diff -Naur ratpoison/doc/ratpoison.texi ratpoison.defbarpadding/doc/ratpoison.texi
--- ratpoison/doc/ratpoison.texi	Fri Oct 19 08:47:45 2001
+++ ratpoison.defbarpadding/doc/ratpoison.texi	Tue Nov 13 10:35:16 2001
@@ -371,6 +371,9 @@
 the top left and the values move clockwise around the screen to the
 bottom left which is 3.
 
address@hidden defbarpadding @var{x} @var{y}
+Set the horizontal and vertical padding inside the bar.
+
 @item msgwait @var{n}
 Set the bar's timeout in seconds.
 
diff -Naur ratpoison/src/actions.c ratpoison.defbarpadding/src/actions.c
--- ratpoison/src/actions.c	Fri Oct 19 08:47:45 2001
+++ ratpoison.defbarpadding/src/actions.c	Tue Nov 13 10:36:03 2001
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@
     {"defwingravity",		cmd_defwingravity,	arg_STRING},
     {"deffgcolor",		cmd_deffgcolor,		arg_STRING},
     {"defbgcolor",		cmd_defbgcolor,		arg_STRING},
+    {"defbarpadding", 		cmd_defbarpadding, 	arg_STRING},
 
     /* Commands to help debug ratpoison. */
 #ifdef DEBUG
@@ -1960,7 +1961,7 @@
   else if (!strcasecmp (data, "off"))
     defaults.startup_message = 0;
   else
-    message (" startup_message; Invalid argument ");
+    message (" startup_message; Bad argument ");
 
   return NULL;
 }
@@ -1989,6 +1990,30 @@
   cmd = resolve_command_from_keydesc ((char *)data, 0);
   if (cmd)
     return command (interactive, cmd);
+
+  return NULL;
+}
+
+char *
+cmd_defbarpadding (int interactive, void *data)
+{
+  int x, y;
+
+  if (data == NULL || sscanf (data, "%d %d", &x, &y) < 2) 
+    {
+      message (" defbarpadding: Two arguments required ");
+      return NULL;
+    }
+
+  if (x >= 0 && y >= 0)
+    {
+      defaults.bar_x_padding = x;
+      defaults.bar_y_padding = y;
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      message (" defbarpadding: Bad argument ");    
+    }
 
   return NULL;
 }
diff -Naur ratpoison/src/actions.h ratpoison.defbarpadding/src/actions.h
--- ratpoison/src/actions.h	Fri Oct 19 08:47:45 2001
+++ ratpoison.defbarpadding/src/actions.h	Mon Nov 12 22:49:46 2001
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@
 char * cmd_startup_message (int interactive, void *data);
 char * cmd_focuslast (int interactive, void *data);
 char * cmd_link (int interactive, void *data);
+char * cmd_defbarpadding (int interactive, void *data);
 
 /* void cmd_xterm (void *data); */
 
diff -Naur ratpoison/src/input.c ratpoison.defbarpadding/src/input.c
--- ratpoison/src/input.c	Fri Oct 19 08:47:45 2001
+++ ratpoison.defbarpadding/src/input.c	Wed Nov 14 00:37:37 2001
@@ -295,9 +295,9 @@
 
   /* Draw a cheap-o cursor. */
   XDrawLine (dpy, s->input_window, s->normal_gc, 
-	     defaults.bar_x_padding * 2 + prompt_width + input_width + 2, 
+	     defaults.bar_x_padding + prompt_width + input_width + 2, 
 	     defaults.bar_y_padding + 1, 
-	     defaults.bar_x_padding * 2 + prompt_width + input_width + 2,
+	     defaults.bar_x_padding + prompt_width + input_width + 2,
 	     defaults.bar_y_padding + FONT_HEIGHT (defaults.font) - 1);
 }