<p>Manually modifying <em>anything</em> in the database inherently comes with risks.  The biggest is that you risk corrupting data by getting it in an inconsistent state across tables, which can cause foreign key constraint violation errors later on.</p>

<p>In the case of suspending/un-suspending a user, that risk is pretty low since it's limited to just the <code>craft_users</code> table, but in the case of changing user groups, it's higher because now you're talking about <code>craft_users</code>, <code>craft_usergroups</code>, <code>craft_usergroups_users</code>.</p>

<p>In both cases, you also need to take into account any plugins that might be using that data as well.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-18T17:15:03.987Z
2015-03-18T17:15:03.987Z
Brad Bell
<p>Is it dangerous for the longterm stability of the Craft database to modify user privileges (i.e. suspend users or change user group) at a database level?</p>

<p>Example scenario:</p>

<p>Somebody has gone into the database and suspended specific users and didn't use the Craft CP. Would doing this action in Craft CP modify more tables than just "craft_users"?</p>

<users><database>
What, if any, are the dangers to modifying users directly in the database?
# What, if any, are the dangers to modifying users directly in the database?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-03-18)

Is it dangerous for the longterm stability of the Craft database to modify user privileges (i.e. suspend users or change user group) at a database level?

Example scenario:

Somebody has gone into the database and suspended specific users and didn't use the Craft CP. Would doing this action in Craft CP modify more tables than just "craft\_users"?

**Tags:** users, database

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-03-18. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Manually modifying *anything* in the database inherently comes with risks. The biggest is that you risk corrupting data by getting it in an inconsistent state across tables, which can cause foreign key constraint violation errors later on.

In the case of suspending/un-suspending a user, that risk is pretty low since it's limited to just the `craft_users` table, but in the case of changing user groups, it's higher because now you're talking about `craft_users`, `craft_usergroups`, `craft_usergroups_users`.

In both cases, you also need to take into account any plugins that might be using that data as well.


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