# Task-Polling Intervals

- Published on Sep 17, 2024
- 1 minute(s) read

In v30, we introduced the _SDM_BLOCKS_TASK_POLL_INTERVAL_ ".env" file variable, which gives you more control over your instance's task-polling intervals and, in turn, your overall submission throughput.

In a flow, each block includes multiple tasks. The _SDM_BLOCKS_TASK_POLL_INTERVAL_ variable determines how often the system polls for these tasks. The value you enter is the number of seconds that pass between polling attempts. This value should be an integer greater than or equal to 1.

```plaintext
SDM_BLOCKS_TASK_POLL_INTERVAL=
<number_of_seconds_between_block-task_polling_attempts>
```

- In TVE environments, the default value is _1_.
- In Production environments, the default value is _10_.

In general, the fewer submissions you expect to process in an environment, and the fewer VMs an environment has, the lower the value should be. This recommendation is based on the overall task-polling behavior of the system.

The system automatically polls for tasks after a task is completed, regardless of the value of _SDM_BLOCKS_TASK_POLL_INTERVAL_. Therefore, in environments that process a high volume of submissions—and have a continuous backlog of tasks—a higher value does not impact the speed at which the system processes submissions. In contrast, environments that process a small number of submissions complete tasks less frequently. In these environments, the system has a limited backlog of tasks to draw from, and a higher _SDM_BLOCKS_TASK_POLL_INTERVAL_ value can cause delays in processing.