Display values

concept brazil Updated Sep 10, 2026 1 min read c_DisplayValues.md

Reference fields store a sys_id for each referenced record in the database, but the sys_id is not shown.

The reference field shows the display value. For example, an incident's Assigned to field stores the sys_id of a particular user, but actually displays the user's name. The following example shows how Charlie Witherspoon, which is the display value of a user record, is shown in the Assigned to field.

[Omitted image "DisplayValueXml.png"] Alt text:

Reference field	Value stored in database	Display value field of source table	Value displayed in UI
Assigned to [task.assigned_to]	46b87022a9fe198101a78787e40d7547	Name [sys_user.name]	Charlie Whitherspoon

Reference fields show display values in:

Lists
Forms
Reports
Auto-complete suggestions
Slushbuckets

Related topics

Unique record identifier (sys_id)

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---
title: Display values
description: Reference fields store a sys\_id for each referenced record in the database, but the sys\_id is not shown.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/platform-administration/c\_DisplayValues.html
release: brazil
topic_type: concept
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 1
breadcrumb: [Reference field type, Reference, Field administration, Forms, fields, and lists, Configure core features, Administer the ServiceNow AI Platform]
---

# Display values

Reference fields store a sys\_id for each referenced record in the database, but the sys\_id is not shown.

The reference field shows the display value. For example, an incident's **Assigned to** field stores the sys\_id of a particular user, but actually displays the user's name. The following example shows how **Charlie Witherspoon**, which is the display value of a user record, is shown in the **Assigned to** field.

\[Omitted image "DisplayValueXml.png"\] Alt text:

|Reference field|Value stored in database|Display value field of source table|Value displayed in UI|
|---------------|------------------------|-----------------------------------|---------------------|
|Assigned to \[task.assigned\_to\]|46b87022a9fe198101a78787e40d7547|Name \[sys\_user.name\]|Charlie Whitherspoon|

Reference fields show display values in:

-   [Lists](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-user-interface/c_UseLists.md)
-   Forms
-   Reports
-   [Auto-complete suggestions](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-administration/c_AutoCompleteForReferenceFields.md)
-   Slushbuckets

**Related topics**  


[Unique record identifier \(sys\_id\)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-administration/c_UniqueRecordIdentifier.md)