When an X client requests a font, the X server loads it into memory from local storage, from a file system, or from a font server on the network. When the X fonts are retrieved from a file system, the X server has a list of directory paths to search for the file containing the requested font.
All clients share access to the available fonts.
An X client can change the X server font path. As a result, when another client requests a particular font, the X server may not be able to find it, or may load a different font of the same name from that directory.