> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.digitalfyre.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What Happens When You Hit a Resource Limit

When your account reaches a CloudLinux resource limit, requests to your site are throttled or temporarily rejected until resource usage drops back within the allowed range.

## What You or Your Visitors May See

| Symptom                         | Likely Cause                               |
| ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| Site loads slowly or times out  | CPU or Entry Process limit reached         |
| `503 Service Unavailable` error | Entry Process or PHP process limit reached |
| Database queries running slowly | I/O or IOPS limit reached                  |
| PHP scripts failing silently    | RAM limit reached                          |

## What to Do

**Check your resource usage first** — see [Viewing Your Resource Usage](/web-hosting/performance/resource-usage) to confirm a limit is being hit and identify which resource is the cause.

Common causes and remedies:

* **High Entry Processes** — often caused by slow PHP scripts or a traffic spike. Optimise slow queries or enable PHP opcode caching if not already active.
* **High CPU** — a runaway plugin, poorly written script, or bot traffic can spike CPU usage. Review your error logs — see [Checking Error Logs](/web-hosting/troubleshooting/error-logs).
* **High I/O** — frequent disk-intensive operations such as log writing or large file handling. Reduce unnecessary disk writes where possible.

<Info>
  Limits reset automatically as resource usage subsides. There is no need to contact support for a temporary spike — but if you are hitting limits regularly, it may be time to upgrade your plan.
</Info>