statement_timeout

For DBAs and operators

Measured from when the command arrives at the server until it completes, including time spent waiting for locks. On expiry:

ERROR: canceling statement due to statement timeout

The statement is cancelled and the current transaction is aborted (until ROLLBACK); the session stays connected. If log_min_error_statement is ERROR or lower (default), the statement text is logged too.

Details: in a multi-statement simple-query string each statement is timed separately (since PostgreSQL 13). With the extended protocol the timer starts when any query-related message (Parse, Bind, Execute, Describe) arrives and is cancelled by completion of an Execute or by Sync. The setting does not apply to idle time.

Guidance: setting it in postgresql.conf affects every session, including manual VACUUM and index builds started by DBAs, which then fail mysteriously (pg_dump sets it to 0 for its own session). Prefer per role or per database:

ALTER ROLE webapp SET statement_timeout = '30s';
SET LOCAL statement_timeout = '5min';   -- just this transaction

Autovacuum workers ignore it. For lock waits use the more precise lock_timeout, for whole transactions transaction_timeout.

How to change it

Any user can change it for their session with SET.