https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-rest-apis-and-services-questions/how-does-a-featurelayer-service-determine-which/m-p/1674098#M5070 <P>Good afternoon,</P><P>How does a FeatureLayer service determine which features to return when the input geometry is large and contains millions of records, but the service returns only about 2,000 records (and there are no <EM>where</EM> or <EM>orderByFields</EM> conditions)?</P><P>I’m curious whether the query is essentially “dumb” and simply returns the first 2,000 inserted records, or whether it applies some logic to select features that more evenly or intelligently represent the input geometry.</P><P>-</P><P>Sorry, I should have posted it in `ArcGIS REST APIs and Services` group. Please move this topic to appropriate place..</P> Thu, 18 Dec 2025 21:38:06 GMT D_R_ 2025-12-18T21:38:06Z https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-rest-apis-and-services-questions/how-does-a-featurelayer-service-determine-which/m-p/1674098#M5070 <P>Good afternoon,</P><P>How does a FeatureLayer service determine which features to return when the input geometry is large and contains millions of records, but the service returns only about 2,000 records (and there are no <EM>where</EM> or <EM>orderByFields</EM> conditions)?</P><P>I’m curious whether the query is essentially “dumb” and simply returns the first 2,000 inserted records, or whether it applies some logic to select features that more evenly or intelligently represent the input geometry.</P><P>-</P><P>Sorry, I should have posted it in `ArcGIS REST APIs and Services` group. Please move this topic to appropriate place..</P> Thu, 18 Dec 2025 21:38:06 GMT https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-rest-apis-and-services-questions/how-does-a-featurelayer-service-determine-which/m-p/1674098#M5070 D_R_ 2025-12-18T21:38:06Z