diff -Naur --exclude tags ratpoison/doc/ratpoison.1 ratpoison.defbarloc/doc/ratpoison.1
--- ratpoison/doc/ratpoison.1	Sat Jan 26 09:55:34 2002
+++ ratpoison.defbarloc/doc/ratpoison.1	Mon Jan 28 22:31:22 2002
@@ -159,9 +159,8 @@
 When called non\-interactively with no arguments, the current
 setting is returned.
 .TP
-.B defbarloc \fILOC\fP
-Set the message bar location. \fILOC\fP can be one of `northeast', `northwest',
-`southeast', `southwest', or their abbreviations.
+.B defbargravity \fIG\fP
+Set the default alignment for the message bar. See the `gravity' command.
 
 When called non\-interactively with no arguments, the current
 setting is returned.
diff -Naur --exclude tags ratpoison/doc/ratpoison.texi ratpoison.defbarloc/doc/ratpoison.texi
--- ratpoison/doc/ratpoison.texi	Sat Jan 26 09:55:34 2002
+++ ratpoison.defbarloc/doc/ratpoison.texi	Mon Jan 28 22:18:27 2002
@@ -380,10 +380,8 @@
 @item curframe
 Indicate which frame is the current frame.
 
address@hidden defbarloc @var{loc}
-Set the message bar location. @var{loc} can be one of
address@hidden, @samp{northwest}, @samp{southeast},
address@hidden, or their abbreviations.
address@hidden defbargravity @var{g}
+Set the default alignment for the message bar. See the @command{gravity} command.
 
 When called non-interactively with no arguments, the current setting is
 returned.
diff -Naur --exclude tags ratpoison/src/actions.c ratpoison.defbarloc/src/actions.c
--- ratpoison/src/actions.c	Sat Jan 26 23:51:54 2002
+++ ratpoison.defbarloc/src/actions.c	Mon Jan 28 22:33:34 2002
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@
     /address@hidden (tag required for genrpbindings) */
 
     /* Commands to set default behavior. */
-    {"defbarloc",		cmd_defbarloc, 		arg_STRING},
+    {"defbargravity",		cmd_defbargravity,	arg_STRING},
     {"msgwait",			cmd_msgwait,	 	arg_STRING},
     {"defborder", 		cmd_defborder, 		arg_STRING},
     {"deffont", 		cmd_deffont, 		arg_STRING},
@@ -1695,37 +1695,27 @@
 }
 
 char *
-cmd_defbarloc (int interactive, void *data)
+cmd_defbargravity (int interactive, void *data)
 {
-  int loc;
+  int gravity;
 
   if (data == NULL && !interactive)
     return xstrdup (wingravity_to_string (defaults.bar_location));
 
   if (data == NULL)
     {
-      message (" defbarloc: One argument required ");
+      message (" defbargravity: One argument required ");
       return NULL;
     }
 
-  if ((loc = parse_wingravity (data)) < 0)
+  if ((gravity = parse_wingravity (data)) < 0)
     {
-      message (" defbarloc: Bad location ");
+      message (" defbargravity: Bad location ");
       return NULL;
     }
-
-  switch (loc)
+  else
     {
-    case NorthWestGravity:
-    case NorthEastGravity:
-    case SouthWestGravity:
-    case SouthEastGravity:
-      defaults.bar_location = loc;
-      break;
-
-    default:
-      message (" defbarloc: Bad location ");
-      break;
+      defaults.bar_location = gravity;
     }
 
   return NULL;
diff -Naur --exclude tags ratpoison/src/actions.h ratpoison.defbarloc/src/actions.h
--- ratpoison/src/actions.h	Thu Jan 24 21:57:44 2002
+++ ratpoison.defbarloc/src/actions.h	Mon Jan 28 22:11:04 2002
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
 char * cmd_deftransgravity (int interactive, void *data);
 char * cmd_defmaxsizegravity (int interactive, void *data);
 char * cmd_msgwait (int interactive, void *data);
-char * cmd_defbarloc (int interactive, void *data);
+char * cmd_defbargravity (int interactive, void *data);
 char * cmd_deffont (int interactive, void *data);
 char * cmd_defpadding (int interactive, void *data);
 char * cmd_defborder (int interactive, void *data);
diff -Naur --exclude tags ratpoison/src/bar.c ratpoison.defbarloc/src/bar.c
--- ratpoison/src/bar.c	Thu Jan 24 21:57:44 2002
+++ ratpoison.defbarloc/src/bar.c	Mon Jan 28 21:46:06 2002
@@ -82,21 +82,55 @@
 int
 bar_x (screen_info *s, int width)
 {
-  if (defaults.bar_location == SouthEastGravity
-      || defaults.bar_location == NorthEastGravity)
-    return s->root_attr.width - width - defaults.bar_border_width * 2;
-  else
-    return 0;
+  int x = 0;
+
+  switch (defaults.bar_location)
+    {
+    case NorthWestGravity:
+    case WestGravity:
+    case SouthWestGravity:
+      x = 0;
+      break;
+    case NorthGravity:
+    case CenterGravity:
+    case SouthGravity:
+      x = (s->root_attr.width - width - defaults.bar_border_width * 2) / 2;
+      break;
+    case NorthEastGravity:
+    case EastGravity:
+    case SouthEastGravity:
+      x = s->root_attr.width - width - defaults.bar_border_width * 2;
+      break;
+    }
+
+  return x;
 }
 
 int
 bar_y (screen_info *s)
 {
-  if (defaults.bar_location == NorthWestGravity
-      || defaults.bar_location == NorthEastGravity ) 
-    return 0;
-  else
-    return s->root_attr.height - (FONT_HEIGHT (defaults.font) + defaults.bar_y_padding * 2) - defaults.bar_border_width * 2;
+  int y = 0;
+
+  switch (defaults.bar_location)
+    {
+    case NorthEastGravity:
+    case NorthGravity:
+    case NorthWestGravity:
+      y = 0;
+      break;
+    case EastGravity:
+    case CenterGravity:
+    case WestGravity:
+      y = (s->root_attr.height - (FONT_HEIGHT (defaults.font) + defaults.bar_y_padding * 2) - defaults.bar_border_width * 2) / 2;
+      break;
+    case SouthEastGravity:
+    case SouthGravity:
+    case SouthWestGravity:
+      y = s->root_attr.height - (FONT_HEIGHT (defaults.font) + defaults.bar_y_padding * 2) - defaults.bar_border_width * 2;
+      break;
+    }
+
+  return y;
 }
 
 void