sh.stopBalancer() (mongosh method)

Definition

sh.stopBalancer(timeout, interval)

Changed in version 7.0.

Disables the balancer in a sharded cluster.

Starting in MongoDB 7.0, stopping the balancer also disables the AutoMerger for the sharded cluster.

Important

mongosh Method

This page documents a mongosh method. This is not the documentation for database commands or language-specific drivers, such as Node.js.

For the database command, see the balancerStop command.

For MongoDB API drivers, refer to the language-specific MongoDB driver documentation.

The method can take the following options:

Parameter	Type	Description
timeout	integer	Optional. Time limit for disabling the balancer. Defaults to 60000 milliseconds.
interval	integer	Optional. The interval (in milliseconds) at which to check if the balancing round has stopped.

If you omit both options, MongoDB disables the balancer indefinitely.

Important

Leaving the balancer disabled for extended periods of time can lead to unbalanced shards, which degrade cluster performance. Only disable the balancer if necessary, and ensure that you re-enable the balancer when maintenance is complete.

You can only run sh.stopBalancer() on a mongos instance. sh.stopBalancer() errors if run on mongod instance.

The mongosh shell method is a wrapper around the balancerStop command.

Compatibility

This method is available in deployments hosted in the following environments:

• MongoDB Atlas: The fully managed service for MongoDB deployments in the cloud

• MongoDB Enterprise: The subscription-based, self-managed version of MongoDB

• MongoDB Community: The source-available, free-to-use, and self-managed version of MongoDB

Behavior

If a balancing round is in progress, the operation waits for balancing to complete.

Learn More

• sh.enableBalancing()

• sh.disableBalancing()

• sh.getBalancerState()

• sh.isBalancerRunning()

• sh.setBalancerState()

• sh.startBalancer()

• sh.waitForBalancer()

• sh.waitForBalancerOff()