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.

WPIDE Team
Updated October 28, 2026

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Code

// 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.

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Details

Code type: PHP
Category: Performance
Runs: Run everywhere
Requires: Nothing beyond WordPress
Version: 1
Updated: October 28, 2026

Spawn WP-Cron Less Often

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Spawn WP-Cron Less Often

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