Limit event capacity with resources

Use this when an event should only sell as many places as your staff, rooms, or equipment can serve. A resource requirement connects the event to a role or function, and the bookable capacity becomes the lower of the event's own capacity and what the required resources can support at that time.

Before you start

Confirm:

• the resources exist with the right roles or functions and a realistic capacity
• the resource availability covers the event times
• whether one resource can serve several events at once (shared) or must be exclusive

Add a resource requirement

1. Open the event or event template and select the Required resources tab.
2. Select Add requirement.
3. Search for a specific resource or for a role or function. Requiring a role or function lets any matching resource fill the slot; requiring a specific resource restricts it to that one.
4. Set the Quantity. With the Quantity mode Fixed quantity, the event needs that many resources. With Based on participants, enter how many resources are needed per group of participants, and the quantity grows with bookings.
5. Select This resource can be shared with other events only when the same resource may serve overlapping events. Sharing is not available for Based on participants or when Fixed quantity is greater than one; those modes require distinct resource capacity for each event.
6. Choose Duration of the event when the resource is needed for the whole event. Choose Custom duration to adjust the Start offset and End offset, for example when setup starts before the event or cleaning ends afterward. The sliders use five-minute steps. Select Custom... beside a slider to enter an exact duration, then choose the negative direction for an earlier time or the positive direction for a later time. Press Escape before leaving the custom input if you want to restore the slider value you started from.
7. Save the requirement.

Mark a requirement Optional when the event can proceed without it; optional requirements do not block capacity the way required ones do.

How resources constrain capacity

• A role or function with Limited capacity limits participants. If one guide handles 15 participants and the event requires one guide, only 15 places are bookable even when the event capacity is higher.
• If no matching resource is available for the event time, because of availability settings or allocations to other events, the constrained capacity can drop to zero and the event stops being bookable.
• The Required resources tab shows a Capacity diagnostic when resource requirements limit the current capacity below the event's own maximum.
• Fixed quantity is useful for requirements that do not change with attendance, such as one room, two guides, or three vehicles. Based on participants is useful when another resource is required for every group of customers.

Expected result

The shop, POS, and back office offer at most as many places as the required resources can serve, and the event shows which requirements limit capacity.

Verify the capacity boundary

Test the largest quantity that should fit and one quantity above it in every active sales channel. Check the shop, POS, and back-office booking flow because channel limits, existing reservations, and resource allocation can produce different available quantities.

For a participant-based requirement, repeat the test just below and just above the point where another resource becomes necessary. For example, if one guide covers 10 participants, test quantities 10 and 11.

Troubleshooting

For symptom-by-symptom checks, see Troubleshoot availability and capacity; the underlying model is explained in How capacity and availability work.

Related articles

• Create resources for rooms, guides, equipment, or staff
• Set up equipment rental operations
• Review resource allocation for a day
• Use and read the back-office Calendar
• Troubleshoot availability and capacity
• How capacity and availability work