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How to Check Your X.Org Server Version on Linux

Check the installed X.Org server with Xorg -version, or query the server serving an active display with xdpyinfo. The commands report different things.
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To check the X.Org server installed on your system, try Xorg -version. To check the server currently serving an X display, run xdpyinfo from a client connected to that display and inspect its vendor release information. These answer different questions: one reports an installed executable; the other queries the active server.

Check the installed X.Org server executable

  1. Open a terminal and run Xorg -version.

  2. Read the version reported by the executable. Record it as the xorg-server module version, rather than as an overall X11 release label.

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The command name and whether it is available on your PATH depend on your Linux distribution and installation. If the command is not found, use your distribution’s package tools to locate the installed X server executable, then consult its local manual page for the version option and executable name.

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Check the X server serving a running display

  1. In a session with access to the target X display, run xdpyinfo.

  2. Inspect the output’s vendor and server release information. X.Org documents that the server’s VendorRelease value corresponds to its version number and that xdpyinfo can decode the value into a human-readable version. See X.Org’s version-numbering reference.

This query describes the server that the client connected to, not necessarily the version of an executable installed elsewhere on disk. The live value is useful, but X.Org documents exceptions in which it was not set correctly, so do not treat it as infallible.

Choose the right result to report

Check What it tells you
Xorg -version The version reported by the locally installed server executable.
xdpyinfo The release information reported by the X server serving the display to which the client connected.

When reporting a version, include which check produced it. Use the xorg-server module version, such as a value shaped like 1.8.1, rather than substituting a broader X11 release label. X.Org modules are released independently, which makes the server module number the more specific answer to a question about the X server.

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Understand the version format

X.Org documents the pattern M.m.P.s: major, minor, patch level, and an optional snapshot number. Stable bug-fix updates advance the patch level; the snapshot component identifies between-release snapshots. A four-part value should not automatically be read as an ordinary final release. The versioning reference was updated in November 2010, so use it to interpret the documented scheme, not as a guide to current distribution package names.

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If a command is unavailable

X.Org’s documentation guide describes manual pages as the conventional location for command documentation; installed manuals are read with the usual man command.

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