Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Overflow Error

 Overflow Error
type
FeatureClass
 Overflow Error
label
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error
page
OverflowError
 Overflow Error
comment
In older electronics, 8 bits was the standard — strings of 0 and 1 were divided into sections of eight each, and it was seen as sufficient to get every letter and number across. It was an effective, compact way to store data, which is why it was largely used until the mid-1990s. The problem is, it also got the short end of the stick in Powers of Two Minus One: since binary works by an "on and off" system, there was a maximum value — 11111111, equal to FF in hexadecimal or 255 in base 10. Any commands to increase the value past this trigger the "next place value" protocol, which changes all 1s to 0s and turns the nearest 0 on the left into a 1. The problem is, there is no nearest 0 on the left, so the value rolls back to 00000000.
This can also work the other way around, which is called underflow — if a value attempts to decrease past 00000000, it will go "down" to 11111111, which can lead to some pretty strange variables.
Note that the limit does not strictly apply to 8-Bit systems and thus can be higher than 255, but occurrences of that sort are the most famous and most common due to the comparatively low cap. While mostly obsolete because of technology improvements, these types of errors still remain famous because they were known to cause some pretty hilarious crashes or Ascended Glitches.
This is a programming-specific relative of Readings Blew Up the Scale. In older video games, a Kill Screen or Minus World is often a result of this, when trying to read data for level "257" causes a Reality-Breaking Paradox or Logic Bomb. Compare Crosses the Line Twice when a situation is so horrible that, whether intentionally or not, it becomes hilarious.
 Overflow Error
fetched
2024-04-27T17:46:30Z
 Overflow Error
parsed
2024-04-27T17:46:30Z
 Overflow Error
processingComment
Dropped link to AvertedTrope: Not an Item - IGNORE
 Overflow Error
processingComment
Dropped link to EasyLevelTrick: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Overflow Error
processingComment
Dropped link to FinalBoss: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Overflow Error
processingComment
Dropped link to GameBreakingBug: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Overflow Error
processingComment
Dropped link to GameMod: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Overflow Error
processingComment
Dropped link to Hearthstone: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Overflow Error
processingComment
Dropped link to InUniverse: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Overflow Error
processingComment
Dropped link to KillScreen: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Overflow Error
processingComment
Dropped link to MillenniumBug: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Overflow Error
processingComment
Dropped link to TimeAbyss: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Overflow Error
processingComment
Dropped link to WideOpenSandbox: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Overflow Error
processingUnknown
Hearthstone
 Overflow Error
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Overflow Error / int_1ee8851d
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_1ee8851d
comment
In Wild ARMs, there's an infinite item glitch where if the first two characters each use up one expendable item, then an item with quantity 1 is swapped into the inventory slot of that expendable item by the third character, when the turn finishes the game will subtract 2 from the quantity of the swapped item, leaving you with -1 of that item, or in the game's mind, 255.
 Overflow Error / int_1ee8851d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_1ee8851d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Wild ARMs (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_1ee8851d
 Overflow Error / int_31e1eca3
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_31e1eca3
comment
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl introduced the move Trick Room, which is supposed to invert Speed order. However, from Pokémon Black and White onwards, if a Pokémon has 1809 or more effective Speed, it still moves first. ExplanationThis is the result of an integer not overflowing when it should, as the game subtracts Speed from 10,000 and doesn't expect it to be less than 8192 (2^13). A Pokémon with 1808 Speed is set to 8192 which overflows to 0, but a Pokémon with 1809 Speed is set to 8191 which doesn't overflow.
 Overflow Error / int_31e1eca3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_31e1eca3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_31e1eca3
 Overflow Error / int_3caeeb6f
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_3caeeb6f
comment
SimCity for the SNES had an integer underflow bug that could be triggered by tricking the budget screen into accepting to pay more money than you have for road/police/fire maintenance; money would then roll over to its capped value of $999,999.
 Overflow Error / int_3caeeb6f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_3caeeb6f
featureConfidence
1.0
 SimCity (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_3caeeb6f
 Overflow Error / int_46aac2a3
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_46aac2a3
comment
Elden Ring has an interesting in-universe theological example. The goal of the Loathsome Dung Eater is to create a scenario where a god only interacts with its followers via curses. If this continues for long enough, then curses become that god's form of blessings, as they overwrite blessings in the rules of divine favor. That, in turn, makes people like the Dung Eater (who has made himself a walking stockpile of Seedbed Curses) what the Golden Order represents instead of what it stands against.
 Overflow Error / int_46aac2a3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_46aac2a3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Elden Ring (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_46aac2a3
 Overflow Error / int_49a87cb3
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_49a87cb3
comment
Final Fantasy VII has an overflow glitch that causes the game to think that enemies have so much HP that it had better fix the problem and instantly kills them.
 Overflow Error / int_49a87cb3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_49a87cb3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_49a87cb3
 Overflow Error / int_49a88442
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_49a88442
comment
This error was one of the reasons why Final Fantasy XIV had a stat squish in Endwalker. Due to how drawing aggro works, the team cited that sometimes the tanks would generate so much aggro, it would roll over back to 0, causing the enemies to disengage the tank and target whomever was the second-highest. In an MMORPG, this is a huge no-no that would most certainly lead to a wipe.
 Overflow Error / int_49a88442
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_49a88442
featureConfidence
1.0
 Final Fantasy XIV (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_49a88442
 Overflow Error / int_4b434423
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_4b434423
comment
Pokémon Sword and Shield has Eternamax Eternatus, an unplayable Pokémon with base Defense (and Special Defense) of 255, and thus a maximum of 658 in those stats if hacked into the party. Because the game multiplies the stat by 100 during certain calculations, and 65,800 > 65,535, it overflows into a ridiculously small Defense stat making it an unintentional Glass Cannon — or, if the stat is 656, it rolls over exactly to 0 when truncated, causing a Divide by Zero error which the game parses as "opposing attacks have zero power"!
 Overflow Error / int_4b434423
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_4b434423
featureConfidence
1.0
 Pokémon Sword and Shield (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_4b434423
 Overflow Error / int_4c7a0a5
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_4c7a0a5
comment
Chantelise: When the game time reaches, 99:99:99, it then overflows back to 0:00:00. Also, hacking for lots of money could lead to prices, since the price of things increase every buy, to overflow into negative numbers, and buying those objects may send your Pix count to overflow as well. Although, under normal play, pix are capped at some all 9s number, before it starts overflowing, to prevent overflow.
 Overflow Error / int_4c7a0a5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_4c7a0a5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chantelise (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_4c7a0a5
 Overflow Error / int_56fa0ea4
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_56fa0ea4
comment
Civilization: A longstanding Urban Legend of Zelda argued that Mahatma Gandhi, the in-game leader of the India civilization, had an AI aggression level of 1, but when a civ adopted democracy and thereby reduced its aggression two steps, it would cause the 8-bit variable to wrap back around to 255 and make him insanely aggressive. The bug never actually existed according to series creator Sid Meier: his studio in fact anticipated the problem and coded aggression to never go below 1. India is somewhat more likely to invent nuclear weapons earlier than other countries, but that's actually a result of its AI being coded to prioritize scientific advancement. The memetic error was in fact made up by an Internet Troll on This Very Wiki, irritated that AI Gandhi had nuked him (which is still pretty funny considering Gandhi's real-world religiously motivated pacifism), supported by screenshots of the game's Mad Libs Dialogue.
 Overflow Error / int_56fa0ea4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_56fa0ea4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Civilization (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_56fa0ea4
 Overflow Error / int_5908ee91
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_5908ee91
comment
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: It is possible to abuse the alchemy/enchanting loop to enhance gear so far it acquires negative armor or damage ratings.
 Overflow Error / int_5908ee91
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_5908ee91
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_5908ee91
 Overflow Error / int_5921531b
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_5921531b
comment
One sidequest in Persona 4 asks for one Tetracorn and one Makaracorn. However, the game forgets to check if you have both, and if you have one but none of the other the quest will still complete and reduce your stock of both by 1. This underflows the missing type of corn from 0 to 99, giving you enough Attack Reflectors to last the whole game.
 Overflow Error / int_5921531b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_5921531b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Persona 4 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_5921531b
 Overflow Error / int_5921531c
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_5921531c
comment
In Persona games with social stats (at least confirmed for Persona 5 by modders), social stats have no hard cap even if the Player Character has reached max rank, meaning the value keeps increasing for every action that rewards points for that social stat (to be fair the values themselves are invisible outside of modifications, so most players do not know this). This keeps going until it reaches 32,767, at which point the stat ends up negative, resetting the stat's rank to 1.note Restoring it to the initial number from such a state takes 32,768 points. Considering the absurdly high number for this effect, a player either had to mess around with the game code, or chain New Game Plus playthroughs an insane number of times to see it.
 Overflow Error / int_5921531c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_5921531c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Persona 5 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_5921531c
 Overflow Error / int_5cff6176
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_5cff6176
comment
In Sinistar, if you get hit by a projectile and touch an enemy simultaneously while on your extra life, the game will subtract two lives, rolling backwards over 0 and reading it as 255 lives remaining.
 Overflow Error / int_5cff6176
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_5cff6176
featureConfidence
1.0
 Sinistar (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_5cff6176
 Overflow Error / int_5fcf37d9
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_5fcf37d9
comment
In one episode of Lupin III: Part 5, two guys build a safe that measures intelligence on a scale of 0-300 and can only be opened by someone whose intelligence is 0. Lupin's gang tries everything to lower Lupin's intelligence, but they can't get it low enough. Instead, Lupin eats lots of fish to increase his intelligence to 301, causing the safe to overflow back to 0 and open.
 Overflow Error / int_5fcf37d9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_5fcf37d9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Lupin III: Part 5
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_5fcf37d9
 Overflow Error / int_6059ad6b
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_6059ad6b
comment
xkcd:
A character gets thrown off by this while Counting Sheep, causing their mental image of the whole herd to stampede in the opposite direction. Whether it's a bigger problem to have one's brain throw an overflow error or to be awake even after 32,767 sheep (the limit of a signed 16-bit integer) is anyone's guess.
"Depth" features 32,767 angels dancing on the head of a pin — one more and they'd become 32,768 devils.
"Age Milestone Privileges" claims that when you turn 128 years old, your age overflows and you turn back into a baby.
 Overflow Error / int_6059ad6b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_6059ad6b
featureConfidence
1.0
 xkcd (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_6059ad6b
 Overflow Error / int_62bf541
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_62bf541
comment
Super Mario Bros. stored the number of lives as a signed byte (ranging from -128 to 127). So Mario can safely have 127 lives, but if he has more than that and then dies, it's an instant game over. This inadvertently functions as a punishment for stockpiling lives with the Infinite 1-Ups trick, since having that many lives isn't likely to occur in the average playthrough.
 Overflow Error / int_62bf541
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_62bf541
featureConfidence
1.0
 Super Mario Bros. (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_62bf541
 Overflow Error / int_63ac9abf
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_63ac9abf
comment
The 16-bit versions of Sonic 1 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 feature a bug in which your character can lose two lives at once if they take damage while drowning. If you're on your last life, this causes your total number of lives to underflow, giving you 255 lives. This is such an absurdly high number that the game can't even display it correctly - the lives counter only has two digits, so numbers above 99 appear garbled.
 Overflow Error / int_63ac9abf
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_63ac9abf
featureConfidence
1.0
 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_63ac9abf
 Overflow Error / int_65c87783
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_65c87783
comment
Wii Sports: Your score in the minigame about returning tennis balls wraps around to 0 each time it goes over 255, but only when the game saves your score at the end. Proof here.
 Overflow Error / int_65c87783
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_65c87783
featureConfidence
1.0
 Wii Sports (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_65c87783
 Overflow Error / int_6680542c
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_6680542c
comment
The Elder Scrolls: Legends: Although players won't reach a fraction of the maximum health or creature power in normal gameplay, intrepid players sought to experiment with the maximum amount. They confirmed that it was the integer limit of 2,147,483,647, and that going over this causes the number to go negative.
 Overflow Error / int_6680542c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_6680542c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Elder Scrolls: Legends (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_6680542c
 Overflow Error / int_6d8311c4
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_6d8311c4
comment
Pokémon Gold and Silver:
The Thick Club held item can increase Marowak's Attack past 1023 (2^10-1), causing it to roll over to 0 and deal minimal damage.
If attempting to catch a wild Pokémon with more than 341 maximum HP, the game glitches out because the capture formula assumes HP*3 is supposed to be greater than HP. This can't happen without cheating, but if you're unlucky enough to be playing a ROM hack which spawns something with 342 HP, have fun reverting to your last save.
 Overflow Error / int_6d8311c4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_6d8311c4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Pokémon Gold and Silver (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_6d8311c4
 Overflow Error / int_6f1bcb62
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_6f1bcb62
comment
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance: In the Japanese release, forging down the critical rate of a weapon with 5 base critical (like a Thunder tome) to 0 would underflow it to 255, creating a weapon that always lands critical hits. This was fixed in all other versions.
 Overflow Error / int_6f1bcb62
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_6f1bcb62
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_6f1bcb62
 Overflow Error / int_758e11c5
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_758e11c5
comment
"Gangnam Style", the most viewed video on YouTube until Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again" came along, very nearly broke the site's view counters when the number of views went over 2,147,483,647, the maximum value of a 32-bit signed integer; YouTube had to upgrade to 64-bit signed integers capable of holding values up to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 afterwards.
 Overflow Error / int_758e11c5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_758e11c5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gangnam Style (Music)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_758e11c5
 Overflow Error / int_825ec83f
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_825ec83f
comment
The Logomancer: In the RPGMaker.net version, defeating a Watcher of the Abyss underflows the Regret stat. This is changed to just being set to 0, in the Steam version.
 Overflow Error / int_825ec83f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_825ec83f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Logomancer (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_825ec83f
 Overflow Error / int_86814cd0
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_86814cd0
comment
Final Fantasy IV has the "64 Door Hierarchy Glitch" which works on this principal. In a nutshell, the world map is "Room 0" and doors are listed as "Go" doors (increment it by 1) and "Return" doors (decrement it by one). In certain places it's possible to keep going through "Go" doors and keep increasing this number, and if you get it to 64 the number will roll over and whatever room you are in will become the new world map (Room 0). When this happens, if you then go through a "Return" door (or use Warp), all hell breaks loose.
 Overflow Error / int_86814cd0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_86814cd0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_86814cd0
 Overflow Error / int_86814e56
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_86814e56
comment
In Final Fantasy VI, through the Sketch Glitch it is possible to obtain 256 copies of items. Attempting to sell them all at once rolls over from 255 to 0, and the shopkeeper will pay you nothing for them because the game thinks you're selling nothing.
 Overflow Error / int_86814e56
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_86814e56
featureConfidence
1.0
 Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_86814e56
 Overflow Error / int_8c87469c
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_8c87469c
comment
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has a minigame called Clean Cut where you cut a bamboo stalk as many times as you can. Getting 65 cuts resets the counter to 1.
 Overflow Error / int_8c87469c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_8c87469c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_8c87469c
 Overflow Error / int_8da0ea80
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_8da0ea80
comment
In Pokémon Red and Blue, MissingNo. will always be at an absurdly high level due to the nature of the variables being read - namely, the characters in the player's name, which will always have a hexadecimal value above 100, the normal Cap. Attempting to level up your level 255 MissingNo. with a Rare Candy, however, will reset its level to 0, and attempting to train it at "legal" levels past this will prove difficult because without the advanced level multipliers, it's quickly found out the hard way that it has the 6th lowest base stat total of all Generation 1 Pokémon, only being beaten out by Magikarp and the not-fully-evolved bugs.
 Overflow Error / int_8da0ea80
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_8da0ea80
featureConfidence
1.0
 Pokémon Red and Blue (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_8da0ea80
 Overflow Error / int_921a667d
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_921a667d
comment
The chance of a move's secondary effect activating is stored in one byte, so if it somehow reaches 256%, it'll be treated as 0%, and so on. This does not apply to the move's accuracy itself; "100%" accurate moves can miss in the first-generation main series games (but not Pokémon Stadium), though that's an off-by-one error, not an overflow. *Specifically, the game generates a number from 0-255 and checks if it's below a certain cutoff. 255 is not less than any numbers in that range, so it will always generate a miss.
 Overflow Error / int_921a667d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_921a667d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Pokémon Stadium (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_921a667d
 Overflow Error / int_961eeacc
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_961eeacc
comment
Similarly, the kill screen in Donkey Kong is caused by a glitch in the algorithm that determines the level timer. On Level 22, the timer is set so high that it overflows and ends up being set at just 4 seconds, making the level impossible to complete.
 Overflow Error / int_961eeacc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_961eeacc
featureConfidence
1.0
 Donkey Kong (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_961eeacc
 Overflow Error / int_9e0b4b87
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_9e0b4b87
comment
The Andromeda Strain: The pathologists analysing the disease run a computer simulation of the casualties that would result if the contagion ever Escaped from the Lab. After blossoming from population hubs in the United States and Canada, the screen blanked to a single number: 808. The technician informs them that 808 means the computer can't calculate contamination levels that huge.
 Overflow Error / int_9e0b4b87
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_9e0b4b87
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Andromeda Strain
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_9e0b4b87
 Overflow Error / int_9ef055f4
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_9ef055f4
comment
Ratchet & Clank:
While most games cap how many Bolts you can hold, the PlayStation 2 ones didn't, leading to this error. Famously, a fan by the name of RSmit spent three and a half years doing this in the second game, Going Commando (saying that it was "too easy" to do it in the third and fourth games), in what he called the Quest for the Max. He eventually succeeded in 2007, and as a result flipped the number to approximately -2 billion Bolts... meaning he couldn't afford the Tractor Beam gadget to progress past the second level in his next Challenge Mode run.Why it happenedSince the game used 32 data bits, and one of the symbols has to be the positive/negative symbol, the maximum amount of Bolts is 2 to the power of 31, or 2,147,183,648. When he exceeded that number the only thing the game could do was change the positive/negative sign bit, hence the flip.
It's been observed in at least Going Commando that it's possible to complete Challenge Mode 255 times. If you do so the next Challenge Mode is in a state dubbed "New Game +0", where Ratchet retains all his weapons and gadgets as normal, but the enemies return to the stats they'd have on an initial playthrough.
 Overflow Error / int_9ef055f4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_9ef055f4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Ratchet & Clank (Franchise)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_9ef055f4
 Overflow Error / int_9f89a5f0
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_9f89a5f0
comment
Pokémon:
The chance of a move's secondary effect activating is stored in one byte, so if it somehow reaches 256%, it'll be treated as 0%, and so on. This does not apply to the move's accuracy itself; "100%" accurate moves can miss in the first-generation main series games (but not Pokémon Stadium), though that's an off-by-one error, not an overflow. *Specifically, the game generates a number from 0-255 and checks if it's below a certain cutoff. 255 is not less than any numbers in that range, so it will always generate a miss.
In the first two generations, the amount of experience each Pokémon needed to reach a specific level was determined by a formula. For a very specific subset of species, the value for a level 1 Pokémon was negative, so its experience value would underflow and it would be treated as level 100*technically level 245, but the game separately caps the value of "level" at 100. So if you're ever wondering why Pokémon Eggs hatched at level 5 before Generation IV, this is why.
In Pokémon Red and Blue, MissingNo. will always be at an absurdly high level due to the nature of the variables being read - namely, the characters in the player's name, which will always have a hexadecimal value above 100, the normal Cap. Attempting to level up your level 255 MissingNo. with a Rare Candy, however, will reset its level to 0, and attempting to train it at "legal" levels past this will prove difficult because without the advanced level multipliers, it's quickly found out the hard way that it has the 6th lowest base stat total of all Generation 1 Pokémon, only being beaten out by Magikarp and the not-fully-evolved bugs.
In Generation I, if a Pokémon has 255 or 511 HP, any attempts to use self-healing moves like Recover and Softboiled will fail.
Pokémon Gold and Silver:
The Thick Club held item can increase Marowak's Attack past 1023 (2^10-1), causing it to roll over to 0 and deal minimal damage.
If attempting to catch a wild Pokémon with more than 341 maximum HP, the game glitches out because the capture formula assumes HP*3 is supposed to be greater than HP. This can't happen without cheating, but if you're unlucky enough to be playing a ROM hack which spawns something with 342 HP, have fun reverting to your last save.
In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, attempting to sell 256 of an item gives you no money, because the game thinks you're selling 0 of that item. The only items stackable this high are Berries.
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl introduced the move Trick Room, which is supposed to invert Speed order. However, from Pokémon Black and White onwards, if a Pokémon has 1809 or more effective Speed, it still moves first. ExplanationThis is the result of an integer not overflowing when it should, as the game subtracts Speed from 10,000 and doesn't expect it to be less than 8192 (2^13). A Pokémon with 1808 Speed is set to 8192 which overflows to 0, but a Pokémon with 1809 Speed is set to 8191 which doesn't overflow.
Pokémon Sword and Shield has Eternamax Eternatus, an unplayable Pokémon with base Defense (and Special Defense) of 255, and thus a maximum of 658 in those stats if hacked into the party. Because the game multiplies the stat by 100 during certain calculations, and 65,800 > 65,535, it overflows into a ridiculously small Defense stat making it an unintentional Glass Cannon — or, if the stat is 656, it rolls over exactly to 0 when truncated, causing a Divide by Zero error which the game parses as "opposing attacks have zero power"!
 Overflow Error / int_9f89a5f0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_9f89a5f0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Pokémon (Franchise)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_9f89a5f0
 Overflow Error / int_a1e7c57
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_a1e7c57
comment
Atari's Battlezone (1980) started the player out with slower, boxy tanks to shoot, until the player had blasted five of them, then the game threw quicker, sleeker tanks at the player. That is, up until the player had 255 tanks killed; thereafter, the register overflowed to -1, an error code. The game however simply interpreted this as "player has not yet killed enough slow tanks" and thereafter fielded the older, slower boxy tanks. This typically happens around the 80000 to 90000 point mark.
 Overflow Error / int_a1e7c57
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_a1e7c57
featureConfidence
1.0
 Battlezone (1980) (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_a1e7c57
 Overflow Error / int_a81325d3
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_a81325d3
comment
Final Fantasy:
Final Fantasy IV has the "64 Door Hierarchy Glitch" which works on this principal. In a nutshell, the world map is "Room 0" and doors are listed as "Go" doors (increment it by 1) and "Return" doors (decrement it by one). In certain places it's possible to keep going through "Go" doors and keep increasing this number, and if you get it to 64 the number will roll over and whatever room you are in will become the new world map (Room 0). When this happens, if you then go through a "Return" door (or use Warp), all hell breaks loose.
In Final Fantasy VI, through the Sketch Glitch it is possible to obtain 256 copies of items. Attempting to sell them all at once rolls over from 255 to 0, and the shopkeeper will pay you nothing for them because the game thinks you're selling nothing.
Final Fantasy VII has an overflow glitch that causes the game to think that enemies have so much HP that it had better fix the problem and instantly kills them.
This error was one of the reasons why Final Fantasy XIV had a stat squish in Endwalker. Due to how drawing aggro works, the team cited that sometimes the tanks would generate so much aggro, it would roll over back to 0, causing the enemies to disengage the tank and target whomever was the second-highest. In an MMORPG, this is a huge no-no that would most certainly lead to a wipe.
This is why Benjamin's Cure spell deals massive damage to the Dark King in Final Fantasy Mystic Quest: it's coded such that its healing rolls over into being damage. Notably, only Benjamin's Cure spell can do this - Phoebe's Magic stat is high enough that it doubly rolls over, turning from healing to damage to healing again.
Overflow errors are common enough in older Final Fantasy titles that the Final Fantasy Wiki has a page listing them.
 Overflow Error / int_a81325d3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_a81325d3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Final Fantasy (Franchise)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_a81325d3
 Overflow Error / int_a993be1f
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_a993be1f
comment
In Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, a conversation option with your Wookiee teammate Hanharr allows you to break his will, reducing his Intelligence stat in exchange for a Strength increase. A Good Bad Bug left over from the game's Troubled Production lets you do this repeatedly, eventually sending him past zero and raising his Intelligence to the maximum possible value.
 Overflow Error / int_a993be1f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_a993be1f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_a993be1f
 Overflow Error / int_b4967d43
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_b4967d43
comment
Sonic the Hedgehog:
A Game-Breaking Bug in Sonic the Hedgehog causes the final boss to be unbeatable if you hit Dr. Eggman while his HP's 0. His programming doesn't check to see if his HP's already at 0 when you're hitting him, thus giving him 255 HP, which can't be depleted within the 10 minute time limit the game imposes on each level.
The 16-bit versions of Sonic 1 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 feature a bug in which your character can lose two lives at once if they take damage while drowning. If you're on your last life, this causes your total number of lives to underflow, giving you 255 lives. This is such an absurdly high number that the game can't even display it correctly - the lives counter only has two digits, so numbers above 99 appear garbled.
The mainline 16-bit games have a bug known as the "level wrap" glitch, which comes from being unable to put the player's X-axis as a negative number. So if the player goes further left than the leftmost pixel of the stage, their X-axis instead becomes a very large number, and the player is suddenly teleported as far to the right as they can go. This normally puts them at the very end of the stage, where they complete the stage instantly if there's no boss, or fight said boss if there is one.
 Overflow Error / int_b4967d43
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_b4967d43
featureConfidence
1.0
 Sonic the Hedgehog (Franchise)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_b4967d43
 Overflow Error / int_c19c6efa
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_c19c6efa
comment
Minecraft
One of the game's most well-known glitches, the Farlands, was caused by a stack overflow. In beta versions of the game, traveling to a coordinate larger than the 32-bit integer limit would break the code for world generation, resulting in the normal Minecraft terrain ending in a massive, vertical wall, with holes dotted around like Swiss cheese.
Java Edition counts days up to the 64-bit integer limit. Once it overflows, the day/night cycle actually breaks and visually runs in reverse, resulting in mobs spawning in broad daylight, zombies and skeletons burning as well as spiders becoming passive during the night, etc. Of course, the amount of time it would take to overflow that day counter is a Time Abyss.
 Overflow Error / int_c19c6efa
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_c19c6efa
featureConfidence
1.0
 Minecraft (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_c19c6efa
 Overflow Error / int_c721d312
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_c721d312
comment
In Level 30 Psychiatry Dr. Gardevoir and Roll happen on a bottle of Champagne that was left open since her graduation, with Gardevoir commenting that it's probably turned into vinegar at this point. Turns out, it overflowed and turned back into a bunch of fresh grapes. Roll even refers to it as a 256=0 issue.
 Overflow Error / int_c721d312
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_c721d312
featureConfidence
1.0
 Level 30 Psychiatry (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_c721d312
 Overflow Error / int_cc01f6bc
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_cc01f6bc
comment
Galaga, upon completion of Stage 255, attempts to begin Stage 0 and then crashes.
 Overflow Error / int_cc01f6bc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_cc01f6bc
featureConfidence
1.0
 Galaga (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_cc01f6bc
 Overflow Error / int_d36b8ea7
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_d36b8ea7
comment
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Games have a cap of 24 heart containers, which can be reached in normal gameplay. In a linked game it's possible to unlock an additional heart container, but this causes an error that subtracts one heart container from Link instead: he ends up with a max of 23.
 Overflow Error / int_d36b8ea7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_d36b8ea7
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Games (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_d36b8ea7
 Overflow Error / int_d3b17858
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_d3b17858
comment
Final Fantasy Tactics has an infinite Job Point glitch that can be invoked by selecting a skill to learn, pressing Page Down, then confirming. If the skill under the cursor after the Page Down cost more Job Points than were available, the number was subtracted from the current number of Job Points, rolling it over negative and giving the player thousands of free job points instead.
 Overflow Error / int_d3b17858
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_d3b17858
featureConfidence
1.0
 Final Fantasy Tactics (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_d3b17858
 Overflow Error / int_d5714b02
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_d5714b02
comment
Noita:
The Repelling Cape perk increases the speed at which stains fade on the player, and additional copies stack the effect. However, at 10 stacks the perk glitches and causes stains to never fade.
Each use of the Perk Reroll machine doubles the cost of the next use. With significant prepwork it is possible to use the reroll enough times that the machines glitch and begin charging only single digits. This will work for nearly a thousand rerolls before the glitch corrects itself.
Spells with an infinite lifetime can be created due to an underflow error. Every projectile has a partially randomized lifetime which can be increased or decreased with certain modifiers. A spell with a -1 frame lifetime is treated as having an infinite lifetime, though a -2 or less lifetime will be treated as 0 lifetime spell.
 Overflow Error / int_d5714b02
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_d5714b02
featureConfidence
1.0
 Noita (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_d5714b02
 Overflow Error / int_e235270c
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_e235270c
comment
Stellaris: An overflow error in some versions allows leaders to become immortal. As a leader ages, their chance of dying of old age increases until they reach their maximum lifespan, at which point their chance of dying from old age is 100%. Playing with policies to extend and then reduce the lifespan can create a leader whose chance of dying is greater than 100%. A leader who is about 24 years older than their maximum lifespan causes an overflow where their chance of dying resets from 100% to 0%.
 Overflow Error / int_e235270c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_e235270c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Stellaris (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_e235270c
 Overflow Error / int_e31f5778
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_e31f5778
comment
In Trimps, the developer was forced to cap the level number at 810 and add a parallel advancement (Universe 2) because making the game work with the numbers generated would have required rewriting the code in a different system.
 Overflow Error / int_e31f5778
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_e31f5778
featureConfidence
1.0
 Trimps (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_e31f5778
 Overflow Error / int_e5964cdb
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_e5964cdb
comment
Chess.com, an online Chess app, crashed on 32-bit iOS devices once over 2^31 games had been started because of a signed integer game ID overflow in the 32-bit version of the app. The 64-bit iOS app was not vulnerable to this problem since the 64-bit version used a signed 64-bit integer game ID number instead of a 32-bit signed integer unlike the 32-bit version. A patched version was quickly rolled out once the overflow was diagnosed.
 Overflow Error / int_e5964cdb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_e5964cdb
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chess (Tabletop Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_e5964cdb
 Overflow Error / int_ee6c1abc
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_ee6c1abc
comment
Referenced in Strong Bad Email: "4 branches" when Strong Bad talks about Homestar's occasional Genius Ditz moments:
 Overflow Error / int_ee6c1abc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_ee6c1abc
featureConfidence
1.0
 Strong Bad Email (Web Animation)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_ee6c1abc
 Overflow Error / int_f0688fff
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_f0688fff
comment
In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, attempting to sell 256 of an item gives you no money, because the game thinks you're selling 0 of that item. The only items stackable this high are Berries.
 Overflow Error / int_f0688fff
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_f0688fff
featureConfidence
1.0
 Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_f0688fff
 Overflow Error / int_f7e9904e
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_f7e9904e
comment
Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury has an objective early in the game where you have to get a Senzu Bean to give to Gohan so he can deliver it to an injured Videl. The thing is that Senzu Beans are also normal items that you can eat to heal back to full health and Ki, and this one is no different. If you eat the bean and then talk to Gohan to complete the objective, he takes one Senzu Bean from your zero Senzu Beans, resulting in an underflow that gives you 255 of them when the item normally has a cap of three.
 Overflow Error / int_f7e9904e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_f7e9904e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_f7e9904e
 Overflow Error / int_f891a20d
type
Overflow Error
 Overflow Error / int_f891a20d
comment
Terraria has a few.
Exceeding the 32-bit integer limit for the amount of times a monster has been killed in a given world will cause it to overflow to the negative limit, the only consequence is that the banner every 50 kills will no longer be rewarded until the counter hits 50 again.
Through a rather complicated setup involving the jousting lance (a weapon which increases in damage the faster you're moving), it's possible to overflow the display on the DPS Meter, resulting in a negative DPS reading, this number can even wrap around to the positives again, which displays as an unusually low number. MappyGaming elaborates more on this.
 Overflow Error / int_f891a20d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overflow Error / int_f891a20d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Terraria (Video Game)
hasFeature
Overflow Error / int_f891a20d

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 The Andromeda Strain / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Digimon Card Game (Tabletop Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Balatro (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Battlezone (1980) (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Chantelise (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Civilization (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Donkey Kong (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Dyztopia: Post-Human RPG (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Elite (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Final Fantasy Tactics (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Final Fantasy VI (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Final Fantasy VII (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Gigastructural Engineering And More (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Noita (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Pac-Man (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Pathfinder: Kingmaker (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Pokémon Red and Blue (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Sinistar (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Super Mario Bros. (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Trimps (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Wii Sports (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Wild ARMs (Video Game) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Strong Bad Email (Web Animation) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Marcel Vos (Web Video) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 Level 30 Psychiatry (Webcomic) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error
 xkcd (Webcomic) / int_28638961
type
Overflow Error