Per-Instance Overrides
Per-Instance Overrides lets you set different search behaviour for each Radarr or Sonarr instance independently, without changing your global settings.
Who this is for
If you run a single Radarr and a single Sonarr, your global settings cover everything and you do not need this feature. Per-Instance Overrides is for setups running multiple instances — a standard and a 4K Radarr, a main and an anime Sonarr, or any combination where different instances genuinely need different limits, cooldowns, or modes.
When overrides are off, every instance uses the global settings. When overrides are on, each instance can have its own values for specific fields. Instances without any overrides set continue to inherit global.
Enabling Per-Instance Overrides
- Open the Advanced tab
- Under For the Arr-tists, toggle Per-Instance Overrides to on
- An Overrides tab appears in the navigation
Override fields
Each instance can independently override any combination of these fields. Fields left unset inherit the global value.
| Field | Applies to | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cooldown Hours | Radarr + Sonarr | Minimum hours before re-searching the same item on this instance |
| Max Cutoff Unmet | Radarr + Sonarr | Maximum Cutoff Unmet items to nudge per sweep for this instance. Greyed when Cutoff Unmet is disabled globally for that app. |
| Max Backlog | Radarr + Sonarr | Maximum backlog (missing) items to nudge per sweep for this instance. Greyed when Backlog is disabled globally. |
| Max Missing Days | Radarr only | Minimum age (in days) a missing item must be before it is eligible for backlog search |
| Sample Mode | Radarr + Sonarr | Pick order for eligible items — see Sample Mode below |
| Backlog Enabled | Radarr + Sonarr | Enable or disable backlog nudges for this instance independently |
| CF Score Max | Radarr + Sonarr | Maximum CF Score items to nudge per sweep for this instance. Only shown when CF Score is enabled globally. |
| Notifications Enabled | Radarr + Sonarr | Enable or disable sweep notifications for this instance independently |
Note: Sonarr instances do not have a Max Missing Days field. That filter is Radarr-only.
How override logic works
Overrides use sparse storage — only fields you explicitly set are saved. Any field you have not set on an instance inherits the global value. Any field you have set fully supersedes the global value — there is no blending or averaging.
If your global cooldown is 48 hours and you set a cooldown override of 24 hours on your 4K Radarr, that instance uses 24 hours. Your other instances continue to use 48 hours. If you later change the global cooldown to 72 hours, your 4K Radarr still uses 24 hours — the override takes full precedence.
Sample Mode and Use Global
The Sample Mode field has an extra option not available in global settings: Use Global. Selecting Use Global means this instance defers to whatever the global Sample Mode is set to. This is the default state for any instance that has not had Sample Mode explicitly overridden.
Using the Overrides tab
With Per-Instance Overrides enabled, the Overrides tab appears at the start of the navigation between Instances and Settings.
- The left rail lists all configured instances — click any to select it
- Each instance card shows the override fields grouped by section (Cutoff Unmet, Backlog, CF Score, Notifications)
- Fields show their current override value, or a dimmed global-inherited placeholder if not set
- Click Apply on a card to save that instance's overrides
- Reset All to Global clears all overrides for that instance
Note: If a pipeline is disabled globally, the corresponding override group is greyed out in the card. The global toggle takes precedence over per-instance values.
Notifications Enabled
By default, each instance inherits the global Notifications setting. If you set Notifications Enabled on a specific instance via overrides, that instance's notification behaviour is fully independent — you can silence notifications for one instance while keeping them active for others.
What is not overridable
Auto-exclusion thresholds are not available as per-instance overrides. Because exclusions apply by title across all instances, a per-instance threshold would risk one instance excluding a title that another instance could still successfully upgrade. For example, a 4K Radarr hitting its threshold for a title would globally exclude it, preventing a standard Radarr from continuing to search for a 1080p version that may have been available.
Configure your global auto-exclusion threshold with your most conservative instance in mind. If you run instances with very different search conditions, err toward a higher threshold so that progress on one instance is not cut short by another hitting its limit first.