After a few minutes of inactivity in the EmulationStation menus (never while playing a game), Recalbox starts a screensaver. Six behaviors are available, from a simple dimmed screen to playable game demos, including the new bouncing logo introduced in Recalbox 10.1.
START to open the MAIN MENU, then enter USER INTERFACE SETTINGS > SCREENSAVER.| Option | Purpose |
|---|---|
SCREENSAVER AFTER |
idle delay before the screensaver starts, from 0 to 30 minutes (5 by default). Set to 0, the screensaver is disabled. |
SCREENSAVER BEHAVIOR |
the screensaver type (see below) |
SYSTEMS TO SHOW IN DEMO/GAMECLIP |
the systems used by the demo and game clip modes |
📷 Screenshot to come:
screensaver-menu.png
Available behaviors:
| Value | Effect |
|---|---|
dim (default) |
the screen is dimmed |
black |
the screen turns black |
demo |
Recalbox runs real game demos |
gameclip |
Recalbox plays the videos of your scraped games |
bouncing — new in 10.1 |
the Recalbox logo bounces on a black background |
suspend |
hardware suspend of the device |
The
suspendchoice only appears on devices with hardware suspend/resume support (Anbernic handhelds, Steam Deck…).
The two classic modes: the screen is dimmed (dim) or visually turned off (black). On devices with controllable brightness (handhelds), the backlight itself is lowered. Press any button to wake the interface up.
The demo mode launches real games, randomly picked from the systems selected in SYSTEMS TO SHOW IN DEMO/GAMECLIP. An internal history avoids running the same system or the same game twice in a row. Between two demos, an information screen presents the game about to be launched.
During a demo:
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
START |
take over the running game and play for real |
| Any other button | leave the demo and go back to the menus |
The game clip mode plays the videos of your scraped games (so your games must have been scraped with videos). As with demos, the systems used are the ones selected in SYSTEMS TO SHOW IN DEMO/GAMECLIP.
During a clip:
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
B |
quit |
SELECT |
go to the game in its gamelist |
START |
launch the game |
| D-pad left/right | previous / next clip |
Y |
add or remove the game from favorites |
bouncing) — new in 10.1New in Recalbox 10.1: the Recalbox logo bounces on a black background, like DVD players of old, and changes color on every bounce (ten colors). Press any button to return to the interface.
📷 Screenshot to come:
screensaver-bouncing.png
Like game clips, the bouncing logo does not start while a menu is open on screen — in that case the screen stays as it is.
From the system list, the HOTKEY + Y combination immediately triggers the screensaver when the selected behavior is demo, gameclip or bouncing. Handy to turn your Recalbox into a demo kiosk without waiting for the delay.
The matching settings in recalbox.conf:
| Key | Values |
|---|---|
emulationstation.screensaver.time |
delay in minutes (0 to 30, default: 5) |
emulationstation.screensaver.type |
dim, black, demo, gameclip, bouncing, suspend |
global.demo.systemlist |
list of systems used for demos and game clips |
global.demo.duration |
duration of one demo in seconds (default: 90) |
global.demo.infoscreenduration |
duration of the information screen between two demos, in seconds (default: 6) |