# PHP changes on the new platform

Source: https://docs.fortrabbit.com/platform/new/changes/php
Published: 2026-10-23
Updated: 2026-10-24
Reviewed: 2026-10-23

> PHP on the new fortrabbit platform: the same extensions with three toggles, five ini settings with fixed values, memory by plan and UTC as timezone.


PHP 8.2 to 8.5 are available on the new platform. PHP 7.4, 8.0 and 8.1 are planned as paid [legacy PHP versions](/platform/settings/php#legacy-php-versions).

## Extensions

These extensions are always on, no toggle needed: bcmath, bz2, calendar, curl, exif, gd, gettext, gmp, gnupg, igbinary, imagick, imap, intl, ldap, mbstring, memcached, mongodb, mysqli, oauth, odbc, OPcache, pcntl, PDO (MySQL, ODBC, PostgreSQL, SQLite), pgsql, redis, soap, sockets, SQLite3, ssh2, tidy, xsl, yaml and zip. Use [phpinfo](/dev/learn/php-info) for the full list of a running environment.

Three extensions are toggles in the [PHP settings](/platform/settings/php), all off by default:

- **APCu**: on by default on the old platform, now opt-in. With APCu on, OPcache and APCu each get a quarter of the PHP memory. With APCu off, OPcache gets half.
- **New Relic**: enter the license key in the dashboard.
- **Blackfire**: enter the server ID and server token in the dashboard.

Phalcon, PSR and GeoIP are not available any more. The memcached extension is there, but there is no Memcache service to connect to, see [no memcache](/platform/new/changes/removed#no-memcache).

## ini settings

The dashboard offers five ini settings, each with a fixed set of values:

| Setting               | Old platform  | New platform           |
| --------------------- | ------------- | ---------------------- |
| `max_execution_time`  | 2 to 1200     | 5, 10, 30, 60, 120     |
| `max_input_vars`      | 1000 to 10000 | 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000 |
| `post_max_size`       | 1M to 256M    | 64M to 1024M           |
| `upload_max_filesize` | 1M to 256M    | 64M to 1024M           |
| `output_buffering`    | 0 to 10240    | 0 or 4096              |

The official migration moves each value to the nearest one the new platform offers.

`memory_limit` is not a setting any more: it follows the memory of the booked [PHP plan](/platform/components/php). `short_open_tag` and `default_charset` from the old dashboard go into a [.user.ini file](/dev/how-to/userini). `realpath_cache_size`, `opcache.*` and `apc.*` are system settings, which `.user.ini` cannot change, and keep the platform values.

## Timezone is UTC

The old platform set `date.timezone` to `Europe/Berlin` by default. The new platform sets no default, so PHP uses UTC, and migrated apps run on UTC too. Check code that relies on the old default, such as dates shown to visitors or cron schedules. To keep the old behavior, set the timezone in the app config, or add `date.timezone = "Europe/Berlin"` to a [.user.ini file](/dev/how-to/userini).

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- [PHP settings](/platform/settings/php)
- [What's new](/platform/new/changes/whats-new)