Sometime before, I was giving training on basics of SQL Server. One of attendee is having doubt & want to confirm that SQL Server really Reserve 1 user connection for DAC (Dedicated Administrator Connection).
So I decide to show a demo for the same. I have changed the no. of User Connections to 1 & then try to login. So below is the PROOF.
Steps Performed for Demo
1. User Connections Current settings
![]()
2. User Connections New settings. You need to restart SQL Services after this.
![]()
3. I Try to Login to SQL Server by SSMS & got Error. But Why ?
4. I Try to Login to SQL Server by SQLCMD & got Error. But Why ?
5. Reason of getting error at step 3 & 4 is DAC (Dedicated Administrator Connection). SQL Server reserve one user connection for DAC.
6. Rollback the changes using DAC & come back to previous settings. You need to restart SQL Services after this.
7. User Connections After Rollback
![]()
If you liked this post, do like on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mssqlfun
Reference : Rohit Garg (http://mssqlfun.com/)





In reality, DAC is not one reserved connection SQL has. DAC is a special admin connection SQL listens on other TCP port than the regular one. It also needs to be server configured through sp_configure ‘remote admin connection’
1) DAC works locally by default but when you enable sp_configure ‘remote admin connection’, DAC can be used remotely
2) Yes, DAC works on different port 1434 but use one connection from user connection limit only.
tnx a lot
it was helpful