MyBB Community Forums

What would be acceptable server loads to have? What does this number in the AdminCP really tell us. The wiki does not give a definition.

Any number is acceptable as long as the end user experience is acceptable to them. Also as long as the server functionality (email, backups, logging, etc) is not too impacted or the server becomes more easily compromised.

CPU server load is based on 1.0 per 100% CPU core usage. So if you have a quad core then a 4.0 load is 100% of all 4 cores. I believe idling at about 50% of your cores CPU process power is best. This leaves you room for spikes. If you're load is 20% or less while idling then it's likely you're paying for a higher end server than you need.

I hate server spikes. It makes everything thing slow esp when administrators are doing stuff in the background.

Server spikes can happen for a number of legitimate reasons. You've maybe had a new link somewhere or your server could be running a cron process.