The creator of the note pad indicates the number of notes needed for the note pad. In general, this number will be the maximum number of notes that need to reside in the note pad at the same time. Short of deleting the note pad and creating it all over again, this value cannot be changed dynamically after the note pad is created.

The note limit is one of the factors considered by XCF when choosing a CF structure to host the note pad. Structures that do not appear to have enough available space to accommodate the requested number of notes will be excluded from the candidate list. The create request is rejected if there is no candidate structure with enough space for the requested number of notes.

After the note pad is created, XCF rejects a note request if it would cause the number of notes in the note pad to exceed the specified note limit. In such cases, the note pad is said to be full. There could also be situations where XCF is forced to reject a request that creates a new note even though the note pad is not full. In these cases, the note pad is said to be constrained. See Constrained conditions for more information.