What xorg parts is safe to remove?

Support Software & Applications
1

So now that i removed SDDM and moved to plasma-login-manager i noticed that xorg was missing from the processes.

So does this mean that parts of xorg could be entirely removed to have Wayland and Xwayland only system? Also if yes then what packages exactly?

Ill write a list here that what X11 packages i have:
xorg-fonts-encodings, xorg-mkfontscale, xorg-server, xorg-server-common, xorg-setxkbmap, xorg-twm, xorg-xauth, xorg-xdpyinfo, xorg-xinit, xorg-xkbcomp, xorg-xkill, xorg-xmessage, xorg-xmodmap, xorg-xprop, xorg-xrandr, xorg-xrdb and xorg-xset.

And of course i have xorg-xwayland package, but that i don’t want to remove.
Would be really neat to kick out X11 almost entirely finally.

Only x processes that i see running is xsettingsd and xembedsniproxy along with of course xwayland.

3

Anything that is not installed as a dependency for something else can likely be removed.

4

I’ve looked into it earlier, but it’s such a spaghetti of dependencies that it made my eyes water. :face_with_diagonal_mouth:

1 Like
5

This will be a lot of work! Don’t underestimate it.

You might succeed.

But it’s just as possible that you’ll fail.
:footprints:

2 Likes
6

Packages that i could uninstall with a command were:
sudo pacman -R xorg-mkfontscale xorg-server xorg-twm xorg-xauth xorg-xinit xorg-xkill xorg-xmodmap xorg-xrandr xorg-xset.

Others would break dependencies. :frowning:

2 Likes
7

I’ll suggest leaving the ones which still have dependencies and review them again after subsequent bundled updates; you may find the number will reduce over time.

Just my 2p worth. :wink:

6 Likes
8

You might also be able to remove some xf86- packages. I was just able to remove all of the above packages (minus xorg-xrandr, which wasn’t installed) as well as these 2 packages:

[2026-02-03T09:30:58+1100] [ALPM] removed xf86-video-ati (1:22.0.0-2)
[2026-02-03T09:30:58+1100] [ALPM] removed xf86-input-libinput (1.5.0-1)

pamac info xf86-video-ati xf86-input-libinput | grep -E 'Name|Description' 
Name                  : xf86-video-ati
Description           : X.org ati video driver
Name                  : xf86-input-libinput
Description           : Generic input driver for the X.Org server based on

If I encounter any issues (I don’t really expect any), I’ll let you know.

So there’s not much xorg remaining on my Plasma Wayland system:

pamac search -i xorg
xorgproto  2025.1-1                                                        extra
    combined X.Org X11 Protocol headers
xorg-xwayland  24.1.9-1                                                    extra
    run X clients under wayland
xorg-xrdb  1.2.2-2                                                         extra
    X server resource database utility
xorg-xprop  1.2.8-1                                                        extra
    Property displayer for X
xorg-xmessage  1.0.7-1                                                     extra
    Display a message or query in a window
xorg-xkbcomp  1.5.0-1                                                      extra
    X Keyboard description compiler
xorg-xdpyinfo  1.4.0-1                                                     extra
    Display information utility for X
xorg-setxkbmap  1.3.4-2                                                    extra
    Set the keyboard using the X Keyboard Extension
xorg-server-common  21.1.21-1                                              extra
    Xorg server common files
xorg-fonts-encodings  1.1.0-1                                              extra
    X.org font encoding files
3 Likes
9

If you use pamac, tell it to remove orphans.

3 Likes
10

xorg-xrandr require by steam

also remove: xf86-input-evdev, xf86-input-void

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11

you can remove xorg-server and xorg-xauth.

then you can check for orphans

pamac list --orphans

and remove them

pamac remove --orphans
3 Likes
12

I have Steam as Flatpak so no need for that. :slightly_smiling_face:

13

This package is stupidly required by ttf-poppins from the AUR, which is the font I’m using for Plasma. :roll_eyes: