Steam disables Gnome's built-in screen saver

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Ubuntu Support Template

Ubuntu Version:
24.04.3LTS

Desktop Environment (if applicable):
GNOME

Problem Description:
After exiting Steam, the desktop will no longer blank, or the display screen never goes into “sleep” mode. If I’m using X11 SOMETIMES restarting the Gnome shell fixes it (but not always). With Wayland I’m forced to reboot.

Relevant System Information:
AMD Radeon Graphics, Open source Mesa drivers. AMD Ryven CPU

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Hi Jaime,

This is a known and recurring issue with Steam on GNOME, especially when using Wayland.

What’s happening

Steam uses inhibit requests (via systemd / GNOME session) to prevent the screen from blanking or sleeping while games are running.
In some cases, Steam does not properly release this inhibition when it exits, so GNOME continues to think an application is still blocking the screen saver.

This explains why:

  • The screen never blanks or sleeps after closing Steam
  • Restarting GNOME Shell on X11 sometimes helps
  • On Wayland, a full reboot is often required

Things you can try

1. Check if Steam is still inhibiting sleep

After closing Steam, run:

systemd-inhibit --list

If you still see Steam listed, that confirms the issue.

2. Fully kill Steam (workaround)

Instead of just closing the window:

pkill -f steam

This usually releases the inhibition correctly.

3. Disable Steam’s background mode

In Steam settings:

  • Settings → Interface
  • Disable “Run Steam when my computer starts”
  • Make sure Steam is not minimized when you “close” it

Then log out and back in.

4. X11-only workaround (temporary)

On X11, restarting GNOME Shell may help:

Alt + F2 → r → Enter

(as you already noticed, this is unreliable)

5. Wayland note

On Wayland, GNOME cannot restart the shell, so once the inhibition is stuck, logout or reboot is the only fix.

Long-term notes

  • This appears to be a Steam client bug, not a GNOME or driver issue
  • AMD + Mesa is not the cause here
  • The problem has existed intermittently across multiple Ubuntu and GNOME releases

If you want to report it upstream, it’s best filed against Steam for Linux, mentioning:

  • GNOME + Wayland
  • Screen sleep inhibition not released after exit

For now, killing Steam completely or logging out is the most reliable workaround.

Hope this helps :+1:

3 Likes
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Thank you, and enjoy the holiday season!

1 Like
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@jaime-cruz Please report back and let us know which of the options worked in your case.

This information could be invaluable for other community users facing the same issue.

Thanks

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Okay, I’m experiencing the issue again but “systemd-inhibit --list” doesn’t reveal anything with “steam” in it. I see:
WHO UID USER PID COMM WHAT >
ModemManager 0 root 1879 ModemManager sleep >
NetworkManager 0 root 1730 NetworkManager sleep >
UPower 0 root 2893 upowerd sleep >
Unattended Upgrades Shutdown 0 root 2448 unattended-upgr shutdown >
net.reactivated.Fprint 0 root 1073972 fprintd sleep >
GNOME Shell 1000 jaimec 3887 gnome-shell sleep >
jaimec 1000 jaimec 4161 gsd-media-keys handle-power-k>
jaimec 1000 jaimec 4161 gsd-media-keys sleep >
jaimec 1000 jaimec 4164 gsd-power sleep >

9 inhibitors listed.

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If Steam does not appear in systemd-inhibit, but GNOME Shell and gsd-* still do, the issue is likely a stale media or input session rather than a direct Steam inhibition.

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This ONLY happens after running Steam, though. The monitor will always power down after inactivity UNTIL I run Steam. After that, the image will clear and darken, but the monitor never powers down until I logout and back in. BTW, this was never an issue with 22.04LTS. This only started happening with 24.04LTS.

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