Overview
In RideOps, Queue settings control how Operators report guest wait times, and Dispatch settings describe a ride's throughput — how many units it runs, how many guests each holds, and how often they should leave. Configuring both correctly is what makes RideOps reporting accurate. All of these settings live in a ride's RideOps Settings.
Users must be Super Users or have a Role with permission to edit Locations to configure queue and dispatch settings.
Why this matters: Dispatch settings are the basis of every throughput and utilization number RideOps produces. Get dispatchable units or capacity wrong and your ridership figures, queue estimates, and performance scoring are all off — by a clean multiple. A few minutes spent confirming these values is what makes the rest of your operating data trustworthy.
Queue settings
In RideOps Settings, open the Queues section to control how Operators post wait times.
Maximum Queue Time — the longest wait time, in minutes, an Operator can post. Default is 60. Raise it only for rides whose queues regularly exceed an hour.
Queue Time Step Size — the increment between selectable queue values. Default is 5. Smaller steps give more precision; larger steps are faster to tap on a tablet.
Queue Time Update Warning — how many minutes can pass without a queue update before RideOps warns the Operator. Default is 15.
Best practice: Use a smaller step size on high-volume rides where wait times move quickly, so Operators can keep the posted figure accurate.
Dispatch settings
Open the Dispatches section of RideOps Settings to describe the ride's throughput.
Number of dispatchable units — how many units (trains, cars, boats) run simultaneously.
Capacity per dispatchable unit — how many guests fit in a single unit.
Time between dispatches — your operational target for the gap between dispatches.
Ideal time between dispatches — the best realistic gap on a perfectly running day, used as the upper bound for performance scoring.
Dispatch Update Warning — minutes RideOps waits between dispatch entries before warning the Operator. Default is 15.
Minimum time between dispatches — the shortest gap, in seconds, RideOps will accept, which prevents misclicks registering as impossibly fast cycles.
Note: Dispatch times can be entered as Seconds/Dispatch or Riders/Hour using the tab control at the top of the Dispatches section. Both describe the same throughput — Mobaro converts between them internally — so pick whichever unit your ops team naturally talks in. See Setting up RideOps for the full per-ride setup.
Dispatchable units vs. capacity per unit
The two values that most often get confused are Number of dispatchable units and Capacity per dispatchable unit (CPDU). They multiply together to give total capacity per dispatch, so mixing them up throws off every downstream figure.
Setting | What it means |
Number of dispatchable units | The number of units that can be dispatched independently at the same time — for example, a coaster running 2 trains. If only one unit can be on the track at a time, this is 1. |
Capacity per dispatchable unit | The number of guests a single unit holds — for example, a 16-seat train is 16, an 8-seat log flume boat is 8. Always per unit, never the combined total. |
So a ride running 3 trains of 20 seats each is configured as units = 3 and CPDU = 20, giving a total of 60 guests per dispatch — which RideOps calculates for you.
Critical: Don't enter total capacity in the CPDU field. CPDU is always the capacity of one unit. Entering the combined total (60 instead of 20) multiplies your throughput figures by the number of units and makes ridership reporting badly wrong.
Keeping settings accurate
Confirm CPDU against the real seating — verify per-unit seat counts so capacity is exact.
Adjust units for maintenance — if a train or car is pulled from service, lower the Number of dispatchable units to match what's actually running.
Calibrate for the season — reduce dispatchable units during lower-demand periods so figures reflect real operation.
Frequently asked questions
Q: What's the difference between time between dispatches and ideal time between dispatches?
A: The first is your operational target gap; the ideal is the best realistic gap on a perfect day. RideOps uses the ideal as the upper bound for performance scoring.
Q: Can I disable queue time or dispatch update warnings?
A: No, this isn't currently possible. You can, however, adjust the warning thresholds.
Q: Should CPDU be the total capacity of all units?
A: No. CPDU is the capacity of a single unit. Total capacity per dispatch is calculated automatically as units × CPDU.
Q: Do I enter dispatch times in seconds or riders per hour?
A: Either. Use the tab control in the Dispatches section to switch units; Mobaro converts between them internally.