How do I stop xscreensaver during movies play?

You may try similar script to this one. Watch for player state through DBUS.

I lower delay to 55 sec, work better with 1min screen saver idle time.

• Example VLC:

  BTW, VLC in Ubuntu 14.04 has DBUS interface enabled by default. Where in Ubuntu 12.04 is not. Check it from:

  Tools → Preferences → Advanced (or All) → Interface → Control Interfaces → D-Bus control interface. (Apply then Restart VLC)

  1. Create a file heartbeat.sh in ~/Desktop/:

     #!/bin/bash
     
     while sleep 55
     do
         if [ "$(pgrep vlc)" != "" ]
         then
             state=$(bash -c 'gdbus call --session \
                 --dest org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.vlc \
                 --object-path /org/mpris/MediaPlayer2 \
                 --method org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Get \
                 "org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.Player" \
                 "PlaybackStatus"')
             if [ "$state" = "(<'Playing'>,)" ]
             then
                 #xscreensaver-command -deactivate
                 xset s reset
             fi
         fi
     done
     

  2. Open terminal Ctrl+Alt+t

  3. Add run permissions:

     chmod +x ~/Desktop/heartbeat.sh
     

  4. Run script:

     ~/Desktop/heartbeat.sh
     

  5. Try VLC player.

• For Gnome MPlayer (D-Bus enabled by default), use:

  "$(pgrep gnome-mplayer)" and --dest org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.gnome-mplayer

• For (Totem) Videos player (D-Bus plugin disabled by default),

  Edit → Plugins → Check D-Bus service. (Restart totem)

  Use:

  "$(pgrep totem)" and --dest org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.totem

• This is modified with to work with any player that provide MPRIS. It gets the list dynamically (drawback, it doesn't distinguish between audio only play and video play). The best way I think is to put manually the list of players you like:

  #!/bin/bash
  
  players_list=$(gdbus call --session --dest org.freedesktop.DBus \
      --object-path / --method org.freedesktop.DBus.ListNames | \
      awk 'BEGIN { RS=","; } /org.mpris.MediaPlayer2./ { gsub(/[\[\]()\x27]/, ""); print $1; }')
  
  while sleep 55
  do
      for player in $players_list
      do
          state=$(gdbus call --session \
              --dest $player \
              --object-path /org/mpris/MediaPlayer2 \
              --method org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Get \
              "org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.Player" \
              "PlaybackStatus")
          if [ "$state" = "(<'Playing'>,)" ]
          then
              echo $player $state send signal
              #xscreensaver-command -deactivate
              #use xset to work with all screensaver tools and avoid dimming display ... 
              xset s reset
              break
          else
              echo $player $state
          fi
      done
  done
  

Debug hints:

1. Watch X idle time

   watch -n1 xprintidle
   

   or:

   while sleep 1; do xprintidle; done;
   

2. Check if disabling screensaver works (while running this script, xscreensave should not pop up)

       #!/bin/bash
   
       while sleep 55
       do
           #xscreensaver-command -deactivate
           #xdg-screensaver reset
           xset s reset
       done
   

3. Check for DBUS list for MPRIS player interface, example with VLC running:

       gdbus call --session --dest org.freedesktop.DBus \
       --object-path / --method org.freedesktop.DBus.ListNames | \
       awk 'BEGIN { RS=","; } /org.mpris.MediaPlayer2./ { gsub(/[\[\]()\x27]/, ""); print $1; }'
   

   Output:

       org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.vlc
       org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.vlc.instance3939
   

   Or using dbus-send command

       dbus-send --session \
       --dest=org.freedesktop.DBus \
       --type=method_call \
       --print-reply \
       /org/freedesktop/DBus \
       org.freedesktop.DBus.ListNames \
       | grep org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.
   

   Output:

       string "org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.vlc"
       string "org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.vlc.instance3939"
   

References:

• How to set up DBus query to get play state of VLC? original script by JB0x2D1
• MPRIS D-Bus Interface Specification
• Use qdbusviewer to check the correct destination name or to use other player you like.

For MPV, and mplayer, the heartbeat functionality is built in.

1) Locate your mpv configuration file. locate mpv.conf

2) Open it up. sudo nano /path/to/mpv.conf

3) Add this line at the bottom. heartbeat-cmd="/usr/bin/xscreensaver-command -deactivate > /dev/null"

4) Close, and save. Ctrl+X if using nano.

Find out where to find your mpv.conf file here (configuration is identical on Arch Linux), https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mpv#Configuration

If the environment variable XDG_CONFIG_HOME is not set, user configuration files will be read from the ~/.config/mpv directory. System-wide configuration files are read from the /etc/mpv directory.