Is there a limit to the number of PMs in the Inbox/Outbox?

[Daniel91]

This was a question that came to my mind the other day, considering that I have been a member of this forum for a very long time and the number of messages in my Inbox has already reached the 19th page.
I couldn't find an answer to this question with the search option, so I asked theymos directly, and I'm posting the answer here because I believe that this question is also of interest to some other members of the forum.
Theymos replied that there is no strict limit on the number of messages we can have in the inbox, but warned that the PM page will become very slow if we have more than 30 pages of PMs and suggested that it is best to prune them periodically.
He also re-shared the instructions If anyone wants an mbox dump of all of incoming/outgoing PMs.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5570043.msg66240630#msg66240630

[Upgrade00]

I will consider that to be a soft warning since I'm over the 30 page limit now but I've not noticed any slow reaction time (or maybe it's because I'm so used to how it loads now, just can't remember how it was faster  ).
Anyway, good for you to highlight that message from thermos, a lot of users including myself weren't aware of the need to export messages.

The message in the privacy page suggests that there is no exact limit as the forum permanently keeps logs of pms; "Until the sender and all recipients delete the PM, plus about 6 months"

[ryzaadit]

Checking on the internet, SMF forum actually don't have any limits for private messages inbox. But, the administrators can setup the limits by themselves.

Source:
1. https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/SMF1.1:Features_and_Options
2. https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Personal_messages/de

The only limit information can be found regarding private message with number are these one.

Activity	Max recipients	Max recipients if whitelisted	Max PMs per hour	Max PMs per hour if whitelisted	Max PMs per day	Max PMs per day if whitelisted
0	2	10	1	40	2	120
15	3	10	10	40	15	120
30	5	10	10	40	30	120
100	7	14	20	80	150	600
250	15	30	120	120	300	1200
500	30	30	120	120	1200	1200

You are automatically whitelisted if you buy a copper membership. You don't need to wear the copper membership, just own it. You can also be whitelisted for free by any staff member and a few non-staff, but we're going to need some reason to think that you actually deserve it. Do not ask me for free whitelisting.

Whitelisting is a not a license to spam. You will be immediately banned if you're found spamming, even if you bought a copper membership (and you will not be refunded).

[DYING_S0UL]

Personally, I have like 40-45 pages or Inbox/Outbox PM's. If we do the math it's like 1700-1800 messages combined (20 PM per page). And I have seen others saying, they have much much much higher amounts of PM's saved up.

Quoting for visibility, just look below. Man that's a lotttttt of PM we are talking about. I want to believe it has no limits. And even if it did, it's set so high that we can't reach it normally, unless we use some tools to spam the PM inbox/outbox.

I have ~1,400 pages of PMs in my inbox. I’ve learned to cope with the PM times. I have no desire to store them on my own.
I used to always delete PMs as I received them or I’m sure I’d have over 2,000 pages. Somewhere around 2016 I lost control.

Btw, after poking around a little, I found this one. This answers your question (Hopefully).

I've looked into setting that option by default, but it wasn't obvious to me how to do it. It looks like it might be difficult.

There is no PM limit.

[Cookdata]

Btw, after poking around a little, I found this one. This answers your question (Hopefully).

I've looked into setting that option by default, but it wasn't obvious to me how to do it. It looks like it might be difficult.

There is no PM limit.

Your quote is from 2012, the new New PM limits was set in 2017 after complaints about spam PMs from newbies and not setting restrictions.

[ryzaadit]

Your quote is from 2012, the new New PM limits was set in 2017 after complaints about spam PMs from newbies and not setting restrictions.

Those are the limit number of recipients (multiple users) you can put for sending a PM at once.

The question are the limits inbox message are being stored in your inbox. SMF has default settings (0) for the inbox message in private messages, which is no-limits. Administrators can set up the limits, but theymos mostly set these to the default (no limits).

It's just a little bit slow to load if you own 30 pages in your inbox.

[DYING_S0UL]

Btw, after poking around a little, I found this one. This answers your question (Hopefully).

I've looked into setting that option by default, but it wasn't obvious to me how to do it. It looks like it might be difficult.

There is no PM limit.

Your quote is from 2012, the new New PM limits was set in 2017 after complaints about spam PMs from newbies and not setting restrictions.

I believe you may have misunderstood what OP was referring to. The topic you gave me explains how many PM a person can send (per hour/day, or max after getting white listed). It's sending limit!

What OP was asking, how many pages of PM a user can have or hold/save/store before it needs to pruned/deleted, in order for new PM to send/receive.
For example, I have 45+ pages of Outbox PM's. And he wanted to know, whether there was any limit to that. So he asked admin and he gave him an answer and which he was sharing in this thread. It's holding/storing limit!

It's just a little bit slow to load if you own 30 pages in your inbox.

From my own experience, I have never really felt any slowness. I have more than 30 pages of PM's!