How to change rxvt color to white on black?

Note: Updated answer to include desktops that are not loaded .Xresourcesor archived by default , like GNOME and LXDE .Xdefault. Also updated for packages rxvt-unicodeand rxvtdiffs .

You can start it with the command in a terminal window:

rxvt -fg white -bg black

Set the foreground to white and the background to black.

Alternatively, you can start it with Alt+ F2and enter :

Both of the ways listed above should give you a rxvtterminal that looks like this:

To make it permanent , you can add the following lines to the end of the ~/.Xdefaultsor ~/.Xresourcesfile :

Very important:

If installed, rxvt-unicodeadd the following lines to the .Xresourcesfile:

URxvt*background: black
URxvt*foreground: white

If it's installed, just rxvtadd the following line:

Rxvt*background: black
Rxvt*foreground: white

URxvt can support more fonts.

If you want to use the Monospace 9font urxvtwith , add a line like this:

URxvt*font: xft:Monospace:size=9:antialias=true

Alternatively, you can use fc-list | sortList all available fonts, then find the font you want and set it like this:

URxvt*font: xft:DejaVu Sans Mono:size=9:antialias=true
URxvt*boldfont: xft:DejaVu Sans Mono:bold:size=9:antialias=true

Rxvt has limited font support.

If you run the command xlsfontsfrom a terminal window , it will display all fonts that can be loaded, rxvtnot urxvt. Here are some examples:

xlsfonts | less

The list will look like this (truncate spaces):

-arabic-newspaper-medium-r-normal--0-0-100-100-p-0-iso10646-1
-arabic-newspaper-medium-r-normal--32-246-100-100-p-137-iso10646-1
-bitstream-bitstream charter-bold-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-adobe-standard
-bitstream-bitstream charter-bold-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-ascii-0
-bitstream-bitstream charter-bold-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso10646-1
-bitstream-bitstream charter-bold-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
-bitstream-bitstream charter-bold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-adobe-standard
-bitstream-bitstream charter-bold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-ascii-0
-bitstream-bitstream charter-bold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso10646-1

Alternatively, you can find the font you want to use xfontseland select all the settings you want, and it will create the line you added like this:

You just have to wander around until you find someone you like.

Add this line to your .Xresourcesfile.

Rxvt*font: -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--13-120-75-75-c-70-iso8859-1

Whenever you .Xdefaultsor files should reload them .Xresourcesfrom a terminal window rxvtwith the following command ( if in use, you will need to restart the terminal):

xrdb -load ~/.Xdefaults

or

xrdb -load ~/.Xresources

Note: If desktop-like files are LXDEinstalled , they are not loaded by default, but if you create a file ~/.xinitrcwith .Xresources(recommended) or .Xdefaultswith either of the following lines, add the following lines to the file:

xrdb -load ~/.Xresources &

Then make the .xinitrcexecutable:

chmod +x ~/.xinitrc

Reboot, then all you have to do is boot rxvtnormally .

Screenshot of the LXDE VM

Hope this helps!