diff --git a/src/servers/sidecar/vnc/vnc-manager.ts b/src/servers/sidecar/vnc/vnc-manager.ts
index bc7f59a6..d13696f9 100644
--- a/src/servers/sidecar/vnc/vnc-manager.ts
+++ b/src/servers/sidecar/vnc/vnc-manager.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,19 @@ import { join } from 'node:path';
 import type { VncStartParams, VncSessionInfo } from '../protocol';
 import { getHomeDirForRole } from '@@/data-path';
 
-type VncSession = {
+// Mirrors the physical display instead of spawning a virtual desktop per user, so the
+// browser shows the same session as the screen. There is exactly one :0, hence one
+// shared mirror — the first caller's VNC password is the one it answers with.
+const MIRROR_DISPLAY = ':0';
+const MIRROR_DISPLAY_NUM = 0;
+const MIRROR_PORT = 5900;
+const READY_TIMEOUT_MS = 5000;
+
+// x11vnc reads :0's cookie from the logged-in user's own .Xauthority, so no root is needed.
+// While the greeter owns :0 the cookie lives in lightdm's file instead and mirroring fails.
+const XAUTHORITY = join(process.env.HOME ?? '', '.Xauthority');
+
+type MirrorSession = {
   email: string;
   username: string;
   display: number;
@@ -11,23 +23,7 @@ type VncSession = {
   pid: number;
 };
 
-const sessions = new Map<string, VncSession>();
-
-function findFreeDisplay(): number {
-  for (let n = 1; n <= 99; n++) {
-    if (existsSync(`/tmp/.X${n}-lock`)) continue;
-    // Also check no existing session uses this display
-    let inUse = false;
-    for (const s of sessions.values()) {
-      if (s.display === n) {
-        inUse = true;
-        break;
-      }
-    }
-    if (!inUse) return n;
-  }
-  throw new Error('No free display number available');
-}
+let mirror: MirrorSession | null = null;
 
 function isProcessAlive(pid: number): boolean {
   try {
@@ -38,9 +34,10 @@ function isProcessAlive(pid: number): boolean {
   }
 }
 
-async function ensureVncEnv(homeDir: string): Promise<void> {
+async function ensureVncPassword(homeDir: string): Promise<string> {
   const vncDir = join(homeDir, '.vnc');
-  if (existsSync(join(vncDir, 'passwd'))) return;
+  const passwdFile = join(vncDir, 'passwd');
+  if (existsSync(passwdFile)) return passwdFile;
 
   mkdirSync(vncDir, { recursive: true });
 
@@ -59,108 +56,145 @@ async function ensureVncEnv(homeDir: string): Promise<void> {
     stderr: 'ignore',
   });
   if (proc.exitCode === 0 && proc.stdout.byteLength > 0) {
-    await Bun.write(join(vncDir, 'passwd'), proc.stdout);
+    await Bun.write(passwdFile, proc.stdout);
   }
 
-  // Write xstartup
-  await Bun.write(
-    join(vncDir, 'xstartup'),
-    `#!/bin/sh\nunset SESSION_MANAGER\nunset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS\neval $(dbus-launch --sh-syntax)\nexport DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS\nexec startxfce4\n`,
-  );
-
-  Bun.spawnSync({ cmd: ['chmod', '+x', join(vncDir, 'xstartup')], stdout: 'ignore', stderr: 'ignore' });
-  Bun.spawnSync({ cmd: ['chmod', '600', join(vncDir, 'passwd')], stdout: 'ignore', stderr: 'ignore' });
+  Bun.spawnSync({ cmd: ['chmod', '600', passwdFile], stdout: 'ignore', stderr: 'ignore' });
   Bun.spawnSync({ cmd: ['chmod', '600', join(vncDir, 'password')], stdout: 'ignore', stderr: 'ignore' });
 
-  console.log(`[vnc] lazy-provisioned VNC environment at ${vncDir}`);
+  console.log(`[vnc] provisioned VNC password at ${vncDir}`);
+  return passwdFile;
+}
+
+async function isPortOpen(port: number): Promise<boolean> {
+  try {
+    const socket = await Bun.connect({
+      hostname: '127.0.0.1',
+      port,
+      socket: { data() {}, error() {} },
+    });
+    socket.end();
+    return true;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+// x11vnc stays in the foreground, so readiness is the listening port rather than exit code.
+async function waitForPort(port: number): Promise<boolean> {
+  const deadline = Date.now() + READY_TIMEOUT_MS;
+  while (Date.now() < deadline) {
+    if (await isPortOpen(port)) return true;
+    await Bun.sleep(100);
+  }
+  return false;
 }
 
 export async function startSession(params: VncStartParams): Promise<{ port: number; display: number }> {
-  // If session already exists and is alive, return it
-  const existing = sessions.get(params.email);
-  if (existing && isProcessAlive(existing.pid)) {
-    return { port: existing.port, display: existing.display };
-  }
-
-  // Clean up stale session
-  if (existing) {
-    sessions.delete(params.email);
+  if (mirror && isProcessAlive(mirror.pid)) {
+    return { port: mirror.port, display: mirror.display };
   }
+  mirror = null;
 
   const homeDir = getHomeDirForRole(params.email, params.role);
-  const resolution = params.resolution ?? '1920x1080';
-  const display = findFreeDisplay();
-  const port = 5900 + display;
+  const passwdFile = await ensureVncPassword(homeDir);
 
-  // Lazy-provision VNC environment if missing
-  await ensureVncEnv(homeDir);
+  if (!existsSync(XAUTHORITY)) {
+    throw new Error(`No X authority at ${XAUTHORITY} — nobody is logged in on ${MIRROR_DISPLAY}`);
+  }
 
-  // Spawn VNC server
   const proc = Bun.spawn({
-    cmd: ['vncserver', `:${display}`, '-geometry', resolution, '-depth', '24', '-localhost', 'yes'],
-    env: { ...process.env, HOME: homeDir },
-    stdout: 'pipe',
+    cmd: [
+      'x11vnc',
+      '-display',
+      MIRROR_DISPLAY,
+      '-auth',
+      XAUTHORITY,
+      '-rfbport',
+      String(MIRROR_PORT),
+      '-rfbauth',
+      passwdFile,
+      '-localhost',
+      '-forever',
+      '-shared',
+      // :0 is 4K; halving the framebuffer keeps the stream sane over the tailnet
+      '-scale',
+      '0.5',
+      '-noxdamage',
+      '-quiet',
+    ],
+    stdout: 'ignore',
     stderr: 'pipe',
   });
 
-  const exitCode = await proc.exited;
-  if (exitCode !== 0) {
-    const stderr = await new Response(proc.stderr).text();
-    throw new Error(`vncserver failed (exit ${exitCode}): ${stderr.trim()}`);
+  // Drain stderr so the pipe cannot fill and stall x11vnc; keep the tail for errors
+  let stderrTail = '';
+  (async () => {
+    const reader = (proc.stderr as ReadableStream<Uint8Array>).getReader();
+    const decoder = new TextDecoder();
+    try {
+      while (true) {
+        const { done, value } = await reader.read();
+        if (done) break;
+        stderrTail = (stderrTail + decoder.decode(value, { stream: true })).slice(-2000);
+      }
+    } catch {
+      // process ended
+    }
+  })();
+
+  if (!(await waitForPort(MIRROR_PORT))) {
+    try {
+      proc.kill();
+    } catch {
+      // already dead
+    }
+    throw new Error(`x11vnc failed to listen on ${MIRROR_PORT}: ${stderrTail.trim() || 'timed out'}`);
   }
 
-  // Read PID from lock file
-  let pid = 0;
-  const lockFile = `/tmp/.X${display}-lock`;
-  if (existsSync(lockFile)) {
-    const content = await Bun.file(lockFile).text();
-    pid = parseInt(content.trim(), 10) || 0;
+  mirror = {
+    email: params.email,
+    username: params.username ?? '',
+    display: MIRROR_DISPLAY_NUM,
+    port: MIRROR_PORT,
+    pid: proc.pid,
+  };
+  console.log(`[vnc] mirroring ${MIRROR_DISPLAY} on port ${MIRROR_PORT} (pid ${proc.pid})`);
+
+  return { port: MIRROR_PORT, display: MIRROR_DISPLAY_NUM };
+}
+
+export function stopSession(_email: string): void {
+  if (!mirror) return;
+
+  try {
+    process.kill(mirror.pid);
+  } catch {
+    // already dead
   }
 
-  sessions.set(params.email, { email: params.email, username: params.username ?? '', display, port, pid });
-  console.log(`[vnc] started session for ${params.email} on :${display} (port ${port}, pid ${pid})`);
-
-  return { port, display };
+  console.log(`[vnc] stopped mirror of ${MIRROR_DISPLAY} (pid ${mirror.pid})`);
+  mirror = null;
 }
 
-export function stopSession(email: string): void {
-  const session = sessions.get(email);
-  if (!session) return;
+export function getSession(_email: string): VncSessionInfo | null {
+  if (!mirror) return null;
 
-  const homeDir = getHomeDirForRole(email, null);
-
-  Bun.spawnSync({
-    cmd: ['vncserver', '-kill', `:${session.display}`],
-    env: { ...process.env, HOME: homeDir },
-    stdout: 'ignore',
-    stderr: 'ignore',
-  });
-
-  sessions.delete(email);
-  console.log(`[vnc] stopped session for ${email} on :${session.display}`);
-}
-
-export function getSession(email: string): VncSessionInfo | null {
-  const session = sessions.get(email);
-  if (!session) return null;
-
-  const alive = session.pid > 0 && isProcessAlive(session.pid);
+  const alive = mirror.pid > 0 && isProcessAlive(mirror.pid);
   if (!alive) {
-    sessions.delete(email);
+    mirror = null;
     return null;
   }
 
   return {
-    email: session.email,
-    display: session.display,
-    port: session.port,
-    pid: session.pid,
+    email: mirror.email,
+    display: mirror.display,
+    port: mirror.port,
+    pid: mirror.pid,
     alive,
   };
 }
 
 export function stopAll(): void {
-  for (const email of [...sessions.keys()]) {
-    stopSession(email);
-  }
+  stopSession('');
 }