LimitOffsetPagination: Effective limit when PAGE_SIZE is undefined but MAX_PAGE_SIZE is set

Short answer: when PAGE_SIZE is not set, LimitOffsetPagination falls back to its internal default_limit of 100, and that fallback is not capped by MAX_PAGE_SIZE. The ceiling only applies to client-supplied limit query parameters. This is well-established behavior in DRF 3.x, visible in rest_framework/pagination.py.

The three scenarios

1. No limit query parameter: the effective limit is default_limit — 100 unless you set PAGE_SIZE or override the attribute. MAX_PAGE_SIZE is ignored here, even if it is lower than 100.
2. Client limit below MAX_PAGE_SIZE: the client's value is used as-is.
3. Client limit above MAX_PAGE_SIZE: the limit is clamped. get_limit() effectively applies min(limit, max_limit), so the response contains at most MAX_PAGE_SIZE rows.

Why the asymmetry exists

The two settings map to independent attributes on the pagination class: PAGE_SIZE → default_limit, and MAX_PAGE_SIZE → max_limit. The clamping logic runs only inside the branch that parses the query parameter; the no-parameter path returns default_limit directly without comparing it to max_limit. Note that PageNumberPagination behaves differently — its page_size interacts with max_page_size — so do not assume symmetry across pagination classes.

Practical implication

If you configured MAX_PAGE_SIZE = 50 expecting a global ceiling, you have a gap: unparameterized requests still return up to 100 rows. Fix it by setting an explicit page size at or below the ceiling:

REST_FRAMEWORK = {
    'DEFAULT_PAGINATION_CLASS': 'rest_framework.pagination.LimitOffsetPagination',
    'PAGE_SIZE': 50,
}

class MyPagination(LimitOffsetPagination):
    max_limit = 50

Or override default_limit directly on a custom subclass.

Verification

Confirm on your installed version with a quick test: set MAX_PAGE_SIZE = 50, leave PAGE_SIZE unset, and request the endpoint three ways — no limit, ?limit=25, ?limit=100. Expected counts: 100, 25, 50. You can also inspect the instance directly:

p = MyPagination()
print(p.default_limit, p.max_limit)

One caveat: custom pagination classes in your project (or third-party packages) may override get_limit(), so check for subclasses before assuming stock behavior. The behavior described here applies to stock DRF 3.x; if you are on a much older or newer major version, re-run the test above rather than trusting the constant.