How can I change the screen position of krunner in KDE Plasma 5.x?

Question

I have just updated to Kubuntu 15.04 and can't find out how to change the position of krunner (the little search window that appears when I press Alt+F2) so that it appears in the center of the screen instead of at the top. Is this still possible? If yes, how can I change this?

Answer 1

I was able to use this workaround in kubuntu 16.04: I created a special Window Rule for the krunner window to enforce a certain screen position.

Details: In the system settings application, goto Workspace, Window Management, Window Rules

• create a new Window rule:
  • Window class (application): choose "Exact Match" from the drop down list, enter: krunner into the field (or use the Detect Window Properties button)

• on the second tab Size & Position:
  • check the first box Position
  • choose "Apply Initially"
  • enter some numbers into the field: I entered 570,400 for about the middle of my screen (that may vary depending on the display)

• click OK

• click Apply

Anyway, this window is meant to be placed in the upper part of the screen - if set too close to the bottom, it will jump upward when the list of findings is long enough.

Answer 2

This can be done on KDE Plasma 5, without special KWin (or any WM) rules.

GUI method (since Plasma 5.20)

• Open System Settings and search Krunner
• Set the desired "Position on screen"

Text method (since early Plasma 5)

Edit ~/.config/krunnerrc and make sure that FreeFloating is set to true.

[General]
FreeFloating=true

Then restart KRunner.

krunner --replace & disown

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As @cipricus mentions in the comments, it is also possible to set other properties, like the font size, e.g.:

[General]
font=Noto Sans,12,-1,5,50,0,0,0,0,0

Every coma separated argument has a different meaning. The most relevant are the first and second ones, which is the Font family and the Point size.