Rate Limits¶

PoracleNG includes rate limiting to prevent individual users or channels from overwhelming the messaging system.

Configuration¶

[alert_limits]
timing_period = 240                  # Seconds over which limits are calculated
dm_limit = 20                        # Max messages per user per period
channel_limit = 40                   # Max messages per channel per period
max_limits_before_stop = 10          # Times hitting limit before user is stopped
disable_on_stop = false              # Admin disable (vs just stop)
shame_channel = ""                   # Discord channel to report stopped users

How It Works¶

Messages to each user/channel are counted over a rolling timing_period (default 240 seconds / 4 minutes)
If a user exceeds dm_limit messages in the period, additional messages are suppressed
If a channel exceeds channel_limit, additional messages are suppressed
Each time a user hits the limit, a counter is incremented
After hitting the limit max_limits_before_stop times within 24 hours, the user is stopped

Stopped vs Disabled¶

Stopped — user can restart with !start. Their tracking is preserved.
Disabled (disable_on_stop = true) — requires an admin to re-enable with !enable @user. Prevents users from immediately restarting a flood.

Shame Channel¶

Report users who are stopped/disabled to a Discord channel:

[alert_limits]
shame_channel = "channel-id"

Overrides¶

Override limits for specific users, channels, or webhooks:

[[alert_limits.overrides]]
target = "channel_id"
limit = 100

[[alert_limits.overrides]]
target = "webhook_name"
limit = 200

[[alert_limits.overrides]]
target = "user_id"
limit = 50

Recommendations¶

Start with defaults and adjust based on your community size
Monitor the logs/errors-*.log for rate limit messages
Use the shame channel to identify users who need to narrow their tracking
Consider disable_on_stop = true for communities with persistent rate limit abusers
Channel limits should be higher than DM limits since channels aggregate multiple users' tracking