The nice value is how much priority the Linux kernel will grant to each named user; by comparison, the process priority is the actual priority of a running process. … The nice value of a process can have a range between -20 (highest priority) to +19 (lowest priority); by default, its value is 0.

What is process priority?

A process’ priority can range between 0 (lowest priority) and 127 (highest priority). … Some of the system mode priorities indicate what a process is waiting for. For example, a priority of 81 indicates that a process is waiting for I/O to complete whereas a value of 75 means that it is waiting for keyboard input.

How do I prioritize a process in Linux?

Using nice to set priorities

1. Linux and UNIX® systems use a priority system with 40 priorities, ranging from -20 (highest priority) to 19 (lowest priority.
2. Processes started by regular users usually have priority 0.
3. The ps command can display the priority (nice, or NI, level, for example) using the -l option.