diff --git a/docs/gui.rst b/docs/gui.rst
index 9f873dcf912c2..c2090b670fa2e 100644
--- a/docs/gui.rst
+++ b/docs/gui.rst
@@ -10,11 +10,12 @@ Create a window
 ---------------
 
 
-.. function:: ti.GUI(title = 'Taichi', res = (512, 512), background_color = 0x000000)
+.. function:: ti.GUI(title = 'Taichi', res = (512, 512), background_color = 0x000000, show_gui = True)
 
     :parameter title: (optional, string) the window title
     :parameter res: (optional, scalar or tuple) resolution / size of the window
     :parameter background_color: (optional, RGB hex) background color of the window
+    :parameter show_gui: (optional, bool) see the note below
     :return: (GUI) an object represents the window
 
     Create a window.
@@ -22,10 +23,23 @@ Create a window
 
     The following code creates a window of resolution ``640x360``:
 
-    ::
+    .. code-block:: python
 
         gui = ti.GUI('Window Title', (640, 360))
 
+    .. note::
+
+        If you are running Taichi on a machine without a GUI environment, consider
+        setting ``show_gui`` to ``False``:
+
+        .. code-block:: python
+
+            gui = ti.GUI('Window Title', (640, 360), show_gui=False)
+
+            while gui.running:
+                ...
+                gui.show(f'{gui.frame:06d}.png')  # save a series of screenshot
+
 
 .. function:: gui.show(filename = None)
 
diff --git a/taichi/gui/gui.h b/taichi/gui/gui.h
index 0ff187dbf8199..7b90ff9624fbe 100644
--- a/taichi/gui/gui.h
+++ b/taichi/gui/gui.h
@@ -815,43 +815,41 @@ class GUI : public GUIBase {
 
   void update() {
     frame_id++;
-    taichi::Time::wait_until(last_frame_time + frame_delta_limit);
-    auto this_frame_time = taichi::Time::get_time();
-    if (last_frame_time != 0) {
-      last_frame_interval.push_back(this_frame_time - last_frame_time);
-    }
-    last_frame_time = this_frame_time;
-    // Some old examples / users don't even provide a `break` statement for us
-    // to terminate loop. So we have to terminate the program with RuntimeError
-    // if ti.GUI.EXIT event is not processed. Pretty like SIGTERM, you can hook
-    // it, but you have to terminate after your handler is done.
-    if (should_close) {
-      if (++should_close > 5) {
-        // if the event is not processed in 5 frames, raise RuntimeError
-        throw std::string(
-            "Window close button clicked, exiting... (use `while gui.running` "
-            "to exit gracefully)");
-      }
-    }
     if (show_gui) {
+      taichi::Time::wait_until(last_frame_time + frame_delta_limit);
+      auto this_frame_time = taichi::Time::get_time();
+      if (last_frame_time != 0) {
+        last_frame_interval.push_back(this_frame_time - last_frame_time);
+      }
+      last_frame_time = this_frame_time;
+      // Some old examples / users don't even provide a `break` statement for us
+      // to terminate loop. So we have to terminate the program with
+      // RuntimeError if ti.GUI.EXIT event is not processed. Pretty like
+      // SIGTERM, you can hook it, but you have to terminate after your handler
+      // is done.
+      if (should_close) {
+        if (++should_close > 5) {
+          // if the event is not processed in 5 frames, raise RuntimeError
+          throw std::string(
+              "Window close button clicked, exiting... (use `while "
+              "gui.running` "
+              "to exit gracefully)");
+        }
+      }
       while (last_frame_interval.size() > 30) {
         last_frame_interval.erase(last_frame_interval.begin());
       }
       auto real_fps = last_frame_interval.size() /
                       (std::accumulate(last_frame_interval.begin(),
                                        last_frame_interval.end(), 0.0_f));
-      update_gui(real_fps);
+      redraw_widgets();
+      redraw();
+      process_event();
+      if (frame_id % 10 == 0)
+        set_title(fmt::format("{} ({:.2f} FPS)", window_name, real_fps));
     }
   }
 
-  void update_gui(float real_fps) {
-    redraw_widgets();
-    redraw();
-    process_event();
-    if (frame_id % 10 == 0)
-      set_title(fmt::format("{} ({:.2f} FPS)", window_name, real_fps));
-  }
-
   bool has_key_event() {
     return !!key_events.size();
   }
diff --git a/taichi/gui/x11.cpp b/taichi/gui/x11.cpp
index 475e42b94fe84..d9786b31c34df 100644
--- a/taichi/gui/x11.cpp
+++ b/taichi/gui/x11.cpp
@@ -136,7 +136,8 @@ void GUI::create_window() {
   TI_ASSERT_INFO(display,
                  "Taichi fails to create a window."
                  " This is probably due to the lack of an X11 GUI environment."
-                 " If you are using ssh, try ssh -XY.");
+                 " Consider using the `ti.GUI(show_gui=False)` option, see"
+                 " https://taichi.readthedocs.io/en/stable/gui.html");
   visual = DefaultVisual(display, 0);
   window =
       XCreateSimpleWindow((Display *)display, RootWindow((Display *)display, 0),