Title: increased load on the server Last modified: August 21, 2016 --- # increased load on the server * Resolved [irLioness](https://wordpress.org/support/users/irlioness/) * (@irlioness) * [12 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/increased-load-on-the-server/) * Many wrote that the plugin causes increased load on the servers hosting resources require more than 256 MB. Is this true? * [https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/) Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total) * [BeckyH209](https://wordpress.org/support/users/beckyh209/) * (@beckyh209) * [12 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/increased-load-on-the-server/#post-4806046) * My webhost just turned mine off and sent me this email: * > It appears that WordFence was being used on this site to perform connection > tracking. This resulted in the site constantly posting data to wp-admin/admin- > ajax.php. The resulting CPU load was potentially affecting the service of other > users. As a result, WordFence has been disabled for this site. It appears that > the WordPress installation is being kept up-to-date, and BulletProof Security > is still being used, so the Web site should remain secure. Thank you for your > understanding and cooperation. * I did go to live traffic in the morning and basically keep it up all day – but it was very useful and I would like it back! Does anyone have any answers? * Plugin Author [Mark Maunder](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mmaunder/) * (@mmaunder) * [12 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/increased-load-on-the-server/#post-4806106) * Wow, stingy host. Tell them to not be so cheap with their servers. * So what happened here is the following: * You enabled Wordfence live traffic which is fine. * Then you went to the live traffic page and you kept your web browser open on that page for the whole day. What the browser does is it pings the server every 2 seconds to see if there is new traffic. (We’re looking to improve this with a future release) * That causes a hit to admin-ajax.php every 2 seconds. So it was your browser that generated the traffic that caused them to complain. If a web host can’t handle a hit every 2 seconds, then I wonder what will happen when you get some real traffic. * But if you want to fix this here is how: * Go to Wordfence options. Scroll to the bottom of the page and find: * Update interval in seconds (2 is default) * Set this update interval to something like 30 seconds (just enter the number 30) which will cause a hit every 30 seconds when you’re watching live traffic. That should keep your web host happy. * In the mean time I’ll get thinking on this side about how to optimize this. * Regards, * Mark. * [BeckyH209](https://wordpress.org/support/users/beckyh209/) * (@beckyh209) * [12 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/increased-load-on-the-server/#post-4806117) * Thank you! Will try it! * [stevenha](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stevenha/) * (@stevenha) * [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/increased-load-on-the-server/#post-4806285) * I wasn’t so lucky to get nice warnings. When one of my sites had an attack, my host shut it down until I ‘Did something about it’. I installed Wordfence. Weeks later, they shut me down saying the CPU utilization was “an abuse”. My sites were down for 2 days and I had no alternative except to upgrade to a VPS account. Looking back, I think the combination of high traffic AND WordFence is the cause. The host extracted big bucks from me and therefore had no incentive to help me diagnose and fix the true cause. My suggestion to Mark: Adjust the default setting. Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total) The topic ‘increased load on the server’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/wordfence/assets/icon.svg?rev=2070865) * [Wordfence Security - Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordfence/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordfence/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordfence/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordfence/reviews/) * 4 replies * 4 participants * Last reply from: [stevenha](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stevenha/) * Last activity: [11 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/increased-load-on-the-server/#post-4806285) * Status: resolved