I have 2 desktops, GNOME and MATE.
As far as I know the GNOME 3 theme lives under [~/.config/gtk-3.0
On right-click > Change Desktop background > Appearances and Themes > It's menta with some customizations which is part of mate-themes and it's at 3.20.7-1 on Debian unstable/sid. This shows Menta look with some modifications. Menta is both a 2.0 and 3.0 look/theme.
[/usr/share/themes/Menta]
└─[$] ls
cinnamon emerald gtk-2.0 gtk-3.0 index.theme metacity-1 README unity xfwm4
[~/.config/gtk-3.0]
[$] cat settings.ini
[Settings]
gtk-theme-name=AlaDelta
gtk-icon-theme-name=matefaenzagray
gtk-font-name=Sans 12
gtk-cursor-theme-name=DMZ-Black
gtk-cursor-theme-size=48
gtk-toolbar-style=GTK_TOOLBAR_BOTH_HORIZ
gtk-toolbar-icon-size=GTK_ICON_SIZE_LARGE_TOOLBAR
gtk-button-images=1
gtk-menu-images=1
gtk-enable-event-sounds=0
gtk-enable-input-feedback-sounds=0
gtk-xft-antialias=1
gtk-xft-hinting=1
gtk-xft-hintstyle=hintmedium
gtk-xft-rgba=none
Look forward to know which theme am I using.
gtk-theme-name=AlaDelta
in your~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini
determine which gtk3 theme is being used? Similarly, the theme set in~/.gtkrc-2.0
would determine your gtk2 theme. I don't understand what the issue is. But you need to ensure that the gtk3 theme is written for GNOME 3.20 if that's what you're on. Your question isn't clear on that.