How event capacity and holds work

The short version

When you set a capacity for an event, that number includes all registrations in pending payment status — not just confirmed registrations. This prevents the event from overselling while members are completing checkout.

How it works

Event capacity is enforced using two numbers:

Total capacity — the maximum you set on the Overview tab.
Current registration count — all registrations in pending payment or registered status combined.

The available capacity shown to members is the total minus the current count. A member who starts checkout immediately reduces the available count by one.

The hold from a pending payment lasts for the auto-cancel window — a configurable duration between 5 and 120 minutes, with a default of 30 minutes. If the member does not complete payment within that window, the hold expires, the registration moves to cancelled, and the spot returns to the pool.

Per-ticket-type capacity works the same way but is tracked separately per ticket. A ticket type that reaches its own capacity shows “Sold out” even if the overall event still has spots.

Why it works this way

Without holds, two members could see the same “1 spot left” message at the same time and both succeed. The hold ensures that once a member starts checkout, that spot is theirs until they complete or abandon the process.

The trade-off is that a member who walks away without completing payment ties up a spot for up to 30 minutes (by default). The auto-cancel window manages this: shorter windows release spots faster but may interrupt members who need more time to complete payment. You can adjust the window on the Overview tab between 5 and 120 minutes.

Edge cases and boundaries

Admin comp override: When you register someone on behalf and the event is at capacity, MapleGather lets you override the limit. The override is logged in the audit trail.

Sold out vs. registration closed: “Sold out” means capacity is reached. “Registration not open” means the Allow registration switch is off. Both block new registrations but for different reasons.

No capacity set: If you leave the capacity field blank, there is no limit enforced by MapleGather. Ticket-type capacity limits (if set) still apply independently.

Capacity race at checkout: If a ticket sells out after a member loads the event page but before they submit registration, they see a “Sold out” message at the confirmation step. The event page may briefly show the ticket as available.

Put it into practice

If the attendee count looks higher than you expected, check the Attendees tab and filter by Status: Registered — pending holds may inflate the visible count until they expire.
If you want to protect against abandoned checkouts from holding spots for too long, shorten the auto-cancel window on the Overview tab.
If you want members to have more time to complete payment (for example, if your registration form is long), lengthen the auto-cancel window.