I guess the third entry is the required access level (to change this variable at runtime):Constant Value Meaning PHP_INI_USER 1 Entry can be set in user scripts PHP_INI_PERDIR 2 Entry can be set in php.ini, .htaccess or httpd.conf PHP_INI_SYSTEM 4 Entry can be set in php.ini or httpd.conf PHP_INI_ALL 7 Entry can be set anywhere See also the docs for ini_set()Hugo.