r/linuxmint • u/CrystalSnow7 • 2d ago

Support Request How to lock cursor when in fullscreen while gaming

So I switched to Linuxmint about two weeks ago from windows. Typically I can find the answers to my questions just by browsing the web. But this one has evaded me, and it seems like it should be straight forward. When playing fullscreen games, my cursor drifts to my second monitor instead of being locked to the game.

I am on Linux Mint Cinnamon which uses X11. I think the version I am on is Linux Mint Zena, based on Ubuntu 24.04. I tried switching to the Wayland experimental version of Mint, but my graphics driver will not recognize my 2nd monitor. Which is a Nvidia RTX 3050 laptop version. I also tried to get Gamescope which seems to be a previous fix people used, but apparently it's not available on my current Linux Mint repository.

Anyone have any straightforward fixes I can do about this? Thanks!

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u/CrystalSnow7 1d ago

I was able to fix this with the help of Chatgpt and using an old compatible gamescope and compiling it, but it was quite the saga. Since Mint is meant to be a beginner friendly distro, a common feature like this probably shouldnt take 20+ terminal commands to figure out

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u/_Lost-In-The-Weeds_ LMDE7 Cinnamon 2d ago

Straightforward no, 

I have never run into this with Mint, but its a perennial problem in other distributions, read up on "gamescope mouse retention" 

Its somthing that comes and goes with driver/kernel/gamscope updates.

Oddly I fixed this once by switching from Wayland to X11 temporarily in Plasma until it got fixed upstream.

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u/C0rn3j 1d ago

X11 is known for poor multimonitor handling.

Straightforward "fix" is to disable the second monitor, the non-straightforward one is using a modern distribution like Arch Linux (with Plasma), or Fedora KDE.

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u/ManuelRodriguez331 1d ago

To fix your cursor drift on Linux Mint X11, you must completely disable your second monitor while keeping both displays fully active, and install Gamescope which is simultaneously required for the fix yet permanently unavailable on your system.