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QSEoW: Engine Settings.ini parameters usage guide

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Eduardo_Monteiro
Partner - Creator III
Partner - Creator III

QSEoW: Engine Settings.ini parameters usage guide

Last Update:

Jun 8, 2026 10:22:16 AM

Updated By:

Eduardo_Monteiro

Created date:

Jun 8, 2026 10:49:42 AM

The Qlik Sense Engine reads an optional configuration file, Settings.ini, that exposes engine-level behavior the Qlik Management Console (QMC) does not surface — telemetry thresholds, session time-to-live, audit selection capture, legacy reload mode, data-lineage suppression, and several performance switches. Qlik's official article on this topic ("How to modify Qlik Sense Engine's Settings.ini") documents the procedure but, by design, lists no parameters — the keys are provided in scattered KB articles or handed out per-case by Qlik Support.

This article assumes you understand:

  • How to stop and start the Qlik Sense Engine and Qlik Sense Service Dispatcher Windows services
  • The difference between an engine node and a central/proxy node in a multi-node site
  • Where Qlik Sense writes its logs (%ProgramData%\Qlik\Sense\Log)

** Editing the engine configuration file is a supported-but-supervised operation. Some keys (legacy reload mode, override script security) materially weaken security, and several settings are owned by the QMC and will be overwritten if set in the wrong place. Back up the file, change one thing at a time, and validate on a non-production node before touching production. **

 

The file: location and a safe edit procedure

The engine reads the file on startup but does not ship one by default. If it is missing, create it.

  • Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows (server): C:\ProgramData\Qlik\Sense\Engine\Settings.ini
  • Qlik Sense Desktop: C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Qlik\Sense\Settings.ini

To edit it safely in a multi-node site:

  1. Stop the Qlik Sense Engine Service and the Qlik Sense Service Dispatcher on every node that runs an engine.
  2. Open the file in a text editor running as Administrator (Notepad or Notepad++).
  3. Make your change using the schema below.
  4. Save, then apply the identical file to every engine node. A key set on one node only produces inconsistent behavior, because the node serving a given session may not be the one you edited.
  5. Start the Service Dispatcher and Engine services on each node.

On Qlik Sense Desktop the steps are the same, but no service restart is needed — just relaunch the client.

 

The schema, and the two gotchas
[Settings 7]
Key=Value
Key2=Value2
Eduardo_Monteiro_0-1780799922794.png

Keep in mind: A trailing blank line is mandatory. The engine will not parse the last key unless an empty line follows it.

Note: the engine Settings.ini retains its values across version and patch upgrades (confirmed by Qlik Support in the Community, tested across a November 2023 → February 2024 upgrade), unlike some .config files that revert to defaults. Re-verify after major upgrades regardless.

 

The parameters

The keys below are grouped by purpose. Each table includes a confidence marker so you can tell documented behavior from community-confirmed behavior:

  • DOC — documented in Qlik Help (official documentation)
  • KB — documented in a Qlik KB/support article
  • COM — stated by Qlik staff in the Community, no standalone KB
  • VER — version-sensitive; confirm the exact key for your build

Keep in mind: there is no published, complete reference for this file. The list below is everything with public documentation or a verifiable Qlik-staff Community reference — not an exhaustive list of every key the engine will accept. If you need a key that is not here, request it from Qlik Support for your specific version.

 

Logging and telemetry verbosity (mirror the QMC)

These mirror the QMC Engines → Logging levels. The scale is roughly 0 = Off, 1 = Error, 2 = Warning, 3 = Info, 4 = Debug, 5 = Fatal-included. Info produces very large files — use it only during active troubleshooting. Prefer setting these in the QMC; if set in the file, expect the QMC to be the source of truth on restart.

01-logging-verbosity.png

 

QIX performance/telemetry thresholds

Used with the Telemetry Dashboard to capture per-object and per-reload CPU and RAM. The "Error" and "Warning" labels are log-bucket names — they do not mean the engine encountered an error. Lower the thresholds to capture more events; raise them to capture only the heavy hitters.

02-telemetry-thresholds.png

[Settings 7]
SystemLogVerbosity=2
WarningProcessTimeMs=30000
ErrorProcessTimeMs=60000
WarningPeakMemory=1073741824
ErrorPeakMemory=2147483648

Set QixPerformanceLogVerbosity to Warning (2) in the QMC to actually emit the telemetry rows.

 

Session time-to-live (keep sessions warm)

Useful when new-session creation latency hurts the user experience more than the marginal cache cost of holding sessions open. Available in Qlik Sense Enterprise November 2017 and later.

03-session-ttl.png

[Settings 7]
EnableTTL=1
SessionTTL=30

Keep in mind: the key name has drifted between builds — on some versions SessionTTL is TTLSeconds. If TTL does not take effect, confirm the exact key for your build. Holding sessions open increases engine session-cache RAM, so monitor memory.

 

Audit logging — selection capture

Default audit logging does not capture user selections. These engine-only keys add that detail and cannot be set from the QMC.

04-audit-selection.png

[Settings 7]
AuditLogAllSelection=1
AuditLogMessageLimit=10000
MaxCurSelEntries=6

Note: this can grow log volume very quickly (the Get layout command alone is extremely chatty). Watch ...\Log\Engine\Audit.

 

Reload mode and script security

These let the engine run legacy-mode scripts and external EXECUTE statements (bat/exe/Python).

** Enabling override script security allows any app developer to run operating-system commands as the engine service account. Restrict who can edit and publish reload apps before enabling it, and treat it as a security-review item on shared environments. **

05-reload-script-security.png

[Settings 7]
StandardReload=0
OverrideScriptSecurity=1

Keep in mind: on the server, the equivalent of StandardReload=0 is unticking Standard mode in QMC → Engines → Advanced. If you change the file but the QMC still shows Standard mode enabled, the QMC value wins — uncheck it there as well.

 

Data-lineage suppression

Strips lineage metadata from generated QVDs, for privacy, file-size, or sensitive-source reasons.

06-data-lineage.png

Keep in mind: there is a version-dependent difference inherited from QlikView — the disable value was -1 in QlikView 11 and is 0 from QlikView 12.x onward. For QlikView, the file also lives under ...\QlikTech\QlikViewBatch\Settings.ini.

 

Performance: New Row Applicator (AAALR) and cache behavior

When the engine logs AAALR(x) is greater than 1.0, we suggest using new row applicator, it is flagging an inefficient associative load on a large dataset (slow responses, high memory).

07-performance-aaalr-cache.png

[Settings 7]
DisableNewRowApplicator=0
DisableCacheQueue=1

Note: the logic is inverted — the key is DisableNewRowApplicator, so 0 means enabled. The algorithm has existed since QlikView yet is still disabled by default in Qlik Sense, so you must opt in. Setting SELOG_AAALR=0 also doubles as a quick way to confirm the engine is reading your file: if the AAALR message stops after a restart, the file is live. The AAALR message itself is informational; with no real performance impact it can be disregarded.

 

Cross-reference: QlikView-only keys

These belong to QlikView, not Qlik Sense, and are listed only so they are not mistaken for Qlik Sense engine keys:

  • GraphicsBackEnd=1 — fixes certain visualization rendering issues (QlikView Desktop / QVS Settings.ini). Confidence: COM.
  • AllowDataLineage — disables QVD lineage in QlikView Batch / Desktop; value is -1 in QlikView 11, 0 from QlikView 12.x. Confidence: COM.

 

Verifying a change, and why one might appear to do nothing

If a setting has no effect, work through these in order:

  1. No trailing blank line after the last key — the last key is ignored. This is the most common cause.
  2. Wrong section header — it must be exactly [Settings 7].
  3. Service not restarted — the Engine (and Service Dispatcher) must be cycled; Desktop must be relaunched.
  4. Not applied to all nodes — a cluster needs identical files on every engine node; the node serving the session may not be the one you edited.
  5. The QMC owns the setting — log verbosity and reload mode can be overwritten by the QMC/QRS on restart. Set those in the QMC.
  6. It is not a Settings.ini key — working set, hard max, and maximum calculation time live in QMC → Engines → Advanced.
  7. Wrong file — Desktop versus server path, QlikView versus Qlik Sense, per-user versus %ProgramData%.
  8. Key-name drift between builds — for example, SessionTTL versus TTLSeconds, or AllowDataLineage=-1 versus =0.
  9. Confirm the file is even read — temporarily add SELOG_AAALR=0 (if you get the AAALR message) or bump a verbosity level and watch the log change after a restart.
  10. Permissions — the engine service account must be able to read the file; edits saved without administrator rights may not have landed where you think.

 

Related Content

This article consolidates parameters from the following Qlik Help and Qlik Community sources, several of which were confirmed by Qlik Support staff in the threads linked:

113 Views
Comments
jeffreyfairchild
Partner - Contributor II
Partner - Contributor II
yesterday

@Eduardo_Monteiro nice article.  Very helpful and detailed.

priscilarubim
Partner - Creator II
Partner - Creator II
yesterday

@Eduardo_Monteiro great job! 👏🏻👏🏻

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Last update:
yesterday
Updated by:
Partner - Creator III