﻿---
title: unit_count
description: The value of this setting will be used as a multiplier for unit. unit, unit_count, and optionally, epoch, are used by Curator to establish the moment...
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2395/reference/elasticsearch/curator/fe_unit_count
---

# unit_count
<note>
  This setting is only used with the [age](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2395/reference/elasticsearch/curator/filtertype_age) filtertype, or with the [space](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2395/reference/elasticsearch/curator/filtertype_space) filtertype if [use_age](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2395/reference/elasticsearch/curator/fe_use_age) is set to `True`.
</note>

```yaml
 - filtertype: age
   source: creation_date
   direction: older
   unit: days
   unit_count: 3
```

The value of this setting will be used as a multiplier for [unit](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2395/reference/elasticsearch/curator/fe_unit).
[unit](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2395/reference/elasticsearch/curator/fe_unit), unit_count, and optionally, [epoch](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2395/reference/elasticsearch/curator/fe_epoch), are used by Curator to establish the moment in time point of reference with this formula:
```sh
point_of_reference = epoch - ((number of seconds in unit) * unit_count)
```

[`units`](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2395/reference/elasticsearch/curator/fe_unit) are calculated as follows:

| Unit      | Seconds    | Note                                  |
|-----------|------------|---------------------------------------|
| `seconds` | `1`        | One second                            |
| `minutes` | `60`       | Calculated as 60 seconds              |
| `hours`   | `3600`     | Calculated as 60 minutes (60*60)      |
| `days`    | `86400`    | Calculated as 24 hours (24*60*60)     |
| `weeks`   | `604800`   | Calculated as 7 days (7*24*60*60)     |
| `months`  | `2592000`  | Calculated as 30 days (30*24*60*60)   |
| `years`   | `31536000` | Calculated as 365 days (365*24*60*60) |

If [epoch](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2395/reference/elasticsearch/curator/fe_epoch) is unset, the current time is used. It is possible to set a point of reference in the future by using a negative value for unit_count.
This setting must be set by the user or an exception will be raised, and execution will halt.
If this setting is used in conjunction with [unit_count_pattern](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2395/reference/elasticsearch/curator/fe_unit_count_pattern), the configured value will only be used as a fallback value in case the pattern could not be matched. The value *-1* has a special meaning in this case and causes the index to be ignored when pattern matching fails.
<tip>
  See the [age filter documentation](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2395/reference/elasticsearch/curator/filtertype_age) for more information about time calculation.
</tip>