# system.settings

Reports effective settings for the selected database and the built-in defaults of statement format options. Server-only XML options are not listed.

## Columns

| Name        | Meaning                                                        |
| ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| name        | Canonical setting name.                                        |
| value       | Effective value as text.                                       |
| type        | Setting value type.                                            |
| default     | Built-in default as text; quote this identifier in SQL.        |
| changed     | Whether the effective value differs from the built-in default. |
| description | Public behavior summary.                                       |
| readonly    | 1 for statement-only format defaults.                          |

## Effective and stored values

Resource values include stricter XML ceilings. Connection flags and database-header fields reflect the observing connection's PRAGMAs. Read main.settings when the saved database value is required.

SET and validated catalog writes manage persisted database settings. readonly=1 format rows cannot be persisted; use SETTINGS on the statement instead.

## Example

```sql
SELECT name, value, type, "default", readonly
FROM system.settings
WHERE name = 'csv_separator'
FORMAT csv;
```

```text
"csv_separator",",","Char",",",1
```

Always use the system qualifier through the server. See [settings](https://coordinatordb.com/docs/reference/settings), [database settings](https://coordinatordb.com/docs/reference/settings/session-settings) and [format settings](https://coordinatordb.com/docs/reference/settings/formats).