Domain system properties and user preferences

Release version: Australia

Updated March 12, 2026

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Summary of Domain System Properties and User Preferences

Administrators can manage properties and user preferences that control domain scope within the ServiceNow platform. Domain separation restricts access to records and related data based on the record's domain, enhancing data security and integrity. This functionality is crucial for organizations operating in a multi-domain environment.

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Key Features

Domain Scope Restrictions: New domain separation activations automatically limit data and processes to the record's domain. Each tab in a user interface maintains its own domain scope based on the opened record.
System Properties: Key properties include:
- glide.sys.domain.userecorddomainforprocesses: Restricts processes to the record's domain, always applying to business rules.
- glide.sys.domain.userecorddomainfordata: Limits data access to the record's domain.
- glide.sys.domain.skipdomaininsertbusinessrules: Determines business rules based on session domain for new activations, improving performance.
User Preferences: Administrators can set preferences globally or per user, influencing the default domain scope.
- glide.domain.sessionscope: When true, the session domain is the default; otherwise, it is the record's domain.
- glide.domain.sessionscopenotification: Provides a visual cue for expanded domain scope when true.

Key Outcomes

By effectively utilizing these properties and preferences, ServiceNow customers can ensure that users access only relevant data based on their domain, thereby enhancing security and efficiency. Proper configuration leads to improved performance and adherence to best practices in domain separation.

Administrators have access to properties and user preferences that control domain scope.

Properties

New activations of domain separation automatically restrict domain scope to the record's domain for all related data or processes. When the user views a record in a form, the record's related data (such as reference picker and related list data) and applied processes (such as business rules and client scripts) are restricted to the record's domain scope. If there are records in multiple tabs, each tab has its own domain scope based on the record opened within that tab. The following properties restrict domain scope to either the record’s domain and the user’s current session domain.

Table 1. Domain system properties
Property	Details
glide.sys.domain.use_record_domain_for_processes	Restricts domain scope to the record's domain for all processes. This property does not apply to business rules. Business rules are always processed from the domain record. Type: true \| false Default value: true Location: System Property [sys_properties] table
glide.sys.domain.use_record_domain_for_data	Restricts domain scope to the record's domain for all data. Type: true \| false Default value: true in new domain activations from Fuji onwards (upgrades from instances older than Fuji do not have this property in the table) Location: System Property [sys_properties] table

When either the glide.sys.domain.use_record_domain_for_processes or the glide.sys.domain.use_record_domain_for_data property is set to true, the following properties are not used, regardless of their setting:

glide.sys.domain.use_record_domain
glide.sys.domain.use_record_domain_for_client_scripts
glide.sys.domain.domain_change_notify
glide.sys.domain.no_change_roles

For a full list of properties see Available system properties.

Note:

In new activations of domain separation starting with the Jakarta release, the session domain determines the business rules executed on the domain table. In previous versions, business rules executed on the domain table were set based on the newly created domain’s hierarchy. This behavior is modified by the glide.sys.domain.skip_domain_insert_businessrules property. Setting this property to true significantly improves domain insert performance.

Table 2. Domain scope properties for business rules executed on the domain table
Property	Details
glide.sys.domain.skip_domain_insert_businessrules	Specifies the domain scope for business rules executed on the domain table. In new activations of domain separation, the property default is true and business rules are determined by the session domain. In existing implementations, the property default is false and the business rules are determined by the newly created domain’s hierarchy. Type: true \| false Default value: True in new domain activations starting with Jakarta. False in existing implementations.
glide.sys.domain.skip_non_global_businessrule_if_nodomain	Ensures that only bus.rules from global domain are executed when using queryNoDomain() or when table is not domain-separated, so you can skip any other business rules Type: true \| false Setting the property to false restores the old behavior and doesn't align with ServiceNow® recommended practices. Recommended: Domain-separate your tables; always try to use the record's domain rather than the session domain.

User preferences

In addition, user administrators can set the following user preference globally or on a per-user basis:

Table 3. Domain scope user preferences
Preference	Category	Updated By	Details
glide.domain.session_scope	Domain	Admin Only	When true, sets the default scope to the user's session domain rather than the record's domain. When false, the default scope is the record's domain. Users with the domain_expand_scope user role can still change the domain scope as needed. Type: true \| false Default value: false
glide.domain.session_scope_notification	Domain	Admin Only	When true, displays a visual cue that record values include an expanded domain scope. When false, the notification is hidden. Type: true \| false Default value: true