breaking-changes-to-database-engine-features-in-sql-server-2016.md

title	Database Engine: Breaking Changes
titleSuffix	SQL Server 2016
description	Learn about Database Engine changes in SQL Server 2016 (13.x) and earlier that might break previous-version functionality when you upgrade.
author	MikeRayMSFT
ms.author	mikeray
ms.reviewer	randolphwest
ms.date	09/08/2025
ms.service	sql
ms.subservice	release-landing
ms.topic	release-notes
helpviewer_keywords	Database Engine [SQL Server], what's new breaking changes [SQL Server]

Breaking changes to Database Engine features in SQL Server 2016

[!INCLUDE SQL Server 2016]

This article describes breaking changes in the [!INCLUDE sssql15-md] [!INCLUDE ssDE] and earlier versions of [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion]. These changes might break applications, scripts, or functionalities that are based on earlier versions of [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion]. You might encounter these issues when you upgrade.

Breaking changes in SQL Server 2016

• The sample_ms column of sys.dm_io_virtual_file_stats has expanded from an int to a bigint data type.

• The timestamp column of sys.fn_virtualfilestats has expanded from an int to a bigint data type.

• Under database compatibility level 130, implicit conversions from datetime to datetime2 data types show improved accuracy by accounting for the fractional milliseconds, resulting in different converted values. Use explicit casting to datetime2 data type whenever a mixed comparison scenario between datetime and datetime2 datatypes exists. For more information, see this SQL Server and Azure SQL Database improvements in handling some data types and uncommon operations.

• Under database compatibility level 130, operations that perform implicit conversions between certain numeric and datetime data types show improved accuracy and can result in different converted values. This includes usage of functions that require calculations such as DATEDIFF and ROUND. For more information, see this SQL Server and Azure SQL Database improvements in handling some data types and uncommon operations.

Previous versions

For information about breaking changes in [!INCLUDE ssSQL14], and in some earlier versions, see Breaking Changes to Database Engine Features in SQL Server 2014.

Archived documentation for old versions of SQL Server

[!INCLUDE previous-versions-archive-documentation-sql-server]

Related content

• Deprecated Database Engine features in SQL Server 2016 (13.x)
• Discontinued Database Engine functionality in SQL Server
• ALTER DATABASE (Transact-SQL) compatibility level
• SQL Server and Azure SQL Database improvements in handling some data types and uncommon operations