How to Fix CPU Overload / Resource Usage Issues in cPanel?

High CPU, Entry Process (EP), or other resource usage can be caused by heavy website traffic, bots, poorly optimized WordPress plugins/themes, cron jobs, or malicious requests.

Recommended Steps

1. Use Cloudflare
   Configure Cloudflare for your domains to help filter malicious bots, unwanted traffic, and attacks before they reach your hosting account.

2. Control Search Engine Crawlers
   Create a robots.txt file inside your website's root directory and configure which legitimate search engines should crawl your website.

   Note: robots.txt is only a request to compliant crawlers and does not block malicious bots or attacks. Also, avoid Disallow: / unless you intentionally want to prevent most search engines from indexing your entire website.

3. Optimize WordPress Cron
   Excessive wp-cron.php requests can increase CPU usage. Instead of setting wp-cron.php permission to 000, consider disabling WordPress's built-in cron and configuring a proper cPanel Cron Job.

4. Protect xmlrpc.php
   If your website does not require XML-RPC, restrict or disable access to xmlrpc.php to reduce unwanted requests and brute-force attempts.

5. Control WordPress Heartbeat
   WordPress Heartbeat (admin-ajax.php) can generate frequent requests. Use a trusted Heartbeat Control plugin or appropriate configuration to reduce its frequency rather than disabling it completely.

6. Protect WordPress Login
   Use a security solution to protect wp-login.php against brute-force attacks. Enable 2FA, CAPTCHA, rate limiting, and strong passwords where possible.

7. Keep WordPress Updated
   Always keep WordPress Core, plugins, and themes updated to their latest stable versions.

8. Remove Unused Plugins & Themes
   Delete plugins and themes that are no longer required. Avoid nulled, cracked, or untrusted software.

9. Review Resource-Heavy Plugins
   Disable or replace plugins that generate excessive PHP processes, database queries, or external requests. Plugins such as Jetpack can use additional resources depending on enabled features, so review their usage rather than assuming they are always the cause.

Important

If your cPanel account continues to experience high CPU or EP usage, check cPanel → Resource Usage to identify when resource limits are being reached. You may also contact Razorhost Support with your domain name for further assistance.