---
sourceDocument: Australia Build or modify applications
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/application-development

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia Build or modify applications

ft:clusterId :

    - cadev

bundleId :

    - cadev

workflow :

    - Development, Data, and Analytics


---

# Properties

# Properties installed with Developer Sandboxes {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated October 19, 2026  
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## Summary of Properties installed with Developer Sandboxes

Developer Sandboxes in ServiceNow include a set of system properties that control application behavior and optimize sandbox management and performance.
These properties allow customers to configure node allocation, health monitoring, table data handling, and sandbox lifecycle operations.
Customers can access and modify these settings in thesyspropertiestable by searchingsysproperties.listin the navigation filter.
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## Key Features

* **Node Configuration:**
  * `glide.devsandbox.num.controller` sets how many nodes act as controllers, affecting the number of available sandboxes.
  * `glide.devsandbox.node.healthytimemin` defines how long a node is considered healthy, influencing how often remediation happens to reassign sandboxes.
  * Polling interval and timeout properties (`pollintervalseconds` and `polltimeoutmin`) control how frequently and how long nodes are checked during sandbox retirement.
* **Table Data Management:**
  * `glide.devsandbox.defaulttableconfig` determines the default table copying strategy for sandboxes (shared, full copy, zero copy), balancing isolation and resource use.
  * Thread settings (`dsbdbcopierthreads`, `datacopyprocessor.threads`, and `chunkcopy.threads`) regulate concurrency of table and data copy operations during sandbox creation, impacting performance and system load.
  * `glide.devsandbox.backuptables` lists tables preserved during cloning to retain data across sandbox recreations.
* **Lifecycle and Upgrade Handling:**
  * `cleanupretries` controls how many attempts are made to clean up leftover sandbox tables during destruction.
  * Export polling properties (`export.pollintervalseconds` and `export.polltimeoutmin`) manage how the system waits for sandboxes to export update sets before upgrades, balancing upgrade speed and data completeness.
  * `lifecycle.maxconcurrentevents` limits the number of simultaneous sandbox allocation and retirement events to prevent database overload.

## Practical Impact for ServiceNow Customers

By managing these properties, customers can tailor Developer Sandboxes to their organizational needs---optimizing sandbox availability, performance, and data handling. Proper configuration ensures efficient sandbox creation and retirement processes, smooth upgrade transitions, and reliable data preservation during cloning. Customers should adjust concurrency and timing settings carefully, ideally consulting their account manager before increasing thread counts to avoid undue system load.  
The system properties available in Developer Sandboxes govern application behavior, enabling developers to configure and optimize their testing environments effectively.
Note:  
To open the System Properties \[sys_properties\] table, enter <kbd class="ph userinput">sys_properties.list</kbd> in the navigation filter.  
These properties are available for Developer Sandboxes.{#dsb-properties-installed__table_ek4_ct3_xhc__entry__3}

| Property | Description | Details |
|-|-|-|
| `glide.dev_sandbox.num.controller` | Number of nodes that run as a controller. * Type: number * Default value: 2 {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_fk4_ct3_xhc} | * Can't be 0. * Increasing converts unassigned nodes to controller nodes. * Decreasing converts unassigned nodes to nodes. * More controller nodes mean you get fewer sandboxes. {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_k5r_1z3_xhc} |
| `glide.dev_sandbox.node.healthy_time_min` | Time in minutes that a node is considered healthy. An unhealthy node that's assigned to a sandbox can be remediated by assigning it to another sandbox. Remediation is the process of detecting a sandbox that should be running on a node but isn't, and then assigning another node to run on the sandbox. * Type: number * Default value: 10 {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_blf_5y3_xhc} | * Increasing this value keeps a sandbox node up longer, so remediation happens less frequently. * Decreasing it takes a node down faster, so remediation occurs more frequently. * Do not set this value lower than the time it takes a node to restart, roughly 3 minutes. During a restart, the node is still considered healthy to prevent the remediator from reassigning sandboxes to another node. {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_gxg_n1j_xhc} |
| `glide.dev_sandbox.node.poll_interval_seconds` | Number of seconds between status checks for a node expected to go offline in the sys_cluster_state table, which contains the nodes that are assigned to an instance. * Type: number * Default value: 10 {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_ptm_vy3_xhc} | * Generally doesn't need to be changed. * Used during sandbox retirement to determine how often a node is checked for being set to offline. * Increasing means the polling happens more often. * Decreasing means that the polling happens less often. {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_ebz_hbj_xhc} |
| `glide.dev_sandbox.node.poll_timeout_min` | Number of minutes to wait for a node to shutdown, and have a Status of Offline in sys_cluster_state table. * Type: number * Default value: 2 {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_ekj_vy3_xhc} | * Generally doesn't need to be changed. * Used during sandbox retirement to determine how long to check for a sandbox node to be set to offline. * Increasing means the polling happens longer. * Decreasing means that the polling completes faster. {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_knb_kcj_xhc} |
| `glide.dev_sandbox.default_table_config` | Default table config in Developer Sandboxes. * Type: string * Default value: shared_table * Other possible values: * shared_table * full_copy * zero_copy {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_l2f_vy3_xhc} {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_k2f_vy3_xhc} | * The full_copy value isolates tables but uses much more database space and can make sandbox creation slower, especially with large datasets. * The zero_copy value also isolates tables with less initial disk space, but starts empty and may consume more space as data is added. {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_i2k_bsj_xhc} |
| `glide.dev_sandbox.dsb_db_copier_threads` | Number of concurrent table creations in a sandbox. * Type: number * Default value: 1 * Other possible values: 1-5 {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_esd_vy3_xhc} | * Increasing threads can create more contention and load when creating sandboxes. * Warning: Do not change this value without consulting your account manager. {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_a1y_hsj_xhc} |
| `glide.db.dsb.data_copy_processor.threads ` | Number of data copy plans to run concurrently during sandbox creation. * Type: number * Default value: 1 * Other possible values: 1-5 {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_lcb_vy3_xhc} | * This value is multiplied by the glide.dev_sandbox.dsb_db_copier_threads value. * Increasing threads can create more contention and load when creating sandboxes. * Warning: Do not change this value without consulting your account manager. {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_rdp_4sj_xhc} |
| `glide.db.dsb.data_copy_processor.chunk_copy.threads` | Number of data copiers running at a time for each table. * Type: number * Default value: 5 * Other possible values: 1-5 {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_zwm_5y3_xhc} | * This value is multiplied by the glide.dev_sandbox.dsb_db_copier_threads and glide.db.dsb.data_copy_processor.threads values. * Decreasing this value slows down sandbox creation. {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_t5k_5sj_xhc} |
| `glide.dev_sandbox.cleanup_retries` | Number of retries the Developer Sandboxes destroy code attempts to do clean up any leftover Developer Sandboxes tables. * Type: number * Default value: 3 {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_vfx_wyz_c3c} |   |
| `glide.dev_sandbox.backup_tables` | Tables that will be preserved for recreating developer sandboxes post clone. * Type: string * Default value: sys_repo_config {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_izr_kmr_c3c} | Comma-delimited list of tables to preserve. If a table has is referenced here, its content in each sandbox is saved and preserved during clones, then restored post-clone in the re-created sandbox(es). This property is effective only when Developer Sandboxes are enabled via the glide.dev_sandbox.enabled property, and impacts only sandboxes. |
| `glide.dev_sandbox.export.poll_interval_seconds` | Frequency in seconds that the controller node checks if a sandbox has completed exporting its altered update sets. This property is used only when exporting sandbox update sets before an instance upgrade begins. * Type: number * Default value: 10 {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_dhq_zmr_c3c} | Decreasing the value may help the upgrade go faster but at the cost of extra checks. |
| `glide.dev_sandbox.export.poll_timeout_min` | How long the controller node waits for a sandbox to export its altered update sets before an instance upgrade. If the timeout limit is reached, the upgrade continues regardless of export state. * Type: number * Default value: 10 {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_qlm_csr_c3c} | * Decreasing the value may result in unexported updates. * Increasing the value helps to ensure that changes are exported, but can delay the upgrade. {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_tjc_dsr_c3c} |
| `glide.dev_sandbox.lifecycle.max_concurrent_events` | Maximum limit of concurrent sandbox allocations/retirements events. * Type: number * Default value: 5 {#dsb-properties-installed__ul_q1x_gsr_c3c} | Increasing the value enables more concurrent allocations/retirement, but could overload the database. |
[Table 1. Properties for Developer Sandboxes]

{#dsb-properties-installed__table_ek4_ct3_xhc}