# Spawn WP-Cron Less Often

> Lets WordPress start its background task runner at most every five minutes instead of every minute, reducing extra requests on busy sites.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Run everywhere
- Category: [Performance](https://wpide.com/library/category/performance/)
- Tags: performance, cron, requests
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/spawn-wp-cron-less-often/

## Code

```php
// Minimum seconds between two WP-Cron runs.
if ( ! defined( 'WP_CRON_LOCK_TIMEOUT' ) ) {
    define( 'WP_CRON_LOCK_TIMEOUT', 5 * MINUTE_IN_SECONDS );
}
```

## Notes

Scheduled tasks can run up to five minutes late.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Spawn WP-Cron Less Often" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/