2201XERRORTier 2 — Caution✅ HIGH confidenceinvalid row count in result offset clause
Category: Data ExceptionVersions: All Postgres versions
What this means
SQLSTATE 2201X is raised when an OFFSET clause specifies a negative row count. OFFSET must be zero or a positive integer.
Why it happens
- 1Using a negative integer or computed negative expression as the OFFSET argument
How to reproduce
Query with a negative OFFSET.
trigger — this will ERROR
SELECT * FROM orders LIMIT 10 OFFSET -5;ERROR: OFFSET must not be negative
Fix 1: Clamp OFFSET to zero or above
When the OFFSET value is computed from pagination logic.
fix
SELECT * FROM orders LIMIT 10 OFFSET GREATEST(page * 10, 0);Why this works
GREATEST ensures the offset is never negative, which can happen when page arithmetic results in a negative number.
Sources
📚 Official docs: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/errcodes-appendix.html
🔧 Source ref: Class 22 — Data Exception
Confidence assessment
✅ HIGH confidence
Standard SQLSTATE for OFFSET validation. Stable across versions.
See also
🔗 Related errors
📄 Reference pages
SELECTOFFSET ClausePagination
⚙️ This error reference was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy. Examples are provided to illustrate common scenarios and may not cover every case. Always test fixes in a development environment before applying to production. Spotted an error? Suggest a correction →