---
title: "Message Limitation"
slug: "message-limitation"
description: "Message limitation caps how many messages a contact receives in a period. Learn about the default limit, system-wide limits, and contact-specific limits."
status: "update"
updated: 2026-11-04T16:04:43Z
published: 2026-11-04T16:04:43Z
canonical: "docs.mapp.com/message-limitation"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mapp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Message Limitation

## Introduction

Limitations in Mapp Engage help ensure that individual contacts are not overwhelmed by too many messages within a short period. This is particularly useful when a contact belongs to several groups and might otherwise receive multiple messages in a day. Limitations apply to all messaging channels (email, SMS, and mobile push) but exclude system messages and single messages.

### Common Use Cases

Message limitations are commonly used to:

- Prevent over-communication and improve the user experience.
- Maintain deliverability and reduce the risk of unsubscribes.
- Apply consistent communication caps across multiple campaigns or groups.

## Types of Message Limitation​

Mapp Engage supports three types of message limitations. If more than one limitation is active, the most restrictive rule always takes precedence.

### Default Limit

Every Mapp Engage system has a built-in default that restricts each contact to a maximum of 9 messages per day. This safeguard cannot be changed or overridden, even by custom configurations.

### System-Wide Message Limitation

Administrators can define a stricter limit than the default across the entire system. This is helpful when multiple campaigns target a contact in a short span. Once the limit is reached, no further messages are sent until the time period resets. System-wide limits do not apply to system messages and single messages. Group managers and owners also continue to receive all messages for their groups. For more information, see [Create System-Wide Message Limit](/v1/docs/engage-configure-message-limitation#create-a-systemwide-limit).

### Contact-Specific Message Limitation

Individual limits can be set per contact via XML import. These overrides are useful for honoring contact-level preferences or business-specific communication policies. For more information, see [Define Contact Message Limitation](/v1/docs/engage-configure-message-limitation#set-a-limit-for-a-single-contact).

> [!NOTE]
> **Note**:
> 
> Both system-wide and contact-specific limits are only active in groups where the message limitation feature is enabled. For more information, see [Enable Message Limitation for Group](/v1/docs/engage-configure-message-limitation#enable-limitation-for-a-group).

### Example

Two message limitations are defined:

- A 6-day limit: maximum of 5 messages within any 6-day period.
- A 1-day limit for Mapp Engage: maximum of 2 messages per day.

**Message Delivery Outcome:**

- **Day 1**: The recipient receives 2 messages (daily limit reached).
- **Day 2**: The recipient receives 2 more messages (daily limit reached again).
- **Day 3**: Although the daily limit allows for two more messages, only one message is sent. This is because the 6-day total limit of 5 messages has already been reached.

Deliverability is the ability of an email to reach a recipient’s inbox successfully. It is influenced by factors like sender reputation, authentication, and engagement.

## Related

- [Limitations: Overview](/message-limitation-window.md)