# Engine pruning

When the Spotfire Service for Python reaches a certain percentage of capacity of usage, then the Spotfire Service for Python begins pruning Python engines to free service resources.

Configuration property | Default setting | Description
--- | --- | ---
`engine.prune` | `10` | The time, in seconds, that a Python engine can be idle before the Spotfire Service for Python prunes it.
`dynamic.prune.threshold` | `60` | The Spotfire Service for Python capacity at which idle pruning is engaged, as a percentage value. By default, when the Spotfire Service for Python reaches 60% capacity of usage, then it begins the idle-pruning process as specified by `engine.prune`. Set to `0` to always prune when a Python engine is idle. Set to `100` to never prune when a Python engine is idle.

For more information, see Service resource management scenarios.