While "limitations" might sound like a dirty word, I want to assure you that this is a positive thing. Custom user avatars will now be much less restricted, as I don't think anybody has dial-up any more. If you aren't on broadband, this is not meant to hinder your usage of the forums, but you probably already experience poor load times and a few more megabytes won't kill you. (You may also want to consider disabling avatars and signatures from your UserCP settings.)

Disclaimer aside, here are the changes:

Old avatar settings restricted the user to 100x150 pixels and slightly under 100kb in filesize. Old user profile picture settings restricted the user to 150x150 pixels and the same quaint sub-100kb filesize.

New limitations are below, with slight variance by usergroup:


REGISTERED MEMBERS can now upload files up to one megabyte in size. Sounds small, but for a relatively small image, that's a pretty big ceiling. Your pixel limitations will be 160x180, allowing you a much larger image. You may now also upload profile pictures up to 250x250 pixels with the same filesize limitation.

ALL STAFF, meaning everyone from moderators up to administrators, can now upload avatars and profile pictures with the same filesize limitations. Profile pictures are also limited to 250x250 pixels, but avatars are limited to 175x200 pixels. This is merely meant as a perk of the position, not per special request.

I toyed around with the options a bit and 175 pixels in width seemed to be the exact maximum without breaking the postbit. Users who still maintain a sub-720p resolution on their computers may experience slight width changes in the postbit between posts.