diff --git a/biopet-framework/src/main/java/nl/lumc/sasc/biopet/core/Config.scala b/biopet-framework/src/main/java/nl/lumc/sasc/biopet/core/Config.scala
index 1cca58e0190566945ddc00fb1a583f7cfb30fd0f..85796a428064f910567d5972ce5a24073bf46478 100644
--- a/biopet-framework/src/main/java/nl/lumc/sasc/biopet/core/Config.scala
+++ b/biopet-framework/src/main/java/nl/lumc/sasc/biopet/core/Config.scala
@@ -125,6 +125,13 @@ class Config(var map: Map[String,Any]) extends Logging {
   }
   def getAsConfig(s:String) : Config = if (contains(s)) new Config(getAsMap(s)) else new Config(Map())
   
+  def getThreads(default:Int) : Int = {
+    val maxThreads = this.getAsInt("maxthreads", 8)
+    val threads = this.getAsInt("threads", default)
+    if (maxThreads > threads) return threads
+    else return maxThreads
+  }
+  
   override def toString() : String = map.toString
 }