n---adjustment Verified current stable Not installed? System Operations

N Adjustment / Define Priority With Explicit Option

Define Priority With Explicit Option

Adjust the niceness value of a command execution, influencing CPU scheduling priority.

$
Terminal
nice -n <niceness_value> <command>

When To Use

During a resource-intensive task where CPU allocation needs fine control to maintain system responsiveness.

Pro Tip

Using values below 0 (e.g., -5) can negatively impact system performance. Avoid this in multi-user environments.

Command Builder

Tune the command before you copy it

Back to syntax
$
Generated Command
nice -n <niceness_value> <command>

Anatomy of Output

Understanding the result

PID USER NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND Columns in Process List

PID: Process ID, USER: User running the process, NI: Niceness value, CPU/MEM usage percentages.

12345 user1 10 500M 150M 20M S 20.0 2.0 1:23.45 my_program Sample Output Line

NI indicates 10; process is deprioritized, indicating reduced CPU allocation.

Power User Variants

Optimized versions

n---adjustment nice -20 ./my_script.sh

Execute script with highest CPU priority.

n---adjustment nice --adjustment 19 ./lightweight_task.sh

Execute with lowest CPU priority.

Troubleshooting

Common pitfalls

bash: adjustment: command not found

Solution: Ensure the command syntax is correct and the executable is in your PATH.

Invalid niceness value: 25

Solution: Validate the niceness value is between -20 and 19.

Permission denied: cannot set niceness

Solution: Run with elevated privileges using 'sudo' if adjusting niceness for processes not owned by you.

Command Breakdown

What each part is doing

nice
Base Command
The executable that performs this operation. Here it runs N Adjustment before the shell applies any redirect operators.
-n
n| adjustment
The value supplied for n| adjustment.
<niceness_value>
niceness value
The value supplied for niceness value.
<command>
command
The value supplied for command.
-n
Command Option
Tool-specific option used by this command invocation.

Alternative Approaches

Comparable commands in other tools

Alternative system operations tools for the same job.