# Handling Too Many Connections

Systems that get too busy can return the `too_many_connections` error.

When the number of [threads\_connected](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/server-management/variables-and-modes/server-status-variables#threads_connected) exceeds the [max\_connections](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/server-management/variables-and-modes/server-system-variables#max_connections) server variable, it's time to make a change. Viewing the [threads\_connected](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/server-management/variables-and-modes/server-status-variables#threads_connected) status variable shows only the current number of connections, but it's more useful to see what the value has peaked at, and this is shown by the [max\_used\_connections](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/server-management/variables-and-modes/server-status-variables#max_used_connections) status variable.

This error may be a symptom of slow queries and other bottlenecks, but if the system is running smoothly this can be addressed by increasing the value of max\_connections.

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