Enhance your WordPress performance by disabling wp-cron.php

David Beroff

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WordPress uses the wp-cron.php file to set up auto posts in a schedule. By default, Wordpress sets to run the wp-cron.php file every time when the site has visited. With website has less visits, this process consumes server resources negligible, but with a large amount of traffic, this is a real problem when a significant amount of server resources are wasted.

So, we should disable wp-cron.php to increase the performance of the website. Here's the way:
Use the text editor to open the wp-config.php file and add to the bottom of the file.

Code:
define ('DISABLE_WP_CRON', 'true');
How to add as follows:

Code:
/** The Database Collate type. Don't change this if in doubt. */

define ('DB_COLLATE', '');

....

define ('DISABLE_WP_CRON', 'true');
Then save.

If you are using a PHP cache like Zend Opcache, you have to clear the php cache by restarting php.

Code:
service php-fpm restart
Hope it helps!
 

webalternative

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Hi,

wp-cron.php is not just for "auto posts in a schedule"... It do way more than just this...

A LOT of plugins use wp-cron in order to work correctly. Auto-update and plugins/themes version check also rely on wp-cron.

If you disable wp-cron I highly suggest to setup a real cronjob that run wp-cron at least 1 time per hour.
 

David Beroff

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wp-cron.php is not just for "auto posts in a schedule"... It do way more than just this...
I check codes in wp-cron.php and there are no more things to do there
<?php
/**
* WordPress Cron Implementation for hosts, which do not offer CRON or for which
* the user has not set up a CRON job pointing to this file.
*
* The HTTP request to this file will not slow down the visitor who happens to
* visit when the cron job is needed to run.
*
* @package WordPress
*/

ignore_user_abort(true);

if ( !empty($_POST) || defined('DOING_AJAX') || defined('DOING_CRON') )
die();

/**
* Tell WordPress we are doing the CRON task.
*
* @var bool
*/
define('DOING_CRON', true);

if ( !defined('ABSPATH') ) {
/** Set up WordPress environment */
require_once( dirname( __FILE__ ) . '/wp-load.php' );
}

/**
* Retrieves the cron lock.
*
* Returns the uncached `doing_cron` transient.
*
* @ignore
* @since 3.3.0
*
* @return string|false Value of the `doing_cron` transient, 0|false otherwise.
*/
function _get_cron_lock() {
global $wpdb;

$value = 0;
if ( wp_using_ext_object_cache() ) {
/*
* Skip local cache and force re-fetch of doing_cron transient
* in case another process updated the cache.
*/
$value = wp_cache_get( 'doing_cron', 'transient', true );
} else {
$row = $wpdb->get_row( $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT option_value FROM $wpdb->options WHERE option_name = %s LIMIT 1", '_transient_doing_cron' ) );
if ( is_object( $row ) )
$value = $row->option_value;
}

return $value;
}

if ( false === $crons = _get_cron_array() )
die();

$keys = array_keys( $crons );
$gmt_time = microtime( true );

if ( isset($keys[0]) && $keys[0] > $gmt_time )
die();


// The cron lock: a unix timestamp from when the cron was spawned.
$doing_cron_transient = get_transient( 'doing_cron' );

// Use global $doing_wp_cron lock otherwise use the GET lock. If no lock, trying grabbing a new lock.
if ( empty( $doing_wp_cron ) ) {
if ( empty( $_GET[ 'doing_wp_cron' ] ) ) {
// Called from external script/job. Try setting a lock.
if ( $doing_cron_transient && ( $doing_cron_transient + WP_CRON_LOCK_TIMEOUT > $gmt_time ) )
return;
$doing_cron_transient = $doing_wp_cron = sprintf( '%.22F', microtime( true ) );
set_transient( 'doing_cron', $doing_wp_cron );
} else {
$doing_wp_cron = $_GET[ 'doing_wp_cron' ];
}
}

/*
* The cron lock (a unix timestamp set when the cron was spawned),
* must match $doing_wp_cron (the "key").
*/
if ( $doing_cron_transient != $doing_wp_cron )
return;

foreach ( $crons as $timestamp => $cronhooks ) {
if ( $timestamp > $gmt_time )
break;

foreach ( $cronhooks as $hook => $keys ) {

foreach ( $keys as $k => $v ) {

$schedule = $v['schedule'];

if ( $schedule != false ) {
$new_args = array($timestamp, $schedule, $hook, $v['args']);
call_user_func_array('wp_reschedule_event', $new_args);
}

wp_unschedule_event( $timestamp, $hook, $v['args'] );

/**
* Fires scheduled events.
*
* @ignore
* @since 2.1.0
*
* @param string $hook Name of the hook that was scheduled to be fired.
* @param array $args The arguments to be passed to the hook.
*/
do_action_ref_array( $hook, $v['args'] );

// If the hook ran too long and another cron process stole the lock, quit.
if ( _get_cron_lock() != $doing_wp_cron )
return;
}
}
}

if ( _get_cron_lock() == $doing_wp_cron )
delete_transient( 'doing_cron' );

die();
A LOT of plugins use wp-cron in order to work correctly. Auto-update and plugins/themes version check also rely on wp-cron.
You are right on this, if plugins or themes do jobs with wp-cron.php then we should not disable wp-cron.php in this case.

If you disable wp-cron I highly suggest to setup a real cronjob that run wp-cron at least 1 time per hour.
It is the way I am thinking about. :)
 

VirtuBox

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VirtuBox
You can disable wp-cron on all your wordpress sites, but you have to add a cronjob on your server to run wp-cron with the time interval of your choice :
Here some examples of cronjob you can use :
Bash:
# with curl - php-fpm will handle the request
*/10 * * * * curl http://votresite.tld/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron > /dev/null 2>&1
# directly with the cli - php-cli will handle the request (no timeout)
*/10 * * * * cd /var/www/votresite.tld/htdocs; php /var/www/votresite.tld/htdocs/wp-cron.php > /dev/null 2>&1
Additionaly to avoid issues with post scheduling, you can add
PHP:
define( 'ALTERNATE_WP_CRON',    'true' );
in your wp-config.php, as well as a timeout to make sure wp-cron will not impact your website performance
PHP:
define( 'WP_CRON_LOCK_TIMEOUT', 60 );
 

vpatella

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I'm interested in what this actually does for the service that improves performances? What does the file actually do for the user when it is enabled?
 

SenseiSteve

Web Hosting Sensei
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I'm curious how you would define a large amount of traffic? Any testing to determine the breaking point?
 

kibe

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Mujkanovic

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If WordPress users have no experience with setting up cron jobs on servers, you can do it with WP Cron plugin:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/easycron/.
This plugin hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major releases of WordPress. It may no longer be maintained or supported and may have compatibility issues when used with more recent versions of WordPress.
Last updated: 3 years ago
I am not sure it will work correctly with latest version of Wordpress.
 

kibe

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kibe
Hi,
I tested this Cron Plugin, it is working for the latest version of WP.
Maybe you can use the Easycron directly, there is a tutorial here, hope help you set cron job.
 
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