Manual:$wgUseCommaCount

Details
Under which condition should a page in the main namespace be counted as a valid article?

If $wgUseCommaCount is set to true, it will be counted if it contains at least one comma.

If it is set to false (default), it will only be counted if it contains at least one wiki link.

Changing this variable does not retroactively affect the existing count. Run the maintenance script updateArticleCount.php or initStats.php to update the count.