The Idle Screen Blanking
Ubuntu’s GNOME desktop environment is configured by default to conserve energy by blanking the screen and entering a suspend state after five minutes of inactivity. The operating system determines “inactivity” strictly by looking for physical mouse movement or keyboard strokes. This creates a massive problem for gamers using Bluetooth controllers (like an Xbox or PlayStation gamepad) to play native Linux games or titles via Proton/Steam. Because the keyboard and mouse are not being touched, Ubuntu assumes you have walked away and will abruptly turn the screen black right in the middle of your gameplay.
Inhibiting the Power Manager
To prevent this frustrating interruption, you must use a background utility that artificially inhibits the GNOME power manager whenever a full-screen application or a specific game is actively running.
The most elegant solution is to install a lightweight background daemon called “Feral Interactive GameMode,” which temporarily applies performance tweaks and inhibits screen blanking when triggered by a game. Open your terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and install it by typing: sudo apt install gamemode and pressing Enter. Once installed, you need to tell Steam to launch your games using this wrapper. Open Steam, right-click on the game in your library, and select Properties. In the “General” tab, look for the Launch Options text box at the bottom. Type exactly: gamemoderun %command%. Close the properties window. Now, whenever you launch that specific game, the daemon will automatically tell Ubuntu to completely ignore its idle timers, ensuring your screen never blanks out while using a controller.