Possible issues increasing the 4000 max character limit to 10000 on Special instructions?

[GM5]

Hello All,

I came across the a requirement about increasing a field max character limit to 10000, I've been checking documentation for possible issues but so far I got no answers, does anybody has a valid reason to not do this and what could be the possible implications? 

Thanks,

[SatyakiBose · Accepted solution]

Hello @GM5 

You can increase the max length of a string field to 10000, but then again this is controlled by the database and not restricted by the product.

4000 which is set default by system is to optimize the platform performance.

Anything above this will have impact on the platform performance.

Now again, you business requirement might ask you to have a string field with more characters, and that's why the platform allows you to set a desired value. 

You can get more clarity my referring to the KB article here - Fields in ServiceNow accept string inputs greater than the sys_dictionary max_length value

Some community posts with same questions can be found here:

• Modify string field length
• Max Length on Large String Fields in ServiceNow