How can I make my game window always appear on the primary monitor?

Question

Ryan McCombe · Accepted Answer

To ensure your game window always appears on the primary monitor, set its initial position using SDL_WINDOWPOS_CENTERED_DISPLAY(0) or SDL_WINDOWPOS_UNDEFINED_DISPLAY(0). The primary monitor typically corresponds to display index 0.

Example Code

Here's an example where we create a window on the display with index 0:

1#include <SDL2/SDL.h>
2#include <iostream>
3
4int main() {
5  SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_VIDEO);
6
7  // Create a window on the primary monitor
8  SDL_Window* window = SDL_CreateWindow(
9    "Primary Monitor Window",
10    SDL_WINDOWPOS_CENTERED_DISPLAY(0), 
11    SDL_WINDOWPOS_CENTERED_DISPLAY(0), 
12    1024, 768, SDL_WINDOW_SHOWN);
13
14  if (!window) {
15    std::cerr << "Failed to create window: "
16      << SDL_GetError() << "\n";
17  } else {
18    std::cout << "Window created on the "
19      "primary monitor\n";
20  }
21
22  SDL_Delay(3000);
23  SDL_DestroyWindow(window);
24  SDL_Quit();
25  return 0;
26}

1Window created on the primary monitor

Best Practices

Always test multi-monitor setups to ensure proper behavior.
Query SDL_GetDisplayBounds() to confirm your window's position.

Video Displays

Forcing a Window to Appear on the Primary Monitor

Example Code

Best Practices

Video Displays

Game Development with SDL2

Questions & Answers