---
title: "normalDistributionStages(maxVus, durationSeconds, [numberOfStages]) | Grafana k6 documentation"
description: "normalDistributionStages function"
---

# normalDistributionStages(maxVus, durationSeconds, \[numberOfStages])

Function to create [stages](/docs/k6/latest/using-k6/k6-options/#stages) producing a *normal distribution (bell-curve)* of VUs for a test.

Expand table

| Parameter                 | Type | Description                                      |
|---------------------------|------|--------------------------------------------------|
| maxVus                    | int  | Maximum virtual users at the height of the curve |
| durationSeconds           | int  | Overall duration for all stages combined         |
| numberOfStages (optional) | int  | Number of stages to create; default is `10`      |

### Returns

Expand table

| Type           | Description                                                                        |
|----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| array\[object] | An array of `{"duration": "XXXs", "target": XXX}` JSON objects representing stages |

### Example

JavaScript ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```javascript
import { sleep } from 'k6';
import exec from 'k6/execution';
import { normalDistributionStages } from 'https://jslib.k6.io/k6-utils/1.2.0/index.js';

export const options = {
  // Alters the number of VUs from 1 to 10 over a period
  // of 20 seconds comprised of 5 stages.
  stages: normalDistributionStages(10, 20, 5),
};

export default function () {
  console.log(exec.instance.vusActive);
  sleep(1);
}
```