further testing, even tho it started maximized $window(@lag).state still returns normal not maximized, i figured on my update routines i could log its said size and if maximized, do

window -f @lag -1 -1 $window(-3).dw $window(-3).dh

and if it isn't it could be restored to its original size
anyways it seems more $window() stuff has problems relating to if they were opened with windows already maximized.

either way, this does fix my surface drawing issue but now leaves another question, how to determine if its maximized since .state is lying smirk