How do I set a minimum number of lines to keep visible above and below the cursor?

Explanation

The scrolloff option keeps a minimum number of lines visible above and below the cursor when scrolling. Setting it to 5 means Vim will scroll the viewport to always show at least 5 lines of context.

How it works

• :set scrolloff=5 keeps 5 lines above and below the cursor visible
• When the cursor gets within 5 lines of the window edge, Vim scrolls
• Setting it to a very large number (e.g., 999) effectively keeps the cursor centered

Example

With scrolloff=5, scrolling down with j will start scrolling the window when the cursor is 5 lines from the bottom, rather than waiting until it reaches the last visible line.

Tips

• :set scrolloff=999 keeps the cursor always centered vertically
• :set sidescrolloff=5 does the same for horizontal scrolling
• The default is 0 (no offset)
• Abbreviation: :set so=5