Configuration via wp-config.php

Using wp-config.php, automatic updates can be disabled completely, and core updates can be disabled or configured based on update type.

Constant to Disable All Updates

The core developers made a conscious decision to enable automatic updates for minor releases and translation files out of the box. Going forward, this will be one of the best ways to guarantee your site stays up to date and secure and, as such, disabling these updates is strongly discouraged.

To completely disable all types of automatic updates, core or otherwise, add the following to your wp-config.php file:

define( 'AUTOMATIC_UPDATER_DISABLED', true );

Constant to Configure Core Updates

To enable automatic updates for major releases or development purposes, the place to start is with the WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE constant. Defining this constant one of three ways allows you to blanket-enable, or blanket-disable several types of core updates at once.

define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', false );

WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE can be defined with one of three values, each producing a different behavior: