Performance Counter

Monitor any Windows performance counter and get alerted when its average value rises above or falls below your thresholds.

The Performance Counter check reads a Windows performance counter of your choice, averages several samples, and compares the value against two thresholds. Use it for metrics that have no dedicated check, such as queue lengths or application counters. The check ships for Windows x64 and Windows Arm64, reads the counter through PowerShell (Get-Counter), and runs every 5 minutes by default. Linux and macOS are not supported.

Steps

Go to Devices and open the device.
Click the Checks tab → Add Check → Performance Counter.
Enter the Counter path and adjust the thresholds if needed.
Click Add Check.

To assign the check to several devices, use a config package.

Settings

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
Counter path	text	Yes	—	Performance counter path, e.g. `\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time`. Use the counter names in the Windows system's language
Samples	integer	No	3	Number of samples, one second apart, whose average is evaluated (1–30; values outside this range are clamped)
Alert when below threshold	boolean	No	Off	Triggers when the value falls below the thresholds instead of rising above them
Warning threshold	number	No	80	Value at which a warning is raised
Error threshold	number	No	95	Value at which a critical result is raised

Samples sets the number of samples per run, not the check interval.
Performance counter names are localized in Windows: on a non-English system, use the counter names in that language. You can look up the exact path in the device's Windows Performance Monitor.
If the path returns several instances, for example with the * wildcard, the check averages across all samples of all instances.
The query has a fixed 30-second time limit. Because each sample takes about one second, a Samples value close to 30 can exceed the limit; the check then reports a warning without a value.
If the thresholds are in the wrong order, the check swaps them before evaluation: normally the error threshold sits above the warning threshold, and below it with Alert when below threshold. If you turn the option on and keep the defaults, you therefore get a warning at 95 or less and Critical at 80 or less.

Results

The check evaluates the average of all samples, rounded to two decimal places. Both thresholds also trigger on equality. The Error tier corresponds to the Critical status.

Condition	Status
Value ≥ Error threshold (with Alert when below threshold: value ≤ Error threshold)	Critical
Value ≥ Warning threshold (with Alert when below threshold: value ≤ Warning threshold)	Warning
Otherwise	OK
Counter path is empty	Warning ("No counter path configured")
The query returns no value or no output	Warning
The query fails, e.g. because the counter path does not exist	Failure ("Counter query failed")

See also: Set up alerts for a check

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