Database Dropped — SQLSTATE 57P04

SQLSTATE 57P04 condition database_dropped class 57 — Operator Intervention severity ERROR
Reproduced & verified on PostgreSQL 14.23, 15.18, 16.14, 17.10 and 18.4 — identical message on every version.
Last reviewed 29 May 2025 · Reproduced live with the SQL on this page.

! Symptoms Free

The connected database was dropped.

  • The error is written to the server log and returned to the client carrying SQLSTATE 57P04.
  • Any driver (libpq, JDBC, psycopg, npgsql, pgx) surfaces this code in its error object so you can branch on it programmatically.
  • PL/pgSQL can trap it by name: EXCEPTION WHEN database_dropped THEN.

1 Environment & reproduce Free

Severity: ERROR  |  PostgreSQL versions: 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Commonly coincides with restarts, failover, maintenance, or network events; check server uptime and the log around the timestamp.

? Root cause Free

The database the session was using has been removed.

3 Recovery & verify Free

Steps to resolve 57P04:

  1. Reconnect to a valid database.
  2. Ensure clients are not pinned to a database that was dropped.

Reference: PostgreSQL error codes — Class 57 (Operator Intervention).