Running one-off cron jobs when WP_DISABLE_CRON is true: can I hit /wp-cron.php?

The WP_DISABLE_CRON constant only removes WP-Cron from loading on the page so it’s no longer triggered by site traffic.

You can absolutely hit the wp-cron.php file directly to trigger it. I use https://cron-job.org to ping my private sites at https://dev.example.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron for example.

This is actually recommended in the WordPress handbook: https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/cron/hooking-wp-cron-into-the-system-task-scheduler/

Editing to add: if you’re concerned about triggering any other hooks associated with WP-Cron that maybe the site owner wants to avoid, you can also use cron-job.org (or a server CRON) to ping a page within your plugin to only run your update function without triggering WP-Cron at all.

Related Posts:

  1. How Do I Make WordPress Run an Event Every Day?
  2. Hourly WP schedule, do I need at least 1 visitor hourly?
  3. Is there any background process that I can run from plugin without depending on page hits on a website without affecting page-load speed?
  4. WordPress cron running twice
  5. Will cron job run if page loaded is being served from cache?
  6. How to schedule a cron job in plugin without waiting for page load request?
  7. How to perform a heavy and long process in cron jobs?
  8. How to Trigger WP CRON at Local Timestamp?
  9. Plugin with functions inside a class & how to trigger WP CRON
  10. How and when would I implement some code which would take data from one part of the Db and put it in another?
  11. WP Cron as Fast as WordPress AJAX?
  12. What is the use of wp_schedule_event hook?
  13. Post meta vs separate database tables
  14. Is it mandatory to use $wpdb->prefix in custom tables
  15. Update Option Stored in Multi-Dimensional Array
  16. How do I log plugin (cron) actions?
  17. Which action for triggering cron “wp”or “init”?
  18. Using a database view = evil incarnate?
  19. Writing a plugin that notify my friends of new post that mentions(@) them
  20. WordPress and multithreading
  21. What is the correct way for plugins to create tables with special charset/collation considerations?
  22. Using wp_cron with custom time interval and the register activation hook
  23. How can I change the frequency of a scheduled event?
  24. Actions or filters fired when data is saved in a custom table
  25. WP Cron doesn’t save or in post body
  26. Scheduled event does not run at midnight
  27. Sample — test — data for large WordPress install
  28. Custom Plugin Database relations
  29. Is there any reason only 1 (my) IP would be added to this table using $wpdn->insert?
  30. Is it possible to load plugin from console with core ?
  31. How ( and mostly at what time ) can i prevent the alternate cron from running?
  32. How to store data for posts/pages built with drag-n-drop builder?
  33. Database for development
  34. Is there a naming convention for database tables created by a plugin?
  35. Version upgrade: can my plugin filter the SQL statements issued during a database upgrade?
  36. Saving data from block editor to the database
  37. Scheduling a task using class methods
  38. Creating table with plugin is not working
  39. What is minimum time interval for which a cron be scheduled?
  40. dbDelta() Error – Incorrect index name ” for query ALTER TABLE
  41. Update/insert only a column of database table
  42. Use wp_set_post_terms() instead of wp_insert_post()
  43. Subscribe to author?
  44. Programmatically detect if wp-cron is disabled?
  45. Loading WordPress Admin Environment
  46. Using WPDB to output raw XML fails because of wp-blog-header.php
  47. Strange issue saving custom field data for a WooCommerce order
  48. Form doesnt save to database
  49. Updating Woocommerce Settings API when WordPress Settings API saved and vise versa
  50. How does task scheduler plugin implements cron that is not dependent on page load request? [closed]
  51. Is using custom table to suit business needs instead of transients a big hit to page load speed?
  52. How wp-cron can run in background if PHP is single threaded?
  53. Plugin Development for registered users
  54. Problems with cron
  55. Optimising a big WordPress site
  56. wpdb->prepare and mysql UPDATE – how is it done?
  57. dbDelta SQL Query Not Working
  58. wp-cron and execution of code in is_admin() included script
  59. dbDelta not installing database
  60. Plugin: database creation
  61. Adding columns to core tables
  62. wp_schedule_event() set daily, but processed every second
  63. Show dynamic list of products from custom api of another database under same host
  64. Make Database query only when option is updated
  65. Can we intercept user_login and user_pass from a wp_login_form?
  66. How best to handle database version dependence (from $wp_db_version)
  67. Looking for a better way to initiate cron job
  68. WP: Search and replace in DB programmatically
  69. Using AND and bracket grouping in SQL not working
  70. How to Schedule Cronjobs for start of every month and year
  71. Switch from wp-cron to a server cron job
  72. WordPress plugin cron working only if admin is logged in
  73. Plugin Development: Storing and Manipulating Data That Fits JSON in Database
  74. How to make a cronjob type plugin
  75. How do I debug an error that a plugin is causing?
  76. Save temporary registration data
  77. Update plugin settings option_name for big plugin update
  78. Cron: Update four post at Hour
  79. How to Run Plugin on Server Without Web Browser
  80. Why User_login key doesn’t work with wp_update_user()
  81. How to get inserted row IDs for bulk/batch insert with wpdb query?
  82. WordPress how do I echo SUM from a column of a MySQL table by user id AND type_operation
  83. Save in my custom admin page and redirect to the saved object
  84. Relational / Associate tables using native WordPress functionality
  85. WordPress doesn’t create table on plugin activation
  86. Insert Data into Database
  87. Update database record in plugin
  88. WordPress Cron function is not working
  89. Why Worpdress doesn’t create table in database?
  90. Form and database, plugin development
  91. Detect each active instance of a widget
  92. Adding custom cron_schedule prior to wp_schedule_event
  93. Can wp_schedule_single_event be used to run background proccess?
  94. Call do_action() within WordPress cronjob
  95. How to create a database table in WordPress using PHP
  96. Leveraging Core Functionality in Icon Upload Plugin [closed]
  97. Programmatically creating posts based on external JSON feed (asynchronously)
  98. WordPress database error: [Table ‘bitnami_wordpress.questions’ doesn’t exist]
  99. Making a user platform reachable by a qr code on a pin-back-button [closed]
  100. multiple record insert creating many duplicate records