# Sort Order Inconsistent **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [November 15, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/sort-order-inconsistent/156922 "2018-11-15T17:57:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sshaw](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sshaw/32/37643_2.png) [@sshaw](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sshaw)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/sort-order-inconsistent/156922/1 "2018-11-15T17:57:07Z")
Elasticsearch is running in a cluster with multiple shards. Two are primary, the rest are not. Using version 5.5.2. I have several records with the same address but different document id. When I sort by address the order of the items within the same address varies. I assumed this is because the secondary ordering criteria is the document order. When I run the search using the preference of `_primary`, the order is consistent. When I run the search using a preference of `_replica`, the sort is not consistent. Is this expected behavior for primary and replica? Why does the order differ on replica? ---
**Author:** ![sshaw](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/sshaw/32/37643_2.png) [@sshaw](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sshaw)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/sort-order-inconsistent/156922/2 "2018-11-16T18:14:53Z")
Ok, found relevant info in The Definitive Guide. Says it's for v2.2, but that's fine. See [Bouncing Results](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/current/_search_options.html). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/sort-order-inconsistent/156922/3 "2018-12-14T18:15:04Z")
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