Why is my CPU usage at 61%? I have wordpress installed on ubuntu .

Hi there,

This can feel surprising, but it’s actually pretty common and usually not a real problem.

A few things that are likely happening here.

First, right after you create a droplet and install WordPress, the server is often still doing background work. Things like apt finishing installs, unattended upgrades, indexing files, or services starting for the first time can easily push CPU usage up for a bit. On a brand-new system, short CPU spikes around 40–70% aren’t unusual.

Second, WordPress itself can briefly use CPU even with no visitors. On first install, PHP, Apache/Nginx, and MySQL/MariaDB all start up, generate caches, create tables, and sometimes run cron tasks. WordPress also triggers wp-cron internally, which can run even without traffic.

Third, the DigitalOcean graph shows total CPU usage over time, not “someone is actively using my site right now.” A short burst of activity (even a few seconds) can make the graph look like it’s sitting at 60%, especially if you’re looking at a small time window.

The important thing to check is what’s actually using CPU right now. SSH into the droplet and run:

top

or, if available:

htop

If you see things like apt, unattended-upgrades, mysqld, php-fpm, or apache2/nginx briefly at the top, that’s completely normal on a fresh install.

Also note that memory at ~23% is healthy. Linux uses RAM aggressively for caching, so low memory usage doesn’t mean “nothing is happening,” and higher usage wouldn’t be a concern either.

If the CPU stays pinned above ~50–60% for hours with no traffic, then it’s worth digging deeper. If it settles down after a while (which it usually does), you’re fine.

If you want, paste the output of top here and I can tell you exactly what’s causing the load.

Hope that this helps!