Maximum private messages per box

Administrators of phpBB can determine the maximum amount of private messages per boxes. This article will describe the desired behaviour.

Board wide setting
The board wide setting is defined in the Board configuration under Private message settings > Maximum private messages per box. This global setting will define the upper limit of every group. 0 means: unlimited.

Group setting
Each group has its own limit, which can be changed in the group settings under Group private message limit per folder:. It can only be used to define lesser limits to a group than defined in the board wide settings. "0" means, the setting will be ignored and global setting will affect. Higher values than in the board wide settings will have no effect. The default value of every group is 0.

Results of combined settings
The function will check, in which groups the user is and picks the maximum value and this will affect his maximum amount of messages per box. 0 (means the maximum value allowed by the board wide configuration counts) will always be the highest value.

Only board wide setting is used
When the Maximum private messages per box is board wide defined with 50 and every group the user is in, has the limit 0, then the user is limited to 50 messages per box.

The board wide setting is 0 and no group has its own settings. All users will be able to have a unlimited amount of messages in their boxes.

Board wide setting and a group with a setting is used
The board wide setting is 50, the user is in group A with setting 25, he will have a maximum of 25 messages per box.

The board wide setting is 50, the user is in group A with setting 150, he will have a maximum of 50 messages per box. In addition a warning will be displayed to the administrator, when change the group setting to a higher value than the board wide setting.

The board wide setting is 0, the user is in group A with setting 0, he will have a maximum of unlimited messages per box.

The user is in more than one group with additional settings
The board wide setting is 50 and the user is in group A and B. Group A has a limit of 25 and group B a limit of 20. This results in a maximum of 25 messages per box for all users, who are in group A and B.

The board wide setting is 50 and the user is in group A and B. Group A has a limit of 25 and group B a limit of 30. This results in a maximum of 30 messages per box for all users, who are in group A and B.

The board wide setting is 0 and the user is in group A and B. Group A has a limit of 25 and group B a limit of 0. This results in a maximum unlimited messages per box for all users, who are in group A and B.