# Understanding system load averages

> Check your server's load averages in WHM or with the uptime command, and understand what the numbers mean.

Source: https://helpcenter.ruachost.com/developers/linux/understanding-system-load-averages/

**Understanding system load averages**\
Learn how to view and interpret system load averages on your server.

This article explains how to check and understand system load averages.

**Viewing system load averages**\
On a VPS, WebHost Manager displays system load averages at the top of the page.

cPanel does not show load averages directly, but you can check them anytime by running:

```
uptime
```

**Note**\
The `uptime` command shows the same load average information that WebHost Manager provides.

Sample output from `uptime`:

```
username@server [~]# uptime
 21:19:12 up 388 days, 17:32,  0 users,  load average: 5.85, 5.98, 6.18
```

**Interpreting system load averages**\
The three numbers in the load average output correspond to the system load over the past 1, 5, and 15 minutes:

```
load average: 5.85, 5.98, 6.18
```

These numbers represent the count of processes waiting to use the CPU cores.

- A completely idle system has a load average of 0.
- A single-core CPU with one process running at 100% would have a load average of 1.0.
- On a multi-core CPU, a load average equal to the number of cores indicates full utilization.

For example, the load averages above would indicate severe overloading on a single-core system but are normal on a system with eight or more CPU cores.

To determine the number of CPU cores on your server, run:

```
nproc --all
```

This command outputs the total number of CPU cores, which helps you accurately interpret the load averages for your account.