---
title: Search bar date picker minimum stay
description: The date picker in your search bar may allow or block stay lengths that do not match what individual homes accept in your PMS. This happens because the…
url: "https://homerunner.io/docs/why-does-the-search-bar-date-picker-allow-1-night-stays-even-though-my-site-s-mi/"
updated: "2026-10-26"
category: Booking engine and checkout
---

# Search bar date picker minimum stay

The date picker in your search bar may allow or block stay lengths that do not match what individual homes accept in your PMS. This happens because the date picker and the search results use two different sources for minimum-stay rules.

**Why this happens.** Search results always apply each home's real per-date minimum from your PMS, so a 1-night search only returns homes that genuinely accept 1 night on those dates. The date picker follows the same rule as the Explorer calendar. When the **Explorer Dynamic Min Stay** module is off, the picker uses the site-wide **Explorer minimum stay** setting and blocks every stay shorter than that number, regardless of what individual homes allow. This can make the picker feel too restrictive. When the module is on, the picker instead uses the lowest minimum any home requires on each date across your entire portfolio. If even one home accepts 1-night stays on a date, the picker allows a 1-night search for that date, because that search can return that home. The site-wide minimum then only applies to dates the per-date data does not cover, such as dates beyond your synced availability range.

**To make the picker follow your PMS rules:**

1. Set the site-wide **Explorer minimum stay** to the lowest minimum any home uses. Set it to 1 if any home ever accepts 1-night stays. This number acts as a fallback only.
2. In WordPress admin, open **HomeRunner Toolkit**, go to **Modules**, enable **Explorer Dynamic Min Stay**, and click **Refresh now**. The module reads every home's calendar from the PMS, works out the lowest minimum for each date, and feeds that to the picker. After the initial run, it refreshes once a day.
3. Clear the site cache so the updated settings take effect.

After this, guests can select any stay length that at least one home accepts on those dates, and results narrow to the homes that actually allow it. Minimum-stay changes made in your PMS, such as holiday bumps or gap-night openings, flow through on the daily refresh.

**To enforce the site-wide minimum instead.** If you want the picker to enforce the site-wide minimum even though some homes accept shorter stays, you have two options. You can turn **Explorer Dynamic Min Stay** off under **HomeRunner Toolkit**, **Modules**. Or you can raise the minimum stay in your PMS on the homes that accept shorter stays and let the next sync update the per-date data.

The minimum-stay tip, greyed nights, and the night-count shortcut all appear as soon as a date resolves to a minimum above 1.

Still stuck? [Contact the HomeRunner team](https://homerunner.io/contact/) with your site address and what you tried, and we take it from there.