Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described that provide for a user equipment (UE) capability indication that indicates one or more constraints associated with a supported modulation order. In some cases, the UE capability indication may indicate that the UE supports a particular modulation order, but has a capacity constraint such that an associated data rate is limited to a data rate associated with a lower modulation order. In some cases, one or more frequency bands may be mapped to a UE constraint.