Table codes are custom codes (up to 4 digits) you can ask your customers to input once they scan your QR table card in order to be able to start ordering. The table codes are typically put on the back side of the table card, so the customer needs to flip the card over to see it. Table codes are only relevant for channels where the customer pays at the end of the meal (where they can send orders to the kitchen without first paying), namely Dine-in channels.

Table codes are an added layer of security that protects against someone being able to order while not in your restaurant. The most innocent version of this is that someone posts a picture on social media where your QR table card is visible, and someone scans the code out of curiosity and doesn't realized they're submitting real orders. The less innocent version is if someone purposefully overflows your kitchen with fake orders.

Table codes are not a bulletproof security layer - if somebody really wanted to, they could go to your restaurant, take pictures of both sides of the card, and order later when not in your restaurant. There's no easy way to protect from that kind of malicious behavior, but the table codes do eliminate most problematic cases.

We strongly suggest you put table codes on the back of your QR table cards. We have seen table codes on the front (on the same side as the QR code), but if you've read the above you'll realize that defeats the purpose.

Best practice is that when your staff seats your customers, your staff informs the customer that the table code is on the back. We've also seen merchants put "Table code on the back" as text on the front page (with the QR code).

Table codes prevent any innocent attempts at fraudulent orders, and we have not heard any reports of truly malicious attempts. If someone is truly trying to do harm, chances are they will order an unusually large amount of items, in which case you can quickly check that someone is at the table it's being ordered from and that they actually submitted that order.

If you still wish to have even more protection than a static table code, you could always change your table codes often - either by printing new table cards with the new codes on the back, or by not having the code on the cards and instead just telling the customer the code verbally or giving them another piece of paper with the current code. This does add operational complexity, staff work, and higher likelihood of customers getting confused - all while addressing a risk that is very small - so we don't recommend it, but of course you are free to use the table codes as you see fit.

Table codes are easily set, changed, or removed any time in each channel's settings in "Passcode", as in the image below.