Arm and disarm with a zone PIN

Last modified: Wednesday January 21, 2026.

You can set a zone PIN that anybody can enter into an associated arming station to arm and disarm the zone.

If you set the same PIN in multiple zones, a user authenticated with that PIN can arm or disarm those zones from any associated arming station.

Anybody who knows a zone PIN can use it to arm and disarm a zone. Alta Protect cannot verify they are a valid system user. Exercise suitable best practices when creating and issuing zone PINs.

Any user with device permissions to Arm/Disarm alarm zones or Add/Edit alarm zones can set and see zone PINs in Alta Protect. For more information, see Assign Protect device permissions to users.

Set a zone PIN

  1. Open zones tool button Zones.
  2. Right click the required zone and select Edit.
  3. Click ARM & DISARM.
  4. Select With devices.
  5. Set Authenticate by to PIN
  6. Set a PIN 4–16 digits long.

    7. Generally, use PINs of six or more digits, especially if you have lots of users. Short PINs are easier to guess, 'brute force' (try every combination), or observe ('shoulder-surf').

  7. Set the number of incorrect PIN entries allowed before an alarm triggers. If an arming station controls more than one zone, the zone with the lowest value determines the allowable attempts.

View a zone PIN

You must have device permissions to Arm/Disarm alarm zones or Add/Edit alarm zones to view a zone PIN.

  1. Open the Zones tool.
  2. Select the required zone.
  3. In the side panel, locate PIN and click view pin button.

Use a zone PIN

For more information about using PINs with an arming station, see Use an Arming Station Pro to arm and disarm zones .