---
title: Console settings
order: 13
description: Change settings from the Settings page, see what is saved, and lock the console to view only.
icon: lucide:settings
---

# Settings

The Settings page shows the values Lens is running with and lets an admin change many of them without a restart. Live settings, read-only mode and the viewer role are free.

![The Settings page](../assets/screenshots/console-settings.png)

## Change a setting

Settings are grouped: Bar, Collection, Collectors, Thresholds, Checks, Interface, Limits, Editor, Console and Access. A switch, a list or a field sits next to each live setting.

![Editing settings](../assets/screenshots/console-settings-edit.png)

1. Change one or more values. The bar at the bottom counts the unsaved changes.
2. Press **Apply and save**. Press **Discard** to drop them.

The change applies at once. For example, turning a collector off removes it for the next request, and a new slow query threshold counts from now on. Lens also saves the change to `config/bxlens-settings.json` in the BoxLang home, or to the file in `console.overridesFile`, so it survives a restart.

A value that is not valid, for example a number out of range, is refused with a message and nothing is saved. Lens checks every value again when it loads the file, so a file edited by hand cannot switch on something the console may not change. Invalid entries are skipped and a warning is logged.

## Saved changes win over boxlang.json

A setting that has a saved change is marked **changed**. Its tooltip shows the value from `boxlang.json`. **Reset** next to it removes the saved change and goes back to the `boxlang.json` value. **Reset all to defaults** removes every saved change. The page shows how many settings are overridden and where the file is.

The file is a flat map of dotted keys, for example `thresholds.slowQueryMs`. It holds no secrets, because no password or key can be changed here.

If you change a value in `boxlang.json` that also has a saved change, the saved change keeps winning until you reset it.

## Which settings are live

The settings marked **boxlang.json only** are shown with their value but cannot be changed from the console. That list includes the passwords (shown only as `set` or `not set`), who can reach the console and the bar, `console.readOnly`, `console.allowHeapDump`, `console.requireHttps`, the proxy settings, the disk store folder and switch (its limits are live, see below), the AI settings and `history.maxRequests`. Everything else on the page is live. The full list is in [Configuration](../configuration.md#live-settings).

## The Storage tab

Admins see the saved-data store on the **Storage** tab: whether saving is on, the folder of this server, the store folder, the disk used, records written, dropped and failed, the last error, and the servers that share the folder. A warning shows when the folder is on a container's own file system, when another live server uses the same folder name, and when saving needs BoxLang+. Keep days (1 to 30), the size limit and the removal of stopped servers can be changed there. They are live: the next prune uses the new values. See [the store](../reference/store.md).

## View only

Two things make the page read only.

- **Viewer role.** A viewer who signed in with `console.viewerPassword` sees a notice, and every field is disabled. See [Roles](../security.md#roles).
- **`console.readOnly`.** When it is `true`, nobody can change anything from the console, not even an admin. The same switch stops task actions, the bar layout, cache actions, resets and Run GC (task actions, cache actions and the bar layout also need BoxLang+). It can only be set in `boxlang.json`. Heap dumps (BoxLang+) have their own switch.

Every change and reset is written to the [audit log](../security.md#audit-log) with the keys and the new values.

## The license

The header of every console page shows the license state (BoxLang+ active, Trial, License expired or Free), and your role. See [Licensing](../licensing.md#free-and-boxlang) for what Free includes and what needs BoxLang+.