Originally published at: Linux top: Here's how to customize it
The top command – referred to below as Linux top – is a command on Unix and Unix-like systems such as Linux, which provides a dynamic real-time overview of a running system. It can display system summary information and a list of processes or threads currently managed by the Linux kernel. The types of system…
I’d like to learn more about how to use the Alternate display mode with the “A” hotkey.
I’ve found references to and explored the commands for working with it, and know the mechanics but I still have questions, such as:
Are the four sections just for me to have 4 different sortings or sets of fields displayed? Are the names of these 4 categories customizable? Can I use just 2 or 3 instead of all 4 at once? Can I use this to see real-time view of connections hitting my server? Similar to I think “net stat” or such on Windows?
So far what I’ve got isn’t very customized for any purpose, just exploring what I could do.
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Hi @Cmdr
This is beautiful. I was not aware of this despite reading through man. Things are so much more complete when ideas are shared multidirectional. Thanks for sharing this!
Going to look into this as well!
Welcome to the forums; honored to have you! 
Here is mine, window view, highlighted columns, sorted by highest or lowest values depending on whats needed. May be top is underrated.
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Looks amazing! Welcome to the forums. Yes, for sure. top is so flexible. I’m guilty of not utilizing it to the full for many years.