diff --git a/src/badgey/commands/ranks.rs b/src/badgey/commands/ranks.rs
index aed7e73..3080d3c 100644
--- a/src/badgey/commands/ranks.rs
+++ b/src/badgey/commands/ranks.rs
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ async fn rank(ctx: ManifoldContext<'_>) -> ManifoldResult<()> {
 async fn leaderboard(ctx: ManifoldContext<'_>) -> ManifoldResult<()> {
 
     let reply_handle = ctx.reply("Retrieving leaderboard, please stand by...".to_string()).await?;
-    let entries_per_page = 10;
+    let entries_per_page = 5;
     let mut pages = Vec::<CreateEmbed>::new();
     let leaderboard = Xp::get_leaderboard(&ctx.data().database)?;
     let total = leaderboard.len();
@@ -139,9 +139,19 @@ async fn leaderboard(ctx: ManifoldContext<'_>) -> ManifoldResult<()> {
         let mut values = String::new();
 
         leaderboard.iter().skip(i*entries_per_page).enumerate().for_each(|(i, f)| {
-            ranks.push_str(format!("{rank}\n", rank=(i+1)).as_str());
-            users.push_str(format!("<@{user}>\n", user=f.user_id).as_str());
-            values.push_str(format!("{xp}\n", xp=f.xp_value).as_str());
+            let new_rank = format!("{rank}\n", rank=(i+1));
+            let new_user = format!("<@{user}>\n", user=f.user_id);
+            let new_value = format!("{xp}\n", xp=f.xp_value);
+
+            // field values are capped at 1024 characters
+            // so we have to check if what we're about to add will break that limit and bail out if so
+            if (ranks.len() + new_rank.len()) > 1024 || (users.len() + new_user.len()) > 1024 || (values.len() + new_value.len()) > 1024 {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            ranks.push_str(new_rank.as_str());
+            users.push_str(new_user.as_str());
+            values.push_str(new_value.as_str());
         });
 
         fields.push(("Rank", &ranks, true));