When an error is raised by the SQL Server Database Engine, we usually see the Severity Level as in the below example:
Msg 5184, Level 16, State 2, Line 1
The severity level of the error indicates the type of problem encountered by SQL Server. Hence looking at the Level we can get a quick idea of what the error is about and if it can be fixed by the user or not.
Below is the table where I tried to put all the Severity Levels in Brief:
| Severity level | Description |
| 00 – 10 | Informational messages – not severe |
| 11 – 16 | Indicate errors that can be corrected by the user |
| 17 – 19 | Indicate software errors that cannot be corrected by the user. Inform Sys Admin |
| 20 – 24 | Indicate system problems and are fatal errors |
For more information and for a full table listing Levels of Severity, please refer MSDN BOL
Hareesh G
Jayapal Vajrala
Suresh Raavi
DataGinger.com 