PHP settings

Tune the PHP runtime for a sandbox: switch the PHP version and adjust common php.ini values — no SSH, no editing config files.

Open PHP settings

From your dashboard, open a sandbox's Site settings (the actions menu → Site settings, or click the sandbox), then choose PHP configuration in the side nav. It's available once the sandbox is ready.

Switch the PHP version

Pick a different PHP version (8.1, 8.2, or 8.3) from the dropdown. Switching the version restarts the sandbox to swap the runtime, which means a few seconds of downtime (~5–10s). Your files and database are untouched.

Tune php.ini values

Adjust any of the settings below and click Save changes. Saving briefly restarts the sandbox to apply the new values (a few seconds).

Setting	Default	Range	What it controls
Max execution time	300 s	10–300 s	Longest a script may run.
Max input time	300 s	10–300 s	Longest spent parsing request data.
Max input vars	1000	100–10000	How many input variables are accepted.
Memory limit	256 MB	64–512 MB	Per-request memory ceiling (capped below the container's memory).
allow_url_fopen	On	On / Off	Whether `fopen()` can read remote URLs.
Post max size	256 MB	8–5120 MB	Largest POST request body.
Upload max filesize	256 MB	2–5120 MB	Largest single uploaded file (must not exceed post max size).
Session GC max lifetime	1440 s	300–86400 s	How long before session data is treated as garbage.
Output buffering	4096 bytes	0–65536 bytes	Output buffer size (0 disables it).

A few rules are enforced when you save: upload max filesize can't be larger than post max size, and the memory limit is capped a little below the sandbox's container memory so a PHP error fails gracefully instead of being killed. If a value is out of range, SandyWP tells you exactly what's allowed.

How it applies

A single Save changes applies your php.ini edits and, if you also changed the version dropdown, switches the PHP version — both land together. The dashboard waits for the change to take effect and confirms when it's done.

Next steps

Create a sandbox — pick the PHP version up front, and enable debug tooling.
File Manager — pair PHP tweaks with file edits.