---
url: /settings/performance.md
description: >-
  Speed up RootWright LMS with the fast lane for lesson, access and
  video-position requests, and choose how protected files are delivered: PHP,
  X-Accel-Redirect or X-Sendfile.
---

# Performance settings in RootWright LMS

**Settings → Performance** controls how much work a student request and a protected download cost your server. It has two sections: **Fast lane** and **File delivery**.

## Fast lane

The fast lane answers the busiest student requests before the rest of WordPress loads.

![The Fast lane section](/images/settings/performance-01-fast-lane.jpg)

*Settings → Performance → Fast lane. The status row shows whether it is on, the plugin load order, and how it is installed.*

### What it answers

| Request | What it is |
|---|---|
| **Open a lesson** (`lesson.read`) | The lesson payload a student's player asks for. |
| **Check access** (`access.check`) | "May this student see this lesson?" |
| **Save video position** (`position.write`) | The playhead a video reports every few seconds. |

Anything with a business rule stays on the normal route: quiz submit, grading, certificates, enrolment, checkout, drip and email. If the lane cannot answer, WordPress does. It can only lose speed, never correctness.

### Turn it on

::: steps

1. Go to **Settings → Performance → Fast lane**.
2. Switch on **Enable the fast lane**.
3. Save. The **Status** row changes from **Off** once it is saved.
   :::

Students sign in again before it applies to them.

::: warning What other plugins miss
On those three requests only, other plugins' per-request code does not run. A two-factor plugin, session manager or PHP firewall will not see them. Turning the fast lane off puts them straight back on the normal route.
:::

### Health

The **Health** list runs the same checks as **Tools → Site Health**. A lane can be on and quietly do little, and these checks say whether it is actually serving:

* How many plugins load before RootWright LMS. They load on fast-lane requests too. The plugin moves itself to the front on the next admin page load.
* **Served over HTTPS**. The fast-lane credential is only issued over a secure connection.
* **Signing secret stored**. Credentials can be issued and checked without a database read.
* **Lesson payload is not changed by an add-on**. If an add-on adds data to it, lesson reads take the normal route.
* Courses that use drip content always take the normal route. The fast lane cannot evaluate drip rules.

### Turn it off from wp-config.php

For a support call, add this line to `wp-config.php`. It switches the lane off without touching the database:

```php
define( 'ROOTWRIGHT_LMS_DISABLE_FAST_LANE', true );
```

## File delivery

How a protected file leaves the server once access is checked. This governs every protected file: course attachments, lesson resources, assignment submissions and certificate files.

![The File delivery section](/images/settings/performance-02-file-delivery.jpg)

*Settings → Performance → File delivery.*

| Method | Server | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| **PHP streaming** | Any server | Works everywhere. Holds one PHP worker for the whole download, which for a long video is as long as someone watches. |
| **X-Accel-Redirect** | Nginx | Nginx hands the file over after PHP checks access. The worker is free at once. |
| **X-Sendfile** | Apache, LiteSpeed | The same hand-over for Apache or LiteSpeed. Needs `mod_xsendfile`. |

Pick the one your server runs. If the server refuses the hand-over, RootWright LMS falls back to PHP streaming rather than sending an empty file.

## Related

* [Privacy & security](/settings/privacy-and-security) for download rate limits.
* [Drip schedule](/courses/drip-schedule)