Dock

A standalone application dock that displays pinned and running apps. Disabled by default.

[dock]
enabled             = false      # set true to activate
position            = "bottom"   # top | bottom | left | right
active_monitor_only = false      # when true, only show apps/windows from the active monitor
monitors            = []         # connector names to show on; empty = all outputs

icon_size           = 48
main_axis_padding   = 16          # inner padding along the icon row (main axis)
cross_axis_padding  = 8           # inner padding perpendicular to the icon row
item_spacing        = 6          # gap between items in pixels
background_opacity  = 0.88
shadow              = true       # cast the global [shell.shadow]
radius              = 16
radius_top_left     = 16         # optional per-corner overrides
radius_top_right    = 16
radius_bottom_left  = 16
radius_bottom_right = 16
margin_ends         = 0          # inset from each end of the dock along its main axis
margin_edge         = 8          # distance from the nearest screen edge (positive values float the dock)

show_running        = true       # also show running apps not in the pinned list
auto_hide           = false      # fade out when pointer leaves; fade in on approach
reserve_space       = true       # reserve compositor exclusive zone / push windows away

active_scale        = 1.0        # icon scale for the focused app (clamped 0.1–1.75)
inactive_scale      = 0.85       # icon scale for non-focused apps (clamped 0.1–1.0)
magnification       = true       # magnify icons near the pointer (macOS-style)
magnification_scale = 1.35       # max scale multiplier at the pointer center (1.0–2.0; 1.0 = off)
active_opacity      = 1.0
inactive_opacity    = 0.85
show_instance_count = true       # badge with window count when an app has 2+ windows
show_dots           = false      # running-window indicator dots beside app icons

launcher_position   = "none"     # none | start | end — optional launcher button on the dock
launcher_icon       = "grid-dots" # Tabler glyph for the launcher button

# Desktop entry IDs, StartupWMClass, or human-readable names
pinned = ["firefox", "code", "kitty"]

radius sets all four corners at once. Any radius_* key overrides just that corner.

Shadow blur, offset, and alpha are global under [shell.shadow]. The dock only exposes shadow = true|false.

`pinned` matching

Each entry in pinned is matched against desktop entries using these rules in order:

Desktop entry ID stem ("firefox" matches firefox.desktop and org.mozilla.Firefox.desktop)
StartupWMClass field of the desktop entry
App Name field (case-insensitive)
Full desktop entry path

If no match is found, a placeholder slot is reserved so the dock position is preserved.

Icon colorization

Dock application icons follow the global [shell.app_icon_colorize] / [shell.app_icon_color] settings (see Shell → App icon colorization).

Configure in Settings → Appearance → Interface, or under [shell] in the Noctalia TOML config stack.

Active app emphasis

The focused app uses active_scale and active_opacity.
All other apps use inactive_scale and inactive_opacity.
Focus changes animate smoothly between the two states.

Magnification

When magnification = true (default), icons grow as the pointer moves along the dock — similar to the macOS dock. Icons under the pointer grow the most; nearby entries scale down smoothly with distance.

magnification_scale sets the maximum multiplier at the pointer center (default 1.35, range 1.0–2.0). At 1.0, magnification is disabled even when magnification is on.
Magnification applies on top of active_scale / inactive_scale.
Icons may extend past the dock capsule into a small cross-axis pad (macOS-style); the background slab stays fixed size.
The launcher button participates when shown.
Hovering an entry shows a tooltip with its app name (launcher button shows Launcher).

Auto-hide

When auto_hide = true, the dock fades out after the pointer leaves and fades back in when the pointer enters the thin edge trigger strip.

reserve_space controls whether the dock keeps a compositor exclusive zone. With auto_hide = false, reserve_space = true keeps windows pushed away; reserve_space = false overlays the dock on top of full-screen clients. With auto_hide = true, reserve_space = false retracts the dock as an overlay (no gap); reserve_space = true keeps the gap while the dock slides out of view.

For dock visibility and reload commands, see Shell & UI → Dock.