I had found a way to reduce your CPU usage if you are on a majorly shared host and you know your cpu usage is very high but don't want to change/disable/remove your plugins. Disable wp-cron in your wp-config.php file and essentially move that responsibility to your servers/control panels task scheduler (like crontab for linux for example).
wp-cron.php is WordPress' build in scheduling system, which is responsible for running scheduled tasks and events in the WordPress application. Here's how it works:
Checking for Scheduled Events: During the init hook in WordPress, wp-cron.php checks the database for any scheduled events that are due to run. If there are any scheduled events, it will spawn an HTTP request to the wp-cron.php file to process those events.
When the wp-cron.php file is accessed, it will execute the scheduled tasks and events that are due to run. This includes things like publishing scheduled posts, checking for plugin and theme updates, and any other custom scheduled tasks added by plugins.
The main issue with the default wp-cron.php approach is that it is unreliable and inefficient. For wp-cron.php to work, the WordPress site must receive regular traffic. If a site has low traffic or is heavily cached, scheduled events may be missed as the wp-cron.php file won't be accessed. But the file is checked on every page load, which can lead to increased server load and performance issues. So if you have 10 people on your site it will spawn the process 10 times, and 100 times for 100 people.
To address these issues, it's generally recommended to use a system-level cron job (crontab) instead of relying on the built-in wp-cron.php. Here's why this is a better approach:
A system-level cron job runs independently of WordPress and is not dependent on-site traffic. This ensures that scheduled tasks are executed reliably, even if the WordPress site is not receiving any traffic.
With a crontab-based approach, you can schedule the cron job to run at a specific interval (e.g., every minute) instead of having it checked on every page load. This reduces the overall server load and improves the site's performance.
To set up a crontab-based cron job, you can use a tool like WP-CLI (WordPress Command Line Interface) to run the necessary commands. Here's an example crontab entry that runs the wp cron event run command every 15 minutes:
*/15 * * * */usr/local/php8.3/bin/php /home/www/willbeonesecurity.xyz/wp-cron.php
This command will check for any scheduled events that are due to run and execute them.
In summary, while the built-in wp-cron.php system can work for some WordPress sites, it's generally better to use a system-level crontab to schedule and run your WordPress tasks. This approach provides more reliability and efficiency, especially for high-traffic or low-traffic WordPress sites.
> To set up a crontab-based cron job, you can use a tool like WP-CLI (WordPress Command Line Interface) to run the necessary commands. Here’s an example crontab
Sample with wp-cli:
> */15 * * * * wp cron event run –due-now –path=/home/www/willbeonesecurity.xyz/