# What does setting dis\_max exactly do in a query\_string query? **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [May 9, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-does-setting-dis-max-exactly-do-in-a-query-string-query/11903 "2013-05-09T15:12:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![marlo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@marlo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/marlo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-does-setting-dis-max-exactly-do-in-a-query-string-query/11903/1 "2013-05-09T15:12:13Z")
I'm running a query as follows: - query: { - - query\_string: { - query: "china" - default\_operator: "AND" - use\_dis\_max: true - - fields: [ - "headline" - "byline" - "body" ] } } I've been toggling use\_dis\_max on and off but can't seem to decipher what exactly is going on. From the Elasticsearch documentation, dis\_max is mentioned as "Since several queries are generated, combining them can be automatically done either using a dis\_maxquery or a simple bool query. " What exactly is meant by combining them? I understand individual queries are run for my query term ('china') to be run against each field specified and documents with that field matching my term are returned with a score, but what happens afterward? From dis\_max query documentation, I assume the highest score for a document is returned, but how about when I set use\_dis\_max to false then? At least from what I'm seeing with my data set, setting dis\_max to false or true produces identical results. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![Ivan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/df788c/32.png) [@Ivan](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Ivan)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-does-setting-dis-max-exactly-do-in-a-query-string-query/11903/2 "2013-05-09T15:30:13Z")
Here is a great blog post about DisMax: [http://searchhub.org/2010/05/23/whats-a-dismax/](http://searchhub.org/2010/05/23/whats-a-dismax/) -- Ivan On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 8:12 AM, Marlo Epres [mepres@gmail.com](mailto:mepres@gmail.com) wrote: > I'm running a query as follows: > > - query: { > - > - > > query\_string: { > - query: "china" > - default\_operator: "AND" > - use\_dis\_max: true > - - > fields: [ > - "headline" > - "byline" > - "body" > ] > } > } > > I've been toggling use\_dis\_max on and off but can't seem to decipher what > exactly is going on. From the Elasticsearch documentation, dis\_max is > mentioned as "Since several queries are generated, combining them can be > automatically done either using a dis\_maxquery or a simple bool query. " > What exactly is meant by combining them? I understand individual queries > are run for my query term ('china') to be run against each field specified > and documents with that field matching my term are returned with a score, > but what happens afterward? From dis\_max query documentation, I assume the > highest score for a document is returned, but how about when I set > use\_dis\_max to false then? At least from what I'm seeing with my data set, > setting dis\_max to false or true produces identical results. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "elasticsearch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 2:37am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-does-setting-dis-max-exactly-do-in-a-query-string-query/11903/3 "2017-07-06T02:37:19Z")