# Maximum number of shards reached on a single node cluster
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-shards-reached-on-a-single-node-cluster/286204
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [October 8, 2021, 8:17am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-shards-reached-on-a-single-node-cluster/286204 "2021-10-08T08:17:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@NoemieB](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/NoemieB)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2021, 8:17am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-shards-reached-on-a-single-node-cluster/286204/1 "2021-10-08T08:17:22Z")
Hello,
When creating an Index, I get the following error : "this action would add [2] total shards, but this cluster currently has [1000]/[1000] maximum shards open;"
I found out a few posts about this issue and checked the indices for the number of shards they use and their status.
Here is the current status of my Elasticsearch :
- My cluster is composed of only one node. This node has the default maximum number of shards (1000). 503 indices are present, all having a number\_of\_shards set to 1 and a number\_of\_replicas set to 1. The status for each index is "Yellow".
- I am running on Elasticsearch 7.6.2
From what I could find, when having a single node, the replica is not created. As the number of shards per index is 1, shouldn't have only 503 shards used and not the 1000 ?
Thanks for your help,
Noémie
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### Author:  [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2021, 8:39am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-shards-reached-on-a-single-node-cluster/286204/2 "2021-10-08T08:39:16Z")
Set number of reucas to 0 as they can not be allocated on a single node cluster. Also look at trying to reduce the number of indices you are creating.
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### Author:  [@NoemieB](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/NoemieB)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2021, 8:40am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-shards-reached-on-a-single-node-cluster/286204/3 "2021-10-08T08:40:52Z")
I am currently checking for a delete of the old indices after a retention period but I was wondering why I had so many shards used when I have "only" 503 indices (time based, daily frequency)
Is it because of the replicas, even though they are not supposed to be created on the same node as the primary ?
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### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2021, 8:40am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/maximum-number-of-shards-reached-on-a-single-node-cluster/286204/4 "2021-11-05T08:40:59Z")
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