blank', 'suspend', 'shutdown', 'hibernate', 'interactive' or 'nothing'
# sleep-inactive-ac-type='suspend'
# - As above but when on battery
# sleep-inactive-battery-timeout=1200
# sleep-inactive-battery-type='suspend'

Comment out and edit the sleep timeout and type. If I wanted my computer to sleep in 1 min. I would do…

sleep-inactive-ac-timeout=60
sleep-inactive-ac-type='suspend'

But if I didn’t want the computer to do anything at all. I could do…

sleep-inactive-ac-timeout=0
sleep-inactive-ac-type='nothing'

Note: This will only work when first logging in into a GDM. If you’re logging in after hibernation or locking the computer. These settings will NOT apply!

For every login after the first you do into GNOME, it will listen to the sleep-inactive-ac-timeout value and sleep-inactive-ac-type type at this D-Bus path /org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power/

You can edit this value using the dconf-editor package. Install using this command…

sudo apt install dconf-editor

The logic is the same as before…

If I wanted my computer to sleep after being inactive for 10 minutes I would change the value to 600. Then change the type to suspend

Edit timeout on first login #

Edit timeout after first login #